How to make a Viking Age wooden comb

Step 5 Harvesting the wood

The maximum thick ness of wood that you want for this project is 1/4 inch, the amount will be determined by the size of your project.  Most of my combs have been 5 inches long by 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide.

Soemtimes I buy the wood sometimes I split it from a larger piece, a froe would be an improvemnet on my technique and one of these days I'll make or buy one.  A froe is a knife like blade mounted 90 degrees to a handle and is used to split off shakes or boards on straight grain wood.

I used two splitting wedges and followed season cracks in a piece of white oak fire wood, to split of a shake about 1/2 inch thick, it takes some practice but it's a lot easier then sawing the wood and you get grain that is completely intact as oposed to sawed lumber.  It makes for longer and stronger teeth on the finished comb.