Collection:
Juneau—Douglas City Museum
Object ID:
99.21.060
Accession#:
99.21
Credit Line:
Donated by Mary Ann Parke.
Object Name:
Froe
Title:
Long handled froe (frow) shingle splitting tool
Date:
1900
Description:
Hand—forged, straight—bladed froe with wood handle. Wood handle approximately 2 inches diameter. Blade slipped over end of handle and shimmed in place with wood wedges 2 inches from lower end. Blade 2 inches wide with 15.5 inch long cutting edge. Integral forged eye fits over handle. Wedge shaped blade tapers from approximately 0.5 inch pounding edge to beveled cutting edge. Outer end of blade angled to point on cutting edge.
Notes:
Collected and preserved by Thomas S. Parke. Likely collected from abandoned homestead, ining or lumber working site in Juneau area or near by. Tool used to make shingles by splitting short log into number of tapered radial sections.
"A cleaving tool having a wedge—shaped blade with a handle at right angles to it" — Random House College Dictionary.
Probably late 1800s to 1920s per Ron Klein.
See doc file: "The Antique Tool Collector's Guide to Value," pg 68.
Search Terms:
Lumbering
T&E
Mill