Definition/Explaination needed

[soupy1957]

I read the following statement in another thread recently.........

"Start a notch by noodling with the saw............."

Define "Noodling" please.........

-Soupy1957

 

[CTYank]

I read the following statement in another thread recently.........

"Start a notch by noodling with the saw............."

Define "Noodling" please.........

-Soupy1957

Easy. Rip it through the bark, along the grain. Visualize a bucked round lying with bark facing up. Position the saw's bar horizontal parallel a previously cut face. Rotate the bar about a vertical axis, so that the bar is above the round, on the centerline. Ye'r now in position to noodle it.

When noodling, the chips will resemble curly spaghetti, thus "noodling." They will tend to clog many saws' clutch covers.

This sort of rip cut is much easier than one into a cut face, with chipper/chisel chain. Go noodle.

 

[soupy1957]

thanks for that..........

I suppose the next logical question is: WHY should I (or "would I") "Noodle" my wood?

-Soupy1957

 

[onetracker]

thanks for that..........

I suppose the next logical question is: WHY should I (or "would I") "Noodle" my wood?

-Soupy1957

well, noodling your wood sounds rather personal, so i wouldn't want to talk about that.

however (and seriously) if/when you have big rounds - i mean BIG rounds - and you split by hand - it is infinitely easier to break the inherent strength of the cylinder/circle by cutting a notch (noodle) in the side of the round so you get get a wedge in there and split the big round in half. then you can split stove logs off the half-round you've created.

someone with a verticle log splitter would never need to do this cuz they could roll the round into place and split away.

OT

 

[red oak]

Also useful if you have a crotch piece or a piece that is particularly knotty. Some of those pieces you can just beat on all day and it's so much easier to use the saw. When splitting I don't get paid by the hour!

 

[CountryBoy19]

For a simplistic answer, noodling is when the chain is travelling parallel to the wood grain. Because you are cutting with the grain you are 'peeling' out long strands of wood fiber, this gives you "noodles" of wood, hence the name noodling.

 

[madrone]

Also useful if you have a crotch piece or a piece that is particularly knotty. Some of those pieces you can just beat on all day and it's so much easier to use the saw. When splitting I don't get paid by the hour!

+1

I don't have a splitter, just a maul and wedges. I've trapped my wedges in enough knotty Y's to know that noodling is the easier approach.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I split wood by hand for 30+ years and never in that time did I noodle any logs nor ever think I needed to or wanted to. I still don't like to see it done.... But that's just me.

 

[fossil]

Well, you could try a simple search here, soup:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/45492/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/55584/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/57336/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/60265/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/63265/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/63347/

 

[maple1]

For a simplistic answer, noodling is when the chain is travelling parallel to the wood grain. Because you are cutting with the grain you are 'peeling' out long strands of wood fiber, this gives you "noodles" of wood, hence the name noodling.

That would be what we call a rip cut up here.

 

[woodchip]

I save the noodles for the smoker, they seem to smoke better than sawdust......

 

[cptoneleg]

I split wood by hand for 30+ years and never in that time did I noodle any logs nor ever think I needed to or wanted to. I still don't like to see it done.... But that's just me.

I am 62 yrs young and have cut or been around the process of cutting firewood most of that time and have never even thought of or had any reason to do this, every time it is mentioned around here, I just shake my head......But thats just me :zip:

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I have done it but only when necessary. Typically on 'Y' sections.

 

[soupy1957]

CPtoneleg: that's what "I" was thinking. When/why would I "noodle" wood? What's the point as it relates to cutting firewood?

-Soupy1957

 

[drumbum]

Well, if you scrounge wood like a lot of us, then you can't pass up some 36" rounds of oak. Noodleing into quarters gets it on the truck or trailer quick and easy.

 

[CTYank]

CPtoneleg: that's what "I" was thinking. When/why would I "noodle" wood? What's the point as it relates to cutting firewood?

-Soupy1957

Really big hard-cases, so you can get them to the truck.

Forks & knots that can/will make it very difficult with a maul. (e.g. red pine with those innocent-looking knots)

Often noodling a groove will enable setting wedge(s) so you can make the initial split(s) in big pieces. Some folks with their big Stihls seem to like to noodle a whole stack of rounds all the way through, and are proud of it.

 

[Remmy122]

I dont do it often, but I dont really understand the aversion of noodling from the "old school" crowd.

so what gives?

 

[CountryBoy19]

I dont do it often, but I dont really understand the aversion of noodling from the "old school" crowd.

so what gives?

I don't either ???

I don't noodle often, when I do it's because I've already tried it the "old-school" way and it's going to take more work and time than I'm willing to devote.

Couple examples:
#1, fresh cut honey locust rounds that were too big to get into the truck. Wedges just bounced back out when I attempted to split them. I bore cut to get the wedges started. They still bounced out 90% of the time. Finally got one round split so I could get it in the truck. Took me a half hour to do so. Fresh cut honey locust doesn't split very easily IMHO. So I decided for the other 15 rounds I was going to try noodling them partially first. I noodles about 1/3 way through the round and they easily popped apart with the sledge and wedge that time.

So for the guys that "shake their heads" when talk of noodling comes up. Why no take 1 minute, 1 oz. of gas, and 1/2 oz of bar oil to shave 20 minutes of hard labor off your day? You'll be much more productive in the end.

#2 Splitting some nasty honey locust crotches and piece I would repeatedly stick all 5 wedges and end up being SOL on splitting the wood until I could get my wedges knocked back out and driven in on a new spot. Whereas, 3 minutes with the saw, 3 oz. of gas, and 1.5 oz of bar oil and the pain is over with.

Why waste a hour of your time trying to split a single piece of wood when a saw will do it much quicker?


You guys act like we're using the saw to cut the wood vs. splitting the wood just because it's fun. From my experience, most people aren't doing it for fun, it's because it's just too much work and time to do it the alternative way.

One final question for the guys that have an aversion to noodling. What do you do when you encounter a 36" round that has eaten 5 wedges? Do you go buy more wedges?, leave the round (and your wedges) and give up? Or do you just use the saw and cut it open?

What other option is there?

Btw, I'm not putting you down if you choose to do things the hard way, I just choose to work smart and efficiently, and when it comes to the choice of "spend an hour or more of painstaking work driving wedges" vs "spend 5 minutes running the saw" you can bet I'm not choosing the first option. Does that make me lazy? Not in my opinion. It makes me smart.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I did it recently with big Black Oak rounds. Sledge and wedge just bounced. Noodled a notch about a third of the height of the wedge, maybe 3", and they popped right open.

 

[basswidow]

That's what I do too.

Rounds too big for me to lift into the truck. I use a sledge and wedge to break them down into lifting size. I noodle cut enough to start the wedge.

Recently - some shagbark hickory was stringy and wouldn't bust - even though I ran two wedges down it - so I noodled the gap to open it up and get the wedges free and separate the halfs. Worked fine.

It's not something I do often at all. More of a last resort.

Is it rough on the chain? Dulls it faster ? Maybe.

Again, it's something done maybe once or twice a season - when I have BIG stubborn rounds .

 

[gpcollen1]

I did it recently with big Black Oak rounds. Sledge and wedge just bounced. Noodled a notch about a third of the height of the wedge, maybe 3", and they popped right open.

I agree that would quickly abandon the wedges if they were bouncing out. I have not had that issue though with large rounds of oak, sugar maple and Norway maple. All my recent locust and ash has been small enough to handle or accessible enough to roll into the trailer.

 

[tfdchief]

Well, if you scrounge wood like a lot of us, then you can't pass up some 36" rounds of oak. Noodleing into quarters gets it on the truck or trailer quick and easy.

I am old school for sure. And when I can't easily lift it or split it down to size that I can get it in the truck, I noodle. Now, given my latest adventure, I am guessing I will be noodling a lot more :exclaim: :-S