Make Your Own Wooden Shakes

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Shakes (long shingles split from logs) are cut from bolts of straight-grained timber, such as cedar or redwood. They are easy to make and will give your building a rustic, handcrafted look.
Shakes (long shingles split from logs) are cut from bolts of straight-grained timber, such as cedar or redwood. They are easy to make and will give your building a rustic, handcrafted look.
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Wooden shakes are a relatively easy endeavor.
Wooden shakes are a relatively easy endeavor.
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A froe is pictured cutting a shake.
A froe is pictured cutting a shake.

Have you ever admired an old house covered with weathered shakes — those long shingles old-timers split from logs? Well, if you’re reasonably good with tools, you can make the same kind of roofing for your own buildings.

Turning out handmade shakes isn’t difficult — the hard part is finding the right material. As the illustrations show, shakes are cut from blocks of wood (shake bolts) split out of a whole trunk of cedar, sugar pine, redwood, fir or other straight-grained timber.

Not all trees that look straight from the outside actually prove to be so when they’re opened up, however, and you may have to test chunks sawed off a number of trees before you find a trunk that splits well.

Obviously, you should limit this potentially wasteful search to timber that is already down or dead.

When my wife and I need shake material, we go around to areas that have just been logged and ask the crews if we can clean up a little of the mess they’ve left. Usually, the answer is an enthusiastic “yes.” Alternatively, a permit to cut wood in a national forest will get you all the bolts you need.

  • Published on Feb 1, 2005
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