There is an art to chopping wood

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We watched some men competing in a log-chop event recently. Have you ever watched one? In this class, the men had to chop through a log. It was interesting to watch their preparations. They measured the length of the log and marked the centre with a piece of chalk. Then they measured the diameter and made another mark down the side. They then drew lines to make a V-shape which must have been where they needed to make their cuts. Once they’d done that, they cut a foothold on either side of the piece of the timber. Finally they drove nails partway into the wood and hammered them over. I couldn’t see where they did this but perhaps it was to stop the wood splitting. There were six contestants in the event we watched. The guy nearest the camera started first as the others all had varying handicaps ranging up to about 28 seconds. So whoever was considered the ‘best’ had to start 28 seconds after whoever was considered the ‘worst’. As you can see in the photo, one man has already turned around and started cutting rom the other side. In the end the man third from the left won this heat.