Scott, you wrote:

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A few weeks ago I was musing how come I had never seen a dedicated bench
froe. For splitting off tenon cheeks or small blocks to be driven through the
dowel plate. Lots of small jobs around the bench you need to split wood along
the grain.

...So I found a piece of steel. ... I cut out what I thought I needed and set
to, and massively ground it true. Full taper ground from the spine to -almost-
the edge.

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/benchfroe2.JPG
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A truly impressive tool! Easy of the eyes too!

For those of us who lack the skills to make a tool like that, what would you
think of using a "Batoning Chisel", available from Lee Valley, for similar
functions?

Cheers,
Chuck Taylor
north of Seattle USA