one week into hollowing

The tools of the trade resting on the log. The depth is hard to gauge from this angle, but it is currently about six inches deep along the length of the log. This picture is two days into hollowing, so it is going fairly quickly.

Here's a better view of the inside. You can really begin to see the depth taking shape. At the top of the dugout, you can clearly see the curved cuts made by the adze. When chopping with the adze, the wood comes out so easily. It's interesting because the technique for chopping is very different than with an axe. With an axe, you want to chop across the grain at an angle, then come from the side, but with the adze, the best method we've found is to chop almost directly down onto the wood so that the wood almost calves off. If you imagine a glacier coming into a bay, and the very front edge sheering along its length and a long, tall strip peeling off. That's similar to what happens with the adze.

Again, the axe and adze on the log. From this view you can see the general shape that the inside will eventually take.