H4109.42

• california gold rush

1 Frow. Description: Used in 1860 to make clapboards. From the History Information Station: Object: Froe, or frow, with wrought iron blade and round wooden handle. History: A froe is used to split wood along the grain. To use it, drive the blade into the wood with a short wooden mallet called a froe-club. The wood will "tell" you how it "wants" to be split, but you can also guide the froe by holding the handle. The carpenter used a flat froe to split shingles and clap-boards for houses, and the cooper split the staves for barrels with a curved froe.

Used: carpentry