Cleaving oak for signs

Yesterday I was planting oaks on a farm just north of Kendal and today Charlie Whinney & I were working with mature oaks making some new signage for the Halecat garden nursery which opens soon.
To give a strong, organic look we’re cleaving all the posts and boards from oak harvested off the estate. It’s ages since I did some big cleaving with wedges.  It’s such a primal thing to bust open a big lump of wood with the simplest tools, hearing the creaks and pops of the fibres as they open up under the pressure until the whole thing falls in two revealing all the beauty of the timber that’s been hidden inside.