A glut is a wooden wedge, the sort of thing a pioneer would make when
working in the wilderness having carried no metal except a gun and an axe.
A froe is used by placing the blade on the end grain of a billet (block) of
wood and striking the blunt top of the blade with a mallet or hammer of
appropriate weight. The froe blade goes into the wood like a wedge. You
pull back on the tall handle, which causes the blade to lean back and open
the split. You then relax the handle and strike the protruding end of the
blade again, forcing it deeper. Continue striking and pulling the handle
back until the billet rives (splits) apart. Repeat the process an inch or
so away or closer and you end up with a shingle or stave an inch thick and
the length of the billet. Repeat a thousand times. Now use a shaving horse
and drawknife to taper the shingles. This is a good time to practice
meditation. Now nail the shingles onto your cabin roof. At which time the
rain mostly stays out.