Took a swing at making some thick shingles for the first time out of some left over cedar chunks for the chicken coop. Not the best but not the worst either for only using a saw.
I just overread this one... looks well nice anyhow. Good luck with the chickens and keep those weasels away.
Jeesh I wished you lived closer as I am getting rid of my last 6 chickens. They are last years pullets so they are laying something fierce. Red Sex Links, we are just getting out of chickens and so we are just giving them away. As for your shakes they look great in my opinion. I actually prefer shakes over shingles, but I like the rustic look better. All my homes are cedar clad, but must admit they are cladded with shingles rather than shakes. We do have a shingle mill, and old 1900 contraption, but the newer versions are made in the same way so very little has changed. My Uncle wanted to clad the shingle mill with vinyl siding, but I talked him out of it so it has shingles on it now...but bought ones. He is too scared to run his shingle mill as you have to run your hands pretty close to the blade. I am not sure about other sawmill types, but Thomas Bandsaw Mills have a contraption that mounts to the sawmill so that shingles can be cut on it. I like your method though. Not quite a Froe, and definitely not an Afro, but maybe a Sawfroe? (A Froe is the hand tool used to make shakes)
Lots of vids on using a froe on you tube. An old hippie I know told me he made his own shingles while living in BC. Lots of red Cedar rounds left over on logging sites back then (early 70's...yeah, you can guess why he was there.....) that he used a froe and got his materials for free. Just turned the round over after every whack in order to keep the bevel angle on the shingle.
I love it. Making them yourself is even better. I'm a big fan of cedar shingles. I use under coat shingles for siding. This is my garden /storage shed I built a couple year ago.
Now just need to finish up painting the other sides. Turned out pretty good and was fun to do with leftover materials