The first step is to prepare the log (or tree trunk). After a tree is selected and cut down, hewing can be done at the place where the log landed. Or the log can be moved out of the woods to a work site. The log is then usually placed across two smaller logs. It is kept steady by notching the support logs or by a long bar of iron with a tooth on either end. Then the person doing the hewing measures where to cut and marks lines along the log. These are usually done with a chalk line.