Ok, so not everyone calls it that, chopping block, stump etc.
After you have split your wood as close to size as you can, any coarse shaping with an axe is done here.
it can be just a stump:
this is a piece of crab apple that is too hard and too twisted to be much good for anything else that I use a little.
or it can be a slab on legs:
that is a piece of 10 x 10 beech barn beam, the same beam that I made my shaving horse out of back in 1984, you can see that it is about rotted through the middle.
The purpose of a hacking stock is to have some place to do your chopping that will not mark up or damage other tools (Like your shaving horse or workbench) and if you keep it out of the dirt it will also protect your hatchet.
Orientation of the wood in a hacking stock can affect how fast you get tired out. If the wood grain is vertical, every time your hatchet hits it, it will stick in and you have to yank it back out. If your wood grain is horizontal, when your hatchet hits it , the hatchet bounces and doesn’t stick… I have obtained a piece of Walnut that I intend to use to make a replacement for the older one. (edit and here it is done!)
be well
K