Wack em off! The easiest way to harvest them is to knock them off a tree. Use the back of an axe, or better still a branch. ( This can be amusing when your mate tries to use one that is a little to rotten) You can off course reach higher ones with a long pole.
As to processing them, I think Toddy has probably has hit the nail on the head, find a sharp knife that works.
Recently a friend brought round a couple of Alan Woods knives for me to try.The Woodlore was not the right knife for this job, but the Penrith peeled them beautifully. The thicker knife with its Scandi grind did not cope well( I think scandies struggle with a lot of tasks) but the thinner blade, in this case a hollow grind with a secondary bevel obviously hadn't been told that this was meant to be a tricky job.
I'm not suggesting you need a knife made by Alan Wood , nor that it needs to be a certain grind, but that if your blade does struggle its likely to be either the knife is not sharp enough or it's the grind. In a lot of ways , peeling a harden Fomes is a good time to try a convex edge, but then I think everyone should be able to try all sorts of grinds.
As to the practical side of peeling them, the second tip would be to find ways of holding them still and so reduce the chance of slipping.
At home a vice with its metal faces protected with wood is good. You can even use a battoning technique as you have both hands free. If your knife is not working well you have the option of using a chisel or gouge.
In the field, the simplest way is to select a chopping block that is the height of your lower hip. Leaning down on the hoof with a straight arm, you will find there is very little room for your knife to slip. If you keep the knife arm straight as well, you cut down with a powerful shoulder action, with your weight behind it , but with a restricted depth of cut of a few inches.
Another way is to screw through a board into the fungus as a wood carver might hold his work piece. Again really safe as you have two hands free and the board stops the cut.( just watch your knuckles ) I tend to have an auger with and eye when carving in a wood, and can drill this through a fashioned board into a fungus or work piece to hold it steady.
Another favourite is based on the idea of a Spanish Windlass. In the field it is perhaps one of the most versatile ways of holding some thing still as there are numerous ways of using one. The obvious examples of the principle ,are the tensioning device on a bow saw, or the old way of tightening a tourniquet.
For a small item, lash an H shape of branches together and drive them into the ground. Then use a windless to hold the work piece steady in the upper half.
Alternatively wrap your rope around a thick branch or log , tie it off and then tension the work piece down by twisting it tight with a strong stick and belaying that.
If you are trying to restrain something as small as a fomes it is necessary to do something to stop the rope from slipping. Again there are numerous options, my favourites are to either use a couple of Prusik knots to add one or more extra bits of cord to stop horizontal movement, or to secure a board in place between the rope and the top of the work piece.
Having said all that, I ilke to keep things simple.To catck a spark, you only need one rough up surface. Is it really necessary to take off that outer layer?
If using them without the boiling etc I don't bother. Straight off a tree, or better still dried .I see these fungi as one way of getting a initial fire going. Once you have that fire there are lots of tinders which if charred catch a spark with ease, including all parts of the Horses Hoof. The easiest processing is to simply cut or chop off a slice ( outer layer still on ) and blacken it in the fire.
Have fun, John
to split it apart and let me into the inards.
