And now for Something COMPLETELY different...

 
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Post by Logs » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 9:09 am

Here is better demonstration of the splitting maul

https://youtu.be/w_s3Ci1Dl0s


 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 10:18 am

The conventional maul did way better, sans for coming apart and hurting the woman during the test.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 10:49 am

lsayre wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 10:18 am
The conventional maul did way better, sans for coming apart and hurting the woman during the test.
The Fiskars axe is what hurt her.i am thinking that when she pushed the handle down,she leaned down & the force of the unsplit wood sent the tapered axe right into her face.

The conventional maul worked the best for both people & i saw nothing to indicate that it came apart ...

In the vehicle,she kept saying " the fiskars did it",it is not a splitting naul,just an axe.

 
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Post by lsayre » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 10:55 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 10:49 am
lsayre wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 10:18 am
The conventional maul did way better, sans for coming apart and hurting the woman during the test.
The Fiskars axe is what hurt her.i am thinking that when she pushed the handle down,she leaned down & the force of the unsplit wood sent the tapered axe right into her face.

The conventional maul worked the best for both people & i saw nothing to indicate that it came apart ...

In the vehicle,she kept saying " the Fiskars did it",it is not a splitting maul, just an axe.
Thanks for clarifying that for me windy!!! Obviously I wasn't very observant.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 11:02 am

Lsayre,you are welcome.
I split a few (LOL) cords of wood over the yrs.,sledge hammer & wedges,along with a maul...

My favorite way to split wood is with a hydraulically operated splitting wedge ,commonly known as a log splitter (smile).

But my current preference is not to split wood at all...

Handling coal is so much easier !!!!

 
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Post by top top » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 11:37 am

NoSmoke wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 7:26 am
It could be purposely cast instead of welded together (which is my profession before I retired), but it HAS to be single beveled. That is because with the off-set head, and the single bevel edge, it splits the wood to the left, by leverage.
]
Ok. I was thinking that using an old axe head and offsetting the handle would save on fabricating, heat treating and tempering that part.

One thing I see in every video touting a new way to split wood is they always use short, small diameter, straight grain blocks. Usually something like white ash or red oak, maybe 12" diameter and under 16" long. That kind of wood will fall apart regardless of method, and a plain old axe will be faster than any of the gimmicks. I would like to see them tackle some fresh cut white oak in warm weather.

I never owned a hydraulic splitter until the last year I burned wood, and then I already had the wood split. The next year I went to coal and gave the splitter to my son. Then I acquired another splitter that runs off the IH 460 remotes. Talk about irony! Reminds me of my uncle, a RR man in Western New York. He bought a brand new giant snowblower one spring, after a particularly snowy winter. Then moved to a new house that was situated where the prevailing winds always blew his driveway clear. After eight years he had never started his snowblower so he sold it. The following year he wore out seven snow shovels. Didn't break them, actually wore them to a nub shoveling his concrete driveway.

 
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 12:08 pm

Call me thick but I'm having trouble understanding the leverage motion of this thing lol. Could you post a pic of it, holding it in the levering position?


 
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Post by warminmn » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 12:57 pm

For the price, the fiskars super splitter does pretty good, and I like their splitting hatchet, but this one is my fav splitting axe, only I put a longer handle on mine. They have a heavy version of it too. Expensive but I love splitting with it. Only downfall of it is you cant use it as a hammer. http://www.world-of-axes.com/proddetail.php?ID=6&M=R

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 3:06 pm

Lightning wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 12:08 pm
Call me thick but I'm having trouble understanding the leverage motion of this thing lol. Could you post a pic of it, holding it in the levering position?
The single sided bevel is what gives the "leverage"..
The difference between the ones in the video & the one the OP built is the hinge & spring.

The hinge & spring allow the user to tightly grip the handle vs the ones in the video needing a somewhat loose grip to allow the handle to rotate in the users grip.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 3:08 pm

I would like one of those "leverage" splitters to be demonstrated in hickory.

 
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Post by franco b » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 3:55 pm

I have a Chopper 1 splitting maul. I bought it around 1980 for I think $25 at that time.
https://chopper1axe.com/

About ten years ago I asked a professional to try it out, and he felt it was better than the standard maul he used.

Two years ago I asked a professional wood cutter to try it, and he preferred his lightweight maul from Tractor Supply.

It does make the wood fly, so some sort of restraint is need on log or you need to chase the splits.

The biggest difference between me and an expert, aside from them being stronger, is that I can rarely hit the same spot twice where they can exactly.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 4:01 pm

franco b wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 3:55 pm
I have a Chopper 1 splitting maul. I bought it around 1980 for I think $25 at that time.
https://chopper1axe.com/

About ten years ago I asked a professional to try it out, and he felt it was better than the standard maul he used.

Two years ago I asked a professional wood cutter to try it, and he preferred his lightweight maul from Tractor Supply.

It does make the wood fly, so some sort of restraint is need on log or you need to chase the splits.

The biggest difference between me and an expert, aside from them being stronger, is that I can rarely hit the same spot twice where they can exactly.
My father-in-law had 1 of those,i tried it several times with the same results...
It transferred way too much shock into my hands & arms...

Yes,it works pretty good if one is splitting wood that an ordinary axe will split,but then an ordinary axe will work too & with much greater ease.

 
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Post by k-2 » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 4:08 pm

Judging by that pile behind you ,you've got a lot of splitting to do. Good exercise ,if your up to it.

 
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Post by coalnewbie » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 4:27 pm

Good exercise ,if your up to it.
I am full of admiration for you guys. However, besides the shear effort required, it is an asymmetric operation. Chiropractors like that. I prefer balance. A cup of of Brook Bond tea in one hand and then dipping Mcvities biscuits with one firm stroke with the other. All the time whilst gazing at the coal fire.

Hey, it's a coal board. so there is always a wise a** somewhere.

 
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Post by rberq » Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 6:19 pm

NoSmoke wrote:
Sun. Oct. 29, 2017 7:26 am
It could be purposely cast instead of welded together (which is my profession before I retired), but it HAS to be single beveled. That is because with the off-set head, and the single bevel edge, it splits the wood to the left, by leverage.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqsQ28Se9to[/youtube]
Note on the youtube video the extra mass of the axe head to the right of the handle, whose momentum increases the levering action. That could be added to your home-made tool by welding on a couple of those railroad spikes you thought you didn't need. ;)

Really a neat idea. I didn't know such an axe existed. :clap: Neat idea also in this video, putting the log inside a couple tires so you don't have to chase the pieces around and reset them for the next axe stroke.


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