Kindling splitter

[slowworm]

I've been tasked to find a safer way for someone to split kindling into smaller pieces. My first thought was one of those devices that you either screw to a bench or mount in a vice, then place the wood onto a blade of some sort and hammer the other end. Has anyone used such a thing and found it useful? Can anyone recommend one that works and doesn't cost the earth?

Are there any other suggestions for splitting small logs / large bits of kindling down safely and easily for someone who doesn't often use and axe or other bladed chopping device and who still values her fingers?

 

[Toddy]

Can you mount one on a wall ?
I spotted what I thought was a really safe one a while back, but it's wall mounted.

Wall-Mounted Wood Kindling Splitter

The Ultimate Solution for Effortless Firewood Preparation! Upgrade your firewood preparation process with the Wall-Mounted Kindling Splitter. Experience the convenience, efficiency, and safety it brings to your wood-splitting tasks. Features: Premium Quality: Crafted with durable materials, the...

dadony.co.uk

I think it's really only suitable for small lengths though.

The other thing I spotted was a kind of standing froe. Just put the wood against the edge and hit it down with something like another bit of wood.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BN5M8S39/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0BN5M8S39&pd_rd_w=1p53A&content-id=amzn1.sym.84ea1bf1-65a8-4363-b8f5-f0df58cbb686&pf_rd_p=84ea1bf1-65a8-4363-b8f5-f0df58cbb686&pf_rd_r=ZA0D3N6TWH8846TJDQNW&pd_rd_wg=NG4uO&pd_rd_r=3dfb5142-3b72-4ee2-b641-52e1c4986410&s=outdoors&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

Neither of those tools are 'sharps', so it just main force that splits the wood though.

 

[Broch]

I just use an old axe head (actually, the one I'm using at the moment is an Elwell - sacrilege!) held in an old vice on the floor - it works a treat

 

[Woody girl]

I use a froe, and a small lump hammer. It's simple, and keeps the fingers out of the way. I use an old log to split on.
I've ended up in a &e before now trying to split kindling with an axe. Not to be recommended!
Luckily I still have all my fingers and thumbs , but ever since, its always a froe for splitting bigger stuff down at home.
Not one single accident since I started using one, in over 30 yrs.

 

[Ystranc]

I just use an axe and splitting block, if the wood that I’m hitting needs steadying I use a previously cut stick of kindling to hold it in place so that my fingers are never in danger. If the wood is too thin to stand up I lay it down and hit it in line with the grain. For even thinner sticks or creating shavings and fuzz sticks I use an old scandi ground knife dedicated for that purpose.
It’s usually easier for me to make or lay the fire but I’ve made sure the other half knows how to do it safely.

 

[Broch]

I just use an axe and splitting block, if the wood that I’m hitting needs steadying I use a previously cut stick of kindling to hold it in place so that my fingers are never in danger. If the wood is too thin to stand up I lay it down and hit it in line with the grain. For even thinner sticks or creating shavings and fuzz sticks I use an old scandi ground knife dedicated for that purpose.
It’s usually easier for me to make or lay the fire but I’ve made sure the other half knows how to do it safely.

Yep, that's how I used to do it. But I reckon I am several times faster (and safer) at creating kindling by battoning the material down onto an upturned 'blade' than the other way around

 

[Pattree]

Secateurs.

 

[Broch]

Secateurs.

I think your 'kindling' or 'morning sticks' are a bit finer than mine

 

[Pattree]

I think your 'kindling' or 'morning sticks' are a bit finer than mine

Are we talking about making kindling from a split log or cutting down kindling to something smaller as I do for the KK?

I've been tasked to find a safer way for someone to split kindling into smaller pieces.

No problem at all - just my interpretation

(My very cheap secateurs will split 25mm sticks easily.)

 

[British Red]

These are cheap enough & work pretty well

Splitting Base Blade | Manual Log Splitters | Forest Master

Buy the Ultimate Splitting Base Blade (USBB). Use the base blade with manual drop weight log splitters to split logs from both end. USBB Kindling blade.

forest-master.com

 

[slowworm]

Are we talking about making kindling from a split log or cutting down kindling to something smaller as I do for the KK?


No problem at all - just my interpretation

(My very cheap secateurs will split 25mm sticks easily.)

Cutting down bought in kindling to something smaller. I've realised I don't really know a standard measurement for size, so something toilet roll size down to average chip size.

Secateurs is a good suggestion but I'm not sure the person would have the strength.

 

[slowworm]

These are cheap enough & work pretty well

Splitting Base Blade | Manual Log Splitters | Forest Master

Buy the Ultimate Splitting Base Blade (USBB). Use the base blade with manual drop weight log splitters to split logs from both end. USBB Kindling blade.

forest-master.com

That's my current favourite, similar to what @Toddy suggested as well.

 

[Jared]

Kindling Axe aka Stick Chopper are pretty cheap for batoning through.

Kindling Axe

Buy the Kindling Axe (CT3848) with confidence from Oak Garden Machinery. We are a leading sales and service centre offering next day delivery and online price matching. Call today on 0800 246 5371.

www.oakgardenmachinery.co.uk

For a splitting base, have seen someone mount it inside a tub trug to prevent the splits from going everywhere.

 

[Toddy]

Cutting down bought in kindling to something smaller. I've realised I don't really know a standard measurement for size, so something toilet roll size down to average chip size.

Secateurs is a good suggestion but I'm not sure the person would have the strength.

I would just baton that. Buy her something solid enough and show her how to do it tidily.
It doesn't need to be a big knife, indeed I pretty much always use a small knife.
Somewhere, a long while ago, there's a thread I started on doing just that.
I'll find a link.
A small froe, as Annie suggested is a good alternative, but for really small stuff, I'd baton it apart...or teach her how to make feather sticks. They don't need to be pretty perfect, they just need shredded edges to be effective.

M

 

[Stew]

I like Broch and British Reds reverse baton. Makes a lot of sense seeing that - one less thing to have move around.

 

[GNJC]

I use a beetle and small flat-edged billhook / straight-froe, as has been mentioned above. I've forged a couple of the mounted splitters for people, and I made one for myself, but didn't like it much so gave it to an aunt.

There is another way I've seen and had a go with, and it works... get a foot-long piece of steel tube with an inside diameter large enough to take what you want to split. Then weld pre-sharpened cross-pieces inside it, so that the cutting edges are maybe an inch or so from the end. The wood to be split is placed in the tube below the cutting edges, and then the top end of the tube is given a whack. There is another version with a longer tube and the blades much further in; for this the tube itself is raised and forced down, so splitting the wood. I've seen these with a single edge or with three or four crossing each other at the centre.

 

[slowworm]

A little update on this. I decided to find out that the exact problem was and it turned out the person was doing something daft.

Whilst looking for the splitters I did notice one that basically was a piece of angle iron with side sharpened and the other side had two holes drilled in to fix to a log. I might try and make one of these myself as I've got some angle laying about.

 

[Tengu]

I have a wood grenade

 

[slowworm]

I have a wood grenade

I have one somewhere. It's designed for getting stuck in a large log so you have to find all your wedges to split the log to get it out again.

 

[Pattree]

An old ganger said I should never need more than three wedges. He then demonstrated on a big stick of chestnut and it took three just to get the first one out. We were using the magnesium wedges from the saw kit as well as all the iron ones before we’d finished.