Good point
Assuming I misjudged it, and did get my only axe stuck in a difficult bit of wood, would having the log on top and swinging down onto the block be the best way to free it? Or is there a safer, less risky way?Splitting large/difficult bits of wood.
- Thread starter Billy1
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Good point
Assuming I misjudged it, and did get my only axe stuck in a difficult bit of wood, would having the log on top and swinging down onto the block be the best way to free it? Or is there a safer, less risky way?
A maul is a homesteading tool - its too heavy to carry around. You only need the big splitting kit when you have a 2 man crosscut saw or chainsaw to do the sectioning. They are too heavy and too awkward to carry with you as a rule so people will work on small trees with axes and bucksaws.
Axes are of limited use when splitting - really they top out at small to medium trunks. Somewhere on here there is an illustrated article on how not to damage an axe helve when splitting that I wrote years ago. One of the main things is to have a proper chopping block at knee high or higher - not around your ankles. Your helve should be parallel to the ground at impact
Good angle by British Red, on Flickr
If you are splitting a lot of large or difficult wood, maul, steel wedge and sledgehammer are the way to go
5) Hand tools by British Red, on Flickr
With the right tools, metal pounding metal is the only way to go.
I'm with you Red, if you want to split wood, get wood splitting tools, rather than cutting tools.
I've been using a splitter since I worked casually for a purveyor of quality firewood as a lad. £30 for 5 tonnes split, you'd be there all day with an axe, with a splitter on the other hand (is that what your calling a maul ? on the right after the sledgehammer) a fit organised lad would have it done by lunchtime or shortly after.
Of course synthetic handles are the way to go as they simply don't break, even when misused, mine is 22 years old and although chipped here and there, it's still going strong.
Making ones own axe handle in the bush? Good luck
Changing handles, is easy enough to do, tools; a penknife to shape the neck a wooden mallet to tap the heal of the handle to bed the head and a hammer for the wedge (if the wedge is steel, if wood a wooden mallet will do if done with care). But wooden handles are too much hassle for regular use. Difficult bits, shed pigs, take a bit of thought. I've never had a bit thats refused to split although sometimes thats meant leaving it in the shed for a few years with periodic test whacking, nothing better or more satisfying than a yielding knotted pig of several years vintage.
Up here thats what we call a splitter or splitting axe, not to be confused with the ever increasing number of hydraulic splitting machines that people now simply term "splitters".
A good selection of tools that, is that a US made "Plumb" wrecking bar, by any chance?
Blimey, no.
I've split a 12ft 8" branch with a GB Mini hatchet.
Locate seasoned, sound branches 4" or so in diameter. Use hatchet to shape several wedges.
Locate sound 6" branch. Cut 24" length, taper 10" length of it to suitable diameter for your hand. This is your maul.
Strike the 12ft branch with hatchet, opening up small crack. Insert wedge and pound in with maul. Insert another wedge further along and repeat.
You know I have a feeling its an Aldi one
They did a range of sizes for cheap years ago and I asked my buddy to get me one or more - he picked up a range of 4 for a total of £12 - this one is ideal when those gnarly fibres hold split bits together 
I've done the same on a 4ft long length of chestnut that was about 8" in diameter, did the whole thing just using a frost knife, and a thin piece of oak that I carved the wedges from.
One thing I find interesting in the pictures of people chopping wood, is that everyone does it standing up. If you miss the block and follow through, the axe has a good chance of hitting your lower legs. I always chop wood kneeling down in front of a low block. It means that if you miss the arc you had is going to put the axe into the floor long before it hits you. You still have much the same mechanical power in what you are doing, it's just a safer way of working.
I tend to chop wood with very small axes compared to some of the giants I see others using (my new axe head that arrived yesterday is 400g, 5" long, with a 2½" cutting edge.) and once embedded into the log turning it over and letting the weight of the wood do the work really works well.
That said, if you want speed, efficiency and to not even bother with an axe, then the Wood grenade is your friend. Won't give you neatly split wood for carving, but if it's for bits to go on the fire, great tool.
J
Small tools can do big jobs ...
But the right tool for the job will make it easier!
But the right tool for the job will make it easier!
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You know I have a feeling its an Aldi one
Not to worry, it's a good length, aldi or not. Can't beat a good wrecking bar.
Not if you use your legs, arms and back so that the axe is 'falling' rather than 'swinging'. When the head hits the target, the haft should be parallel with the ground. Not only is this safer, but it means that you are driving the axe head straight down through the wood.
Good technique is always a good way to avoid injury - pictures of folk kneeling to chop wood always make me think that they are missing the spring and balance that their legs give....
I ain't never seen pictures of professional axe-men kneeling...
I ain't never seen pictures of professional axe-men kneeling...
All due respect to Ray Mears, but I bet I've chopped more firewood than him. Probably done more adzing as well.
Racing axemen use their legs, back, whole body (it used to be a big deal in rural australia). They aren't allowed PPE; if you need protection on your feet then you aren't skilled enough to be allowed to compete. Plimsols and white trousers are compulsory.
Racing axemen use their legs, back, whole body (it used to be a big deal in rural australia). They aren't allowed PPE; if you need protection on your feet then you aren't skilled enough to be allowed to compete. Plimsols and white trousers are compulsory.
At the splitting block one wants to be standing, with the axe/splitter fully extended at the end of the swing to land the head squarely on the target, and as such there should be no reason for injuring ones legs. When splitting sticks there should be no one or anything that could be damaged, anything that could cause issue with the swing (washing lines etc) within the radius of the swing.
The most dangerous place to be, IMO, is within reach of the axe to the immediate left or right of the block, no matter how good the axeman when splitting bulk there'll always be a few fliers off either side of the block as the axe glances off the grain of a gnarly bit. Split sticks can fly off at unpredictable angles too.
Compromising stance swing reach etc could very well lead to the very issues the compromise is intended to avoid.
The only two incidents I know of whilst using an axe for splitting were a pal hitting a washing line on the forward swing (chasing a stray fallen round on the ground, in the dark with the axe instead of replacing it on the block after it fell off) that rebounded hitting the guy on the head and knocking him out. The other, a pal getting hit on the head by a fast moving piece of stray hardwood that flew off a round, he was too close whilst loading rounds on the block for his axeman chum.
The most dangerous place to be, IMO, is within reach of the axe to the immediate left or right of the block, no matter how good the axeman when splitting bulk there'll always be a few fliers off either side of the block as the axe glances off the grain of a gnarly bit. Split sticks can fly off at unpredictable angles too.
Compromising stance swing reach etc could very well lead to the very issues the compromise is intended to avoid.
The only two incidents I know of whilst using an axe for splitting were a pal hitting a washing line on the forward swing (chasing a stray fallen round on the ground, in the dark with the axe instead of replacing it on the block after it fell off) that rebounded hitting the guy on the head and knocking him out. The other, a pal getting hit on the head by a fast moving piece of stray hardwood that flew off a round, he was too close whilst loading rounds on the block for his axeman chum.
But I'm not a Racing axewoman. I'm just chopping a small pile for the fire to cook dinner on.
Again, this is horses for courses. If I was trying to compete to see who can chop the biggest pile of wood fastest I would use a different technique. I'm just after a safe way to chop some wood. I'm not using a massive axe, I'm doing quite nicely with small axe.
You also want to be putting the log on the far side of the block so if you fall short you hit the block rather than the ground. This is if you have a competent axewoman doing the work. I would however suggest that for most situations, the safest way to chop firewood is kneeling down with a small-medium axe, much less to go wrong, much more idiot proof.
J
Actually its the small axe that is the problem. A full size (36" helve) axe will strike the ground before it hits your legs, even if you are standing. The additional weight of a full sized axe, splitting axe or maul will take far less effort and be far safer than using a small axe.
Clearly a small axe has the advantage of portability - but (in splitting terms) that really is the only advantage IMO. A larger axe, with a good, two handed technique, is less likely to cause injury, is more efficient and will process larger wood.
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