Splitting large/difficult bits of wood.

[Billy1]

In Mors Kochanski's book "Bushcraft" (page 108), there is a diagram of how to split a large bit of wood that the axe has got stuck in. It involves turning the blade face up (so the piece of stuck wood is on top), and hitting the poll of the axe on the chopping block. The description is...

"Use the weight of the block to make the split. This is hard on axe handles if you do not know what you are doing."

But... I do not know what I'm doing, nor does he explain it in the book. So... how do I know what I should be doing?

Also, why not just bring the axe and wood down together with the blade face down? Would this be less effective? Would this also be hard on axe handles?

Cheers

 

[Mesquite]

By turning the log over and bringing the poll of the axe onto the chopping block you're using inertia and gravity to do your work for you.

The log coming that way has more inertia and weight in it than your axe head so it's more effective way to split a log

 

[rg598]

I've never seen any tests that actually show which way is more effective. Keep in mind that lifting a heavy log with an axe and then turning it over, takes more energy than just bringing it up and down.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Billy1]

By turning the log over and bringing the poll of the axe onto the chopping block you're using inertia and gravity to do your work for you.

The log coming that way has more inertia and weight in it than your axe head so it's more effective way to split a log

I understand it's more powerful that way, but I dont get the "this is hard on axe handles if you do not know what you are doing" bit. How do I know if I am being hard on the axe handle? Is he basically just saying "don't hit it too hard"? Or is there something else I need to consider?

 

[Mesquite]

I understand it's more powerful that way, but I dont get the "this is hard on axe handles if you do not know what you are doing" bit. How do I know if I am being hard on the axe handle? Is he basically just saying "don't hit it too hard"? Or is there something else I need to consider?

You can come down on the handle easier before the poll hits the block which can break it, equally if you don't hit square to the block it can twist as well putting strain on the handle

 

[Man of Tanith]

ive tried both techniques.

to get a decent swing you'll be lifting it around the same height either with log above or beneath the stuck axe head.

I've found having the axe head beneath the log needs fewer strikes to split the log.

and if the axe handle breaks then you get to learn how to replace the axe handle which is a useful skill to know as well

Not essential in the UK as you can usually swear load it in the car and then deal with it at home in the shed/garage.
However in Mors native Canada its a far far more important skill being able to replace the axe handle

 

[Billy1]

You can come down on the handle easier before the poll hits the block which can break it, equally if you don't hit square to the block it can twist as well putting strain on the handle

Ah ok I understand now thanks

One other thing - is this a technique that should be used with a normal axe, considering pounding on wedges etc can distort the eye due to the more malleable metal? Or is it best reserved for a maul?

 

[Billy1]

ive tried both techniques.

to get a decent swing you'll be lifting it around the same height either with log above or beneath the stuck axe head.

I've found having the axe head beneath the log needs fewer strikes to split the log.

and if the axe handle breaks then you get to learn how to replace the axe handle which is a useful skill to know as well

Not essential in the UK as you can usually swear load it in the car and then deal with it at home in the shed/garage.
However in Mors native Canada its a far far more important skill being able to replace the axe handle

I will try both techniques, and replacing a handle is definetly a skill I wish to learn, but I only have one axe atm, and I don't fancy breaking it just yet

I will buy another cheap one when I can afford it, so I can learn to re-handle it

 

[Man of Tanith]

Ah ok I understand now thanks

One other thing - is this a technique that should be used with a normal axe, considering pounding on wedges etc can distort the eye due to the more malleable metal? Or is it best reserved for a maul?

use a wooden mallet to hit the axe or wedge not metal on metal

 

[Billy1]

use a wooden mallet to hit the axe or wedge not metal on metal

Yeah I realise that but is hammering with the poll down onto a hard chopping block, with the weight of another bit of wood above it is ok? Or should you only do it with a maul?

 

[Mesquite]

Yeah I realise that but is hammering with the poll down onto a hard chopping block, with the weight of another bit of wood above it is ok? Or should you only do it with a maul?

You hopefully won't be doing it all the time so it won't hurt the axe if it's an occasional thing

 

[Man of Tanith]

tis just wood and metal so it's fine

 

[Billy1]

Ok cheers

 

[Haggis]

Please forgive my injecting my opinion, but in nigh 60 years of splitting wood with an axe, I've never had occasion to reverse my axe, and strike the poll against anything in order to split a piece of wood stuck to the blade. If the piece of wood looks difficult (knotty, Elm, Gum, or Beech), start splitting around the edges and work your way in towards the center. If the piece of wood is completely filled with knots, or simply tough, saw it into shorter pieces. Some woods are difficult to split green but split easily when seasoned; the opposite is true of still other woods. Axe handles are not hard to change, but they are hard to change in the bush, and especially so when one is not carrying extra handles. AND, new handles are difficult to make in the bush when one's axe has no helve. My advice, pitiful as it is, is to not do anything that looks like it might break the helve. It will break soon enough on its own without any help. It is after all, simply a piece of wood, and not a particularly heavy piece of wood.

 

[British Red]

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.

 

[British Red]

Here we are Billy

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21413

It may help

 

[ozzy1977]

The trick is to let gravity do the work, not to swing the axe down but use the helve to steady it as it falls. I first saw this done at the weekend and it really does work.

 

[robevs73]

It works, I know as I've done it plenty of times.

 

[Longstrider]

It can help a great deal to have the log on top of the axe as you bring it down, but the extra weight that you lift and swing needs controlling properly to avoid accidents.
However ... Unless you are struggling for wood why bother with tricky looking knotty logs at all ? If you're out in the no-wheres there is almost always more than enough wood to keep a sensible fire going if you look around a bit, without having to resort to splitting troublesome knot-filled logs.

It's a different story when splitting for home use, but then I tend to be splitting logs that I cut up with the chainsaw to begin with, and those that look like they'll be a pain to split get sawn up while I have the saw running instead of being left to be split later.

Knotty Logs - Nil .... Stihl and Forthought - 1

 

[Billy1]

Here we are Billy

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21413

It may help

Yeah it does thanks

Slightly unrelated question but...

In a long term winter northern wilderness travel type situation, would anyone consider taking a Splitting Maul, as well as a Scandinavian Forest Axe, or would the axe be enough on its own? I would guess that seeing how there are ways around splitting large bits of wood with an axe, then it wouldn't be worth the extra weight to take the maul, and that is better suited as an at home kind of tool?