Splitting Logs into Whittling Sized Pieces.

[Mick w.]

Hi folks, hope someone can help me with this one!
Being economically challenged, most of the bits of wood I have collected have been stuff off the woodland floor. Someone's been doing a bit of clearing up, so it's mainly dry, and mainly birch which seems to be fortunate.
However, I only have a normal hand saw, so when I get a decent size chunk home, it's a bugger to chop down into whittling sized pieces! So, what's my best approach? Buy a bow saw which would probably be quicker (and the cheapest option), or an axe and learn to split the logs that way? (in which case, what size of axe - forest axe size, or that cute little kubben one?!)
A band saw would be best, I know, but space and money are pretty much ruling that out at the moment.
I should also add that |I'm very new to this wood carving/whittling lark, so please feel free to sound patronising!

 

[awarner]

Depending on what size logs you want to split a cheap option is a grenade splitter
http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-wood-grenade-log-splitter/51334

May help on a budget

 

[roger-uk]

Depending on what size logs you want to split a cheap option is a grenade splitter
http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-wood-grenade-log-splitter/51334

May help on a budget

We have two in the scout group and they are brilliant. We usually tap them in to hold an dthen one whack with sledge hammer.

No one is brave enough to hold, the grenade

Not even the daftest of Scout.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

I do a fair bit of carving and need various sizes of wood for projects.

I tend to do most of the cutting and splitting in situ in the woods as it makes fitting it into a pack and transporting much easier.

I generally use a Laplander folding saw and either a gb mini hatchet or small forest axe depending on where I'm going. I usually use the axe as a wedge and use a branch to strike the back like battening with a knife.

I suppose the question is how much do you want to spend,how compact do you need things to be and how much work are you going to be using it for.

A good bow saw and axe will allow you to cut rounds and then split them to whatever sizes you want.
You don't state what it is you are hoping to whittle but an axe may give you the scope to carving larger items if that's something you fancy doing and is also useful for roughing out carvings before doing fine work with a knife.
Smaller branches can be split by battening with a good knife.

Hope that helps, Hamster

 

[Chiseller]

Hand whittled oak log splitter. I demonstrated it using just a laplander to put a shallow groove in the target log. Batonned the wedge to start the split, inverted the log to use its own weight, bang, job done.

Sent from my HTC Explorer using Tapatalk 2

 

[Kepis]

Hand whittled oak log splitter. I demonstrated it using just a laplander to put a shallow groove in the target log. Batonned the wedge to start the split, inverted the log to use its own weight, bang, job done.

Sent from my HTC Explorer using Tapatalk 2

Beat me to it, wooden wedges are a forgotten art, i used some hazel wedges and my wooden maul yesterday whilst in the woods to split a bit of seasoned birch 1ft in diameter, worked a treat, doesnt mater if you break or forget one either, just make another.

 

[Mick w.]

Nice ideas there, thanx. I like the idea of a hardwood homemade wedge - cheap and cheerful, and just 'daft' enough to appeal to my sense of humour if you know what I mean!
A small axe would probably be handy for the initial roughing out though; I tried to use a saw on a bit of fairly green birch yesterday and it seemed to take forever. I was only trying to get a very rough spoon blank (my first ever attemp at a spoon!) out of it.
I saw a lovely axminster scroll cutting saw on t'interweb yesterday, only about £250... it would be ideal, but even if I had £250 to spare it would have to be spent on decorating at the moment or I'd end up in the divorce courts or hospital!

 

[udamiano]

Yep wooden wedges it what I usually use, they are light and can be made on site

I've sunk a couple of 2 pence pieces into the heads of the ones above, to act as strike plates and help to stop them splitting. Ive got some steel ones as well as a splitting maul for the really big stuff

 

[Whittler Kev]

From BushclassUSA. How to split logs with a saw
[video=youtube;g-pXL-eQ9v4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-pXL-eQ9v4&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[Kepis]

Cutting with a sharp saw against the inside of your leg, now there's a safe idea, i would have thought Terry would know better than to show that, much easier and safer to place that log you are sawing on a surface, like say, another log to steady it, less risk of a nasty or indeed fatal accident should that saw slip and hit the major blood vessels in your leg,

This chap from East Sussex shows how to do it safely

[video=youtube;lSOXU0rrqOM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSOXU0rrqOM[/video]

 

[jackcbr]

He seems to know his onions. Is he on the forum? Not seen his name on the meet list yet.

 

[Kepis]

He seems to know his onions. Is he on the forum? Not seen his name on the meet list yet.

Rumour has it he goes to the same woods as us sometimes

 

[jackcbr]

And there was me worried there were bears in the wood.

 

[Kepis]

We would have to make sausages & Gryll them if there were

 

[jackcbr]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bear sausage. Would I need to be leaping from a tree on a rope made from the hair of a yak whilst wearing a dead sheep to eat those?

As a side point my new nickname at work (that they use to my face anyway) is an amalgamation of the too great men. I'm now known as Teddybear Grylls.

 

[Kepis]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bear sausage. Would I need to be leaping from a tree on a rope made from the hair of a yak whilst wearing a dead sheep to eat those?

as a 'Bear' minimum id say

 

[Mick w.]

More useful stuff, although Uncle Ray's method may be a bit tricky on thick logs. His folding saw looks a lot sharper than my B&Q jobby, any recommendations there? Budget-friendly, of course..