I've never used one myself but they've been discussed on here before and I believe the consensus was that they're rubbish. They' don't look at all effective to me, there's energy being wasted all over the place.
If you want a similar set up for splitting logs you could take whatever big log you were going to sit this tool in and a cold chisel, this type works well: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Han...g+Bars/Bolster+Chisel+100mm/d10/sd3192/p36499
Drill the hole in the block just the same as you would for the tool in the video, but make the hole big enough to fit the handle of the cold chisel, drop the chisel into the hole and you've now got a nice solid splitting edge that's going nowhere. To split your firewood you simply rest it on the edge of the chisel and hit it with a large blunt object. Everything's really safe, the only things that move are the firewood and the blunt object, and as an added bonus you never have to touch any metal so your fingers don't freeze in the winter.
Cheers,
Stuart.
sorry for the link rather than a simple image, I'm having trouble posting images at the moment for some reason
Lars does not rate them anyway, 22mins or so in,,,,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpnGzW5Loic
Things looks about as much use as a door stop, the amount of effort in throwing down the wedge each time has to be similar if not more than the effort of swinging a well sharpened axe?
Nice idea but doesn't that run the risk that the wedge won't split it enough to open it up wide enough?.....
....How would you deal with a stuck chisel? .....
Same as any method it works best with correctly sized timber, woodburner size (about 14" for mine) works fine.
Stuck into the base block you mean? If so, I just leave it there, that's where it lives. Or did you mean stuck in the log that I'm spitting? If so, see above.
It's not so much a nice idea as a tool that I've been using in one form or another for the last couple of decades, and I'm not alone, the same system but using the hardy hole of an anvil is pretty much standard practice for blacksmiths
Yeah, I meant if it was stuck in the wood.