Brilliant method of chopping firewood.

[Ed.]

Hi Guys, I was on another forum and came across this link which I thought might be of interest to those who chop firewood on this forum. Not sure if it works this well on softwoods only or if it would work on hardwoods as well. Certainly looks much easier and quicker than hydraulic splitters. Looks very simple to make too.

http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=38024

Cheers

Ed.

[r.man]

That looks interesting. I am guessing that the splitter has a lot of weight and inertia. Looks like a nice simple and cheap way to split wood without being hard on your body.

[Icehouse]

That's quite a wood splitter, seems like simple design, why didn't I think of that. As usual just a little late. Keep your fingers ( out of the way) of course.

[doctorb]

Ditto on the fingers.

[Red Good]

Looks like a car / truck suspension spring ? So what do you think the splitting head weighs ? Looks like a good idea . Red

[Ed.]

I would estimate that the head itself is about 60Kg but it also depends whether or not the arm is solid bar or tube, could be another 40-60kg there as well, but I am just guessing!

[WildDog]

Not sure if it works this well on softwoods only or if it would work on hardwoods as well.

Talking Aussie hardwoods here, it might work on straight grained Stringy Bark but cranky grained Red Gum, Iron Bark and Box would probably be a challenge.

[Ed.]

Only one way to find out, one of you enterprising fellas will have to build one and try it out then let the rest of us know. I would do it but don't have a need for it as I don't even have a fireplace, however I have noted it down in case I ever move and do decide to have a fireplace then I definetly will have a go at it.

Although however, having said that, if I ever sell up and move it probably will  be further north from where we are and the main concern will be  too much heat and not cold.  :laugh:

Cheers

Ed.

[Oliver1655]

Notice the 12" length of the wood. I don't think it would work for the 20 - 24" lengths OWB use.

[flashhole]

I wonder if they calculated out the spring tension or just experimented to get the balance right.  Pretty slick method.  I bet it would handle a 16" - 18" length easily.

[Al_Smith]

Ingenious ,simple physics .

[SLawyer Dave]

I could see it working on some straight grained, non stringy varieties of wood, but not most of the ones we use here in California.  Cutting up a lot of yard trees like I do for firewood, that system would work well for Privit and Catalpas, (some of the easiest splitting wood I have ever cut).  It might even be ok for ash and really dry pine.  For oak, eucalyptus, madrone, and fruitwoods, however, I don't think it would work very well at all.  If you notice in the video, when splitting a full round, the operator several times "pushes" the head through the log after the initial inertia of the downstrike left the head barely in the wood.  It was able to start a split, but then the operator finished the split by simply pushing down on the head.  That WON'T work with most woods, as they are too stringy and need a lot of pressure per square inch to force the split through the rest of the round.   

[Al_Smith]

I don't know about Califonia oak but Ohio oaks splits relatively easy meaning red or white oak .Pin oak not so much so .

[AnthonyW]

Between the short lengths and straight grain, I'm thinking it looks good but not fully practical. OWB length knotty and/or stringy wood couldn't be split by that thing.

[giant splinter]

Thats what engineers come up with when gasoline gets over $10.00 bucks a gallon.

[Al_Smith]

Gasoline believe it or not in retrospect to wages really isn't that high .When it was 27 cents a gallon in 1966 I was making $2.72 an hour as a class a welder .That was considered a pretty good wage back then .

Now don't get me wrong I dislike paying $3.28 a gallon but not as much as 4 bucks .

[beenthere]

Gas at around $.30 a gal in '57 and a laborer's wage was $1. 

So Al .is right IMO that gas is cheap not overly expensive now compared to then, even at $4 a gal.

We went through some years where gas was VERY reasonable and became quite spoiled - is that thanks to the oil companies or what?

[LAZERDAN]

Hey Al     Did you say  You were a Class A welder   or  a "Classay welder" ??  Lazerdan