Wood splitter design

[doc henderson]

I bought a set of 1, 2, 3, & 4 inch clip on stops, that add up to 10 inches.  takes my 32 inch down to 22 inch.  good for the target of 16 to 18 inch wood for my stove.  for an occasional longer chunk, no tools to unclip what you need.

[mike_belben]

Those crates are awesome, i woulda loved to have a pile of those when i was moving.  


I make these now from slabs with the air nailer and chainsaw. A span of bailing twine keeps them from spreading.

[Al_Smith]

A zillion ways to skin a cat .As an alternative instead of relying on  a detent a stroke control valve could be used with a shaft collar on the cylinder rod that could be adjusted for length  .However it would not trip the detent just stop the flow I think .Depends on the type and how it's hooked up . 
In my case with only 19" of stroke with a 24.5" range I really don't need it as the detent  in the control valve does the job .Just a thought .I suppose though if you stacked about three sturdy shaft collars one after another you could get the same effect from the control valve detent .

[moodnacreek]

How on earth do you make a sprocket with a cutting torch hah  

With a cutting torch and a grinder.  This is not roller chain.  These conveyers don't even run [they can] they jog. The pitch for '78' chain is 2.609". It helps to have a sprocket for a pattern. In sawmill machinery this is a very common chain and pitch size. On my green chain there are 4 of these sprockets made in 8 pieces and clamped on the shaft. Everything was done with a torch. On our other conveyers we bought the sprockets as blanks and finished them. Amateurs are afraid of this hardware because it looks so expensive but if you cut and weld steel it is the best way to go.

[mike_belben]

you can also use a hammer drill with core bits in a mag drill to just blow holes into scribed and center punched locations in a flat plate.  then clean off the trimmings with a portaband or even sawzall.   itll give you perfect circles in the tooth gullet.  just use the right sized annular cutter. 

a little mathing will get you the right circumference scribed off a center point to lay out your tooth distance from center, and then a decent angle gauge can scribe each tooth location on the circumference line.  a dividing head and a dremming drill in a bridgeport could also do this quite easy though not as clean as the annular cutter.  

[Al_Smith]

If I'm not mistaken in one of my machinists books it lays out the set up to cut sprockets .I haven't needed to so but I have machined sprockets for gear reduction old chainsaws .With the right set up there isn't much you can't do on a Bridgeport milling machine even if it is over 70 plus years old .Measure two or three times then cut once else you get to do it all over again----been there too  ;)  

[jmur1]

Sometimes with a little searching and you can find a sketch and some dimensions that can help you scale up a pattern.

I also have a program that will make sprockets to the desired size - If you have a request Ill try it out.





 





A-Plate Sprockets for WR78/WH78 Offset Sidebar Welded Steel Chain


if you click on the sprocket in the link it will give you the dimensions for the different numbers of teeth.

jmur1

[JoshNZ]

I've actually given up on the chain loader idea, simply because it wouldn't really work for queuing up small rounds which makes it no more useful than just a lifting platform, so that's where I'm going with it I think.



 

This is where I'm at with it now, and have got the wedge machined up and the 3pt hardware welded on. I dragged the two rams apart yesterday and sent the piston off to hydraulic shop to order seals for.

I did find a 1:2.8 mower gearbox for cheap, and have got my eye on another pump with 85cc or so displacement so am thinking about going back to the PTO idea. What a rollercoaster.

It's all going to come to a crashing halt soon, haven't got a spool set big enough, or hoses yet.

[doc henderson]

the sprockets I got were available online.  they are 4 inch diameter, and fit the detachable chain i was using.  I think about 20 bucks.  worth it unless you have all the equipment to make them.  should be proper steel and hardness ect.  I will try to double check the detachable link chain size, and see if I have any remnant of where I got the parts.  

[doc henderson]

Josh that is a unique design.  it looks great.  can we get a pic from under the table.  curious how that is all braced up.  I assume the beam goes through enough to box it to itself and withstand the force generated.

[JoshNZ]

The beam is welded at a right angle with stiffiners continuing off flanges and capped both ends. It would handle the tonnage by itself, the frame and bench are just there so you don't have to do it on the ground haha.

I'll get one from under later on.



 

 

[mike_belben]

I like it. 

But you may as well just go ahead and mount a trailer hub spindle up top for a gantry crane.  Anderson quick connects off the tractor and a remote control ATV winch with tongs.  Watch those whoppers wrestle themselves up on the table with one thumb press. 

[Hilltop366]

 

 I took a couple of pictures of my brothers wood splitter while I was in his garage today, It is called a Hall's wood splitter made in Cambridge Nova Scotia.

The pictures show the Non-dented valve with a rubber bungie cord that someone put on (I think it originally had a spring) when you let go of the valve the bungie cord puts it in retract and the adjustable kick out hits the piece added to the bottom of the valve leaver.



 

[JoshNZ]

That is pretty clever, I figured there was a way to make an auto return without springing for an expensive valve designed with it.

I'm not sure I like the idea of the ram always moving, that makes it either stopped at the top or descending/ascending but not stopped anywhere else right

[JoshNZ]

I like it.

But you may as well just go ahead and mount a trailer hub spindle up top for a gantry crane.  Anderson quick connects off the tractor and a remote control ATV winch with tongs.  Watch those whoppers wrestle themselves up on the table with one thumb press.

Haha  :D that is definitely another idea

[Hilltop366]

That is pretty clever, I figured there was a way to make an auto return without springing for an expensive valve designed with it.

I'm not sure I like the idea of the ram always moving, that makes it either stopped at the top or descending/ascending but not stopped anywhere else right

I used this wood splitter for 4 cord this year, It did't take long to learn to "feather" the valve if I wanted to stop and hold the pusher in any position however the down side was it occupied one hand to do it but that was minor, it would not be an issue with a foot control.


Adding to this idea for a horizontal splitter or processor that you may want a auto cycle valve without buying an expensive valve would be to make the control valve handle so it would pivot to the side a bit and install a bearing on the leaver shaft so that when you push the leaver forward the bearing would sit in a notch to hold it in the forward position until the ram is fully extended and then a bump on a rod pushes the bearing out the notch and the leaver is pulled back into the return position by a spring.

[moodnacreek]

I've actually given up on the chain loader idea, simply because it wouldn't really work for queuing up small rounds which makes it no more useful than just a lifting platform, so that's where I'm going with it I think.



 

This is where I'm at with it now, and have got the wedge machined up and the 3pt hardware welded on. I dragged the two rams apart yesterday and sent the piston off to hydraulic shop to order seals for.

I did find a 1:2.8 mower gearbox for cheap, and have got my eye on another pump with 85cc or so displacement so am thinking about going back to the PTO idea. What a rollercoaster.

It's all going to come to a crashing halt soon, haven't got a spool set big enough, or hoses yet.

If you do enough fire wood long enough you will understand the chain conveyer / table .

[moodnacreek]

Sometimes with a little searching and you can find a sketch and some dimensions that can help you scale up a pattern.

I also have a program that will make sprockets to the desired size - If you have a request Ill try it out.





 





A-Plate Sprockets for WR78/WH78 Offset Sidebar Welded Steel Chain


if you click on the sprocket in the link it will give you the dimensions for the different numbers of teeth.

jmur1

Great post. These sprockets can be bored and welded to a shaft, no need to broach and key. Do you know the meaning of 'A' or 'B' plate? I do not.

[Hilltop366]

I liked the conveyer idea, it would be smoother and more continuous than a lift arm especially if you have some one to load it.

I'm not sure what the majority size of the logs are that you will be cutting for fire wood but if most were not larger in diameter than the block was long I was wondering if a more of a V or U shaped  conveyer with a single chain in the middle would work with the rounds laying horizontal in the tray that way the smaller blocks will work too. If the conveyer was a bit higher than the table (maybe the centre of the axle half the height of a block?) the blocks of wood would stand up on their end as they come off the conveyer.

[JoshNZ]

Haha Sheesh you guys are optimistic 😆 my firewood rounds are anything but uniform, unfortunately.

I bet there is an optimum distance I could have the two chains, narrow enough that smaller rounds can sit between them lying down and large enough that big rounds can balance.

Maybe I'll keep the idea on the table

[doc henderson]

I found what I had in a box of parts and pieces.  here is some chain, a link, a stand up link, a tool for putting together and apart the detachable link.



 

[JoshNZ]

I know a guy who sells a bunch of old stuff at a sawmill building plant and noticed he had a box of log table chain, it'd cost me next to nothing id say, but I would need to somehow add something to the chain for traction. I could get another friend to plasma cut me a hundred little triangles for next to nothing too I'm sure xD. And blip a triangle onto every second link with the welder  ???

[Al_Smith]

They used that type of chain on old corn planters etc . .On the subject if you are creative and can find old junk machinery perhaps the gathering chains from an old corn picker would work .

[DMcCoy]

Doc H's picture looks like #55 steel detach chain.  I use #55 commonly and #34 for my firewood conveyor.   I commonly weld flighting (paddles) onto mine when I need to move potting soil in my nursery transplanting machine as well as a sawdust drag for my sawmill.  1" angle iron works best for sawdust flighting in my experience.
Like Doc H's picture shows there is also factory link attachments.
This is the company I use for chain and parts.  Most everything they carry is also available on Ebay.
D & L Cahin, Inc. Home

[doc henderson]

the link did have a 55 on it.