# Wood grenade



## AngelofDarkness (Oct 16, 2007)

I was out splitting the other evening with a friend and he had a Wood Grenade wedge that I tried out. I stuck that thing in the center of big block of sugar maple and proceeded to bang away with the business end of my 12-lb monster maul. It went into the log about maybe an inch and a half and stopped dead. I wailed on it harder and harder. Nothing. Finally I hit it so hard it bounced out! 

I gave up.

It seems like a cool idea that would really work well. I think that maple was so green it acted like a sponge, absorbing the energy of my blows. There was no natural cracks in the wood. Maybe if it dried a bit and became a bit more brittle it would work better. 

I also found a way to bend the tip of the Wood Grenade slightly. I was impressed.


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## JBinKC (Oct 17, 2007)

The wood grenade works well but the durability of it is suspect. Had way too many fracture about 2 inches above the tip on rather low amount of usage. I much prefer using the estwing wedge for durability.


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## saginaw22 (Oct 17, 2007)

I have one and split a about 20-30 face cords of wood......

works well i like it goes in a lot easier than a regular wedge, but
the hard stuff with knots might need another wedge to help out.

No complants over here just have to work around the out side of the 
log and work your way into the log.


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## AngelofDarkness (Oct 17, 2007)

I tried it again tonight with some success. I have to hit it really hard, a real 12 lb. sledgehammer works better than the hammer face of a maul. Me and some friends hand split about 1/2 cord tonight, lots of work but lots of fun, its very rewarding seeing a pile of split firewood that you did all by hand.


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## CharlieG (Oct 17, 2007)

The estwing is a good wedge, and American made. Get a few and you won't be dissappointed. Its got little ramps on the side toward the striking face that further forces the wood apart.


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## JPE (Oct 18, 2007)

CharlieG said:


> The estwing is a good wedge, and American made. Get a few and you won't be dissappointed. Its got little ramps on the side toward the striking face that further forces the wood apart.



Couldn't find it on the estwing website. Do they still make them? Know anywhere I could get one?


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## starter (Oct 18, 2007)

JPE said:


> Couldn't find it on the estwing website. Do they still make them? Know anywhere I could get one?



+1


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## JBinKC (Oct 18, 2007)

JPE said:


> Couldn't find it on the estwing website. Do they still make them? Know anywhere I could get one?



Try any Ace hardware or the Ace hardware website. Type in splitting wedge for a description. Last year, I bought one at a retail Ace Hardware store.


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## CharlieG (Oct 18, 2007)

I think I bought my wedges at the local Ace hardware store. Home Depot also had them, and cheaper. They also have the imports, which I try to avoid.


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## Wood Scrounge (Oct 18, 2007)

CharlieG said:


> I think I bought my wedges at the local Ace hardware store. Home Depot also had them, and cheaper. They also have the imports, which I try to avoid.



I have a wedge that I got from my grandfather that he said he just always had probably 80 years old, the thing is still good. I bought a Chinese wedge from home depot 3 years ago that just had a huge chunk of steel shoot off the side that had the force of a 12 gauge (slight exaggeration). Why is everything junk anymore!!!????


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## JPE (Oct 18, 2007)

Here it is on the Ace Hardware page:
http://www.acehardware.com


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## EastwoodGang4 (Oct 18, 2007)

*estwing wedges*

The home Depot by me carries the estwing wedges but they're hidden in the section below the estwing claw hammers right down by the floor . check it out. they don't have them over by the mauls and such...DUH  

I tried a grenade too..... in wet wood they bounce or slip out really easy. in the dried rounds with cracks they work better and a heavy sledge works the best I've also found.

I really like the estwing wedges BTW


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## CharlieG (Oct 18, 2007)

When using my wedges, I find that working the wedge into the wood closer to the bark splits it easier. On difficult wood I'll use the chainsaw to cut notches to help start the wedge penetration, so that it doesn't come back on me. The Estwing wedge (Model # E5) has worked well for me and I recommend it. Like Eastwoodgang said, Home Depot doesn't make it easy to find them. But they are worth the effort. The additional bump outs toward the stiking end of the wedge really helps to force the wood apart. After reading the post, I got my Estwing wedge out and into some red oak. Tapped into start, then some light blows to seat it into the wood, and about three real hits later it was in two big pieces (30" round).


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## Butch(OH) (Oct 19, 2007)

Thought that "wood grenade" was just another name for a Poulan saw??


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## Smokerr (Nov 23, 2008)

Estwing Wedge:

Design wise I think it is the best mix of all features. Narrow enough to cut into the wood and start the split. Does a great job until it hits the ramps, and then if all is well, it blows the round wide open, and if it does not, it has it broken open so wide that you can follow on down through the split with the mall.

It does have some problems,

Too Soft: That's the worst, if you pound on it (and I have to with the fibrous birch and nasty Spruce we run into) it starts to dent and fold over. That's with only 3 or 4 days chopping, and only like a weeks worth of burning wood. I alrady had to grind down the head to get the head cleaned up (so soft it does not look like it will split off and hit someone or something but bad news). I would guess by the end of winter its no longer usable. Will see. I have a bench grinder so I can keep in good shape, but it will keep moving down the shaft and wind up too short to be useful.

Other part is more minor but also fixable. It tends to bounce out if the round has a lot of spring back resistance. I.e. its going in, but not staying split yet. That exists from the start and particularly bad with that type round when you hit the fins and it wants to blast it open, but even more rebound due to the much wider split attempt. 

Solution would seem to be to roughen it, or put revers ridges (i.e. barbs) along the whole thing so it does not do that. You would not be able to remove, but with two wedges and an maul, I have yet to run into a round that it won't blow open. Design wise its perfect function wise from the shape and action.

Cutting rounds in half with a chain saw seems seriously counter productive. A lot of time and gas when better options (including a powered splitter, preferably electric as that's more efficient) 

http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/hammer.gi


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## peterc38 (Nov 23, 2008)

Wood Scrounge said:


> I have a wedge that I got from my grandfather that he said he just always had probably 80 years old, the thing is still good. I bought a Chinese wedge from home depot 3 years ago that just had a huge chunk of steel shoot off the side that had the force of a 12 gauge (slight exaggeration). Why is everything junk anymore!!!????




There was a guy here in Maine that died from a piece of a wedge breaking off a few months ago. Severed his femoral artery and he couldn't get to help in time.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20080924-NEWS-80924006

I split everything by hand and I agree to stay away from the chinese junk. I have the estwing super-split wedge that I have used a lot and been very satisfied with. Got it at Home Cheapo. Still, after reading that story about that guy dying that way, I can't help but be a little nervous. Right now, I'mn trying to talk the CFO into buying a gsas splitter.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/[email protected]&ddkey=Search


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## fbh31118 (Nov 23, 2008)

I also have a wood grenade. It is not a good tool for wet wood, it does tend to pop right back out of the hole. If your wood is in decent shape though, it does a pretty good job and I have yet to get any splits or pieces to break off mine yet and that's after 4 years.


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## crowbuster (Nov 23, 2008)

All mine broke in a short while, thats why I thought they called them grenades, they blow into shrapnel. 

C.B.


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## BaldSawRunner (Nov 23, 2008)

Are these wood grenades the squarish 4-way looking ones? Or are they the round ones? I have a round one and that thing is a waste of time and effort. All it does when you pound it in is bore a tapered hole into the round.

My dad bought it a long time ago.


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## nmr1981 (May 3, 2009)

I was a skeptic at first. I put the grenade in the center of a large round of ash it went in about an inch and that was it. I had to use 2 traditional wedges to get it out. The key is to use the grenade about 2 inches from the edge of a big round and hit it a couple of times and the round will break cleanly in half! it worked great for the price!


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## cornhelper (May 4, 2009)

*Mine broke too!*

After many years of years of use and abuse my wood grenade broke also, right at that sweet spot 2 inches above the point.


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## turnkey4099 (May 4, 2009)

When shopping for wedges, look in the pawn shops/secondhand stores. You'll get them cheaper and usually the old, high quality, American made ones. They will probably be mushroomed but that cleans up. I haven't been in any of those shops that didn't have a few wedges, some mauls, sledges, axes. Almost my entire collection of wood making tools came out of such shops.

Harry K


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## tex_n_cal (May 4, 2009)

Out of curiosity, anyone know what types of steels are used for ax heads & wedges? How they are heat treated?


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## Mike Van (May 4, 2009)

Like Harry, I've got a dozen old wedges, mostly from tag sales & junk shops. Some of them 25 cents apiece. I'll never wear them out - Nor do I want to!


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## Haywire Haywood (May 4, 2009)

Wood Scrounge said:


> Why is everything junk anymore!!!????



Because we demand cheap goods, at least most of us do. You walk up to a counter with a selection of wedges and one is $5 and one is $20. I'll hazard a WAG that 90% will pick up the $5 one. That one is junk and imported from India or China. The other one is not junk but still might be imported from India or China. It's cheaper for the importers to make and import the junk than it is to make it here because they're paying their workers $20 a day instead of $20 an hour.

Ian


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## 4seasons (May 4, 2009)

Haywire Haywood said:


> Because we demand cheap goods, at least most of us do. You walk up to a counter with a selection of wedges and one is $5 and one is $20. I'll hazard a WAG that 90% will pick up the $5 one. That one is junk and imported from India or China. The other one is not junk but still might be imported from India or China. It's cheaper for the importers to make and import the junk than it is to make it here because they're paying their workers $20 a day instead of $20 an hour.
> 
> Ian



I call it a Wal-Mart mentality. We have a whole generation of people that have used disposable products. Use it up and throw it out. It springs from laziness. If it cost half as much I don't have to work as hard to get it. Then when it breaks I'm not out as much so I won't try to fix it. Once upon a time when something was broken/worn out you took it to a fix-it shop and had it repaired. Shoes, computer monitors, tv's, chainsaws, etc. went to a repair shop. Now when your neighbor's Wild Thing quits running he thinks well it's lasted me three years I just junk it and go to Wal-mart and get another piece of cheap plastic crap to replace it. He never thinks about the fact he only used it to cut 2 trees in the 3 years he had it. If people would stay out of Wal-mart we wouldn't have to put up with so much junk or the crappy customer service that goes with it.


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## Haywire Haywood (May 4, 2009)

Have you ever tried to survive without going to Walmart or it's siblings (Kmart, Target, Meijer etc)? If you do find what you need at a mom-n-pop, it's the same crap but at a higher price. Might as well buy from Walmart, that's where they got it.

Ian


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## woodbooga (May 4, 2009)

Mike Van said:


> Like Harry, I've got a dozen old wedges, mostly from tag sales & junk shops. Some of them 25 cents apiece. I'll never wear them out - Nor do I want to!



I must have overpaid. I'm into mine for a buck a piece. A couple are nicely "mushroomed" on the receiving end after decades of sledging.


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## 4seasons (May 4, 2009)

Haywire Haywood said:


> Have you ever tried to survive without going to Walmart or it's siblings (Kmart, Target, Meijer etc)? If you do find what you need at a mom-n-pop, it's the same crap but at a higher price. Might as well buy from Walmart, that's where they got it.
> 
> Ian



I haven't been it Walmart in over a year, haven't bought anything there in over 6 years. I buy a lot of stuff used, online, or small shops. Although I do have an advantage on buying from out of the way places because I deliver to a 200 square mile area in my day job. You can find me on my lunch break anywhere from Mountain City to Crossville in some business checking to see if they have that one oddball no one has ever heard of item that a used 15 years ago. When I go in a store and ask for something that no one has ever heard of and the sales guy still tries to help me, or even better the guy behind the counter has used it before and if he doesn't have one he can order it for me, that is where I do business. And I don't buy crap period. I want the best and am willing to pay to get it.


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