Catersplitter Build Thread

[Blazin]

Awesome work as usual Kevin! That ring roller is a nice tool, beats using a piece of well casing for bending like I do

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Did the same on the other side and now the stabilizer arms are complete.

Up next was to put the 1/2" filler plates on the sides of the box beam. It'll strengthen the beam even more. If I didn't do this I would have had to cut the slide box on all four sides. Not really worried about wear as the other splitters we did this on(on a smaller scale) show basically no wear after many years of service.

Both sides tacked on in final position and slide is VERY nice. Nailed the gaps perfect on this one.

Going to do the swing away tables next. My thoughts are I don't want them overly big as they would be in the way. Swing away will allow easier working and you can have some place to put the splits if someone is stacking. You can also load up with a few bigger rounds. Cut some 2 inch, 1/4" thick angle for the perimeter.

Got it welded up and smoothed. Using 1/4" aluminum floor grating in the center. It's light and It'll allow small trash to fall through. I want tables on both side so when you split a big one you can put one slab on one side and swing out. Split another side off and swing it away and your left with the manageable center section on the log tong. Trying to eliminate the stuff going to the ground.

For the swing arm supports I'm using 1/2" plate as they will take a beating.

Decided to skeletalize the arms to cut the weight and still have the strength. Laid out where I wanted cross supports and drilled pilots with both of them clamped together. Step drilled up to 1 1/8".

After connecting the dots with the plasma I smoothed them up. Next up is get the hinges ready.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

For the hinge I gun drilled some 2" bar stock to 1 1/4". Cut the centers to 1.650 long using a cut off wheel on a surface grinder. Spin the tube in a Harig fixture and I can cut them within .001 and the are perfectly true. Undersized the diameter of the hinge mounts for clearance and drilled/tapped some zerk holes.

Laid the hinge with a bar in the middle in the corner. Self positioning that way and tacked it up. Checked to see if everything was smooth working and put the arm in position and tacked it up as well.

Arm is offcenter of the pin so I can flush mount it to the stabilizer mount. Lets me get 100% weld penetration too. After checking the swing with the tacks, I finish welded the arm to the hinge. Relief holes were made to clear the stabilizer pins.

This position is how the arm will be when the table is up to the splitter beam. When the arms are down I'll have 90 degrees of swing. When they are up, it'll be about 60 degrees. You can see the welds are flushed out on the back side.

Cut out some angle braces and put them on. To help eliminate any twist I put in a strap brace on an angle. Helps both sides as it's a pull and push strength deal.

Angle brace ties into the bottom part of the hinge so it spreads the load forces more.

Here's the end gusset. Being 1/4" on all this it should take the weight it'll see with ease.

Nice to weld on clean steel! Stitch welding most all this stuff.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Done. I gave it 3 stars. After all, the wedge is on the wrong end! :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange: Seriously, I'd have given it 10 stars if they'd let me.

On the pads, why make another set to bolt on? Take your pads that are cut for the rubber, weld on some bar stock to match the x pattern: in other words, when they're in use, the bar stock will sit on either side of your X bars and hold it in place, just set the bottom pads down and put the outriggers down on em. I could draw a sketch if you don't follow my description. For rubber, if you can find a small dairy that's not milking any more, see if they have any rubber cow mats you can scrounge. 1/2 to 1" thick depending, and plenty durable.

Wish I had half the fab tools you have. At least I work in a shop that can make anything (we build our own punch press tooling), but no employee discount on stuff I get made. Little things can sometimes be done on break for free though. Our new 6000W laser cuts 1" steel really nice...

Thanks Steve,
If the wedge wasn't on the ram it would create problems on the big ones. As it would push it through you'd have to release the winch tong or it would swing back or bind. I get enough exercise without having to drag it all back too As you said, we'll agree to disagree.

Good tip on the mats as I still haven't found anything. Earthmover tires would be good too but I haven't come across anything yet. The one time I did do some on a driveway I just through some small pieces of plywood down. No rush on it, I get something eventually. Our backhoe has tires cut on edge, like a rear bushhog tire.

Tools are my weakness. That's what I spend my beer and cigarette money on! Catch 22 sometimes when you work all the overtime, you can save the money for the tools but hard to get the time to use them then.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

[/http://photos.imageevent.com/kevininohio/woodsplitter/websize/MVC-022S_8.JPGimg]

Both tables are done now and up next is the locking system to keep them in position. I'm planning on using some gears I have so I can lock them in every 10 degrees or so depending on what the situation calls for. Reliable and simple is the plan.

[img]http://photos.imageevent.com/kevininohio/woodsplitter/websize/MVC-018S_28.JPG

Found some gears at the local surplus store. The black one has a smaller gear on the underneath side, I'll use that one and the top portion will act as a slide and keep the debris from getting into the teeth. I'll cut the black gear down to fit in the box beam.

The box beam needed to be pretty thick as it will have some force against it. Welded in a shim to get the alignment right, Ground the big gear to size and took off the teeth on the showing side. Ground a radii to match the box beam as well.

Here it is slid inside. I'm going to weld it on the top edge of the table arm. The box does several thing. Protects the springs and keeps debris out, strengthens the table to the hinge and I'm also using it for a stop so the table can't hit the wedge slide.

Gear is 2 piece held together with a tiny roll pin. The radii are ground so it self locates. Also nice if I break a tooth I can flip it around and reuse it. Enough stock I can regrind 90 degrees and get a total of 4 uses.

For a pull arm I'm using a stainless 3/8" rod. Ground a 3/8" slot and I'll TIG weld the rod to the gear. Rod will run mid way through the grating in the table. Release handle will be on the end where it's convenient.

Welded up and now you can see the little gear. The other gear will be bolted in the center of the table hinge. I'll grind a slot on the hinge pin and use a set screw through one of the collars to hold it. The gear may move with just one 5/8" bolt holding it but hopefully that will act as a breakaway.

Got everything welded up. You can see the rod here along with how the box will work. I'll get the pins done next along with the handles for the release.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Both tables are done now and up next is the locking system to keep them in position. I'm planning on using some gears I have so I can lock them in every 10 degrees or so depending on what the situation calls for. Reliable and simple is the plan.

Found some gears at the local surplus store. The black one has a smaller gear on the underneath side, I'll use that one and the top portion will act as a slide and keep the debris from getting into the teeth. I'll cut the black gear down to fit in the box beam.

The box beam needed to be pretty thick as it will have some force against it. Welded in a shim to get the alignment right, Ground the big gear to size and took off the teeth on the showing side. Ground a radii to match the box beam as well.

Here it is slid inside. I'm going to weld it on the top edge of the table arm. The box does several thing. Protects the springs and keeps debris out, strengthens the table to the hinge and I'm also using it for a stop so the table can't hit the wedge slide.

Gear is 2 piece held together with a tiny roll pin. The radii are ground so it self locates. Also nice if I break a tooth I can flip it around and reuse it. Enough stock I can regrind 90 degrees and get a total of 4 uses.

For a pull arm I'm using a stainless 3/8" rod. Ground a 3/8" slot and I'll TIG weld the rod to the gear. Rod will run mid way through the grating in the table. Release handle will be on the end where it's convenient.

Welded up and now you can see the little gear. The other gear will be bolted in the center of the table hinge. I'll grind a slot on the hinge pin and use a set screw through one of the collars to hold it. The gear may move with just one 5/8" bolt holding it but hopefully that will act as a breakaway.

Got everything welded up. You can see the rod here along with how the box will work. I'll get the pins done next along with the handles for the release.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Got the hinge pins drilled and tapped and slid the locking assembly into place. You can see how it works here. All self contained and add washers to stiffen up the spring as needed.

Pushed the assembly in and tightened the 5/8 -11 shcs down. I ground a flat on the shaft and top collar has a set screw to keep it in place. You can see how the top part of the hear I left acts as a scraper to keep the junk out of the teeth.

Release rod is out the front. I cut the rod and ran some threads on it. Used a bigger shaft for a handle and spun the ends down to give a nice smooth grip. Relieved it as well where the rod goes through so it feels good to the hand.

On the bottom side of the hinge I put on some zerks so it will be smooth and last a long time. Tables seem nice and stout.

This end is all complete now except for some final welding on the arms mounts and such. Tables have about 10 different lockable positions in 90 degrees. Should be real handy and save the back.

Started laying out the design of the splitting wedge. As stated earlier, I'm going to make them removable with a single, 4 way split and probably in the future a flat plate for pressing and such.

Cylinder mount is 4 inches wide with a 1 1/2" pin, I'm using a 1 1/2" plate 8 inches high. Centerline of pin will be in the middle of the 8 inches. Using 2 more 1 1/2's to get it to 4 1/2". I'll use 1/4" washers to take out the slop.

When I cut the center plate out I extended it as much as possible. I'm limited by the clearance of the cylinders outer case. Left extra too as I'm building it so I "could" use a 6 inch cylinder in the future if needed.

 

[brenndatomu]

Sweet build! I like your detent system for your split tables, simple but elegant.

 

[ShaneLogs]

Looks like it's coming along well!

 

[Gavman]

great work, impressed how much time you spent on this...

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

If your like me and don't have access to a mill, here is a way that will save a little time grinding angles on heavy steel. I'm doing 45 degree reliefs here but cutting edges can be done the same way. I mount a piece of flat along with the work piece in a vise. Leaving the flat just high enough to let the cutters tip ride along it.

Carefully run the cutter along the edge holding it at the same angle that you want or slightly flatter. Slag makes it looks rougher than it is but you can see how straight it is. I can't freehand very well so this helps me.

Around a minute with the angle grinder gets you this. Saves a lot of time for roughing it in.

To make them really straight I scribe a straight line to the desired edge line using a magic marker as a background. I use a combo square and slide it along, marking as I move it.

I then use the angle grinder and go just to the edge of the line, leaving it peaked towards the center. Keep the grinder fairly flat so it doesn't dig and move one end to the other.

After both edge lines are established, I ink up the outer edges again and start grinding out the center to the edge lines. Being careful not to gouge out the center and leaving a little to play with. Here I am working my way down.

When I get it to this stage I switch to a new 9 inch wheel. I use the whole bottom surface of the wheel that way and it'll get it flat. Ink it all up and you can see it come in. Mounting on a corner like this is a good way to hold it and have the ability for full passes.

The finished 45 degree angle on a 1 inch plate.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

I did the main splitting wedges the same way. Marked a line in the center and went to town. Again, a mill would be a nicer option but sometimes you have to work with what you have.

You can get it pretty close but still a lot of finish grinding to do.

For the slip on wedge I made up a drill hole location template and drilled 4 holes. The 2 in the center are in case I end up having to bolt it tight. I'm going to see if a press fit 7/8" pin and a slide in 5/8" pin will work first. Reaming the 7/8" hole here.

Relieved the corners to be welded so I can get 3 passes of weld on it. Put the wedge sides on to hold it all straight while tacking.

All 3 passes on here and ready to get the backstops ready for welding.

Relieved the backstops as well and double checked both wedge mounts to see if everything was right. It was okay so fire up the welder again. I drilled a hole down through the top pin. That way it will lock the pin in place with one simple, gravity held pin.

Snugged the clamp down and took off the wedge sides.

Welds here lay pretty much flush. Overkill as always, but it makes it nicer to me.

 

[7sleeper]

All I can add is amazing!

7

 

[sam-tip]

Overkill is underrated. Looks Great!

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Cut out 4 1/2 inch plates and drilled the 1 1/2 inch holes for the cylinder mount. I ground reliefs again on the edges that will be welded. Slid the pin in to check the location.

Just to be safe, I put the cylinder in to double check all the clearances and alignment. Checked okay so I'll weld them on.

2 passes of weld lay pretty much flush with the sides so a little relief will clear it on the next piece.

Close up shows what I'm referring to.

Stair stepped the next layer back and the beads basically make the correct angle for the wedge effect. Everything welded here and cleaned up.

Side plates are welded completely around the edges. Beads are flush and total thickness is 1 inch per side. Will start on the wedges next.

As mentioned earlier, wedges will be removable. Got the 1 inch side plates relieved in all the needed areas and cut the tapered slot for the pin mount. Notice I put a spacer under the wedge so it won't dig into the beam

Deep reliefs but I want a lot of strength here. I get about 3/4" penetration this way.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

All welded up. I'll make the other one exactly the same and add some wings to make it a 4 way split.

This is on the inside of the wedge. I relieved it too and it lays flush as well. Hopefully this will be enough to keep it all together.

Bottom pin is a press fit and stays. Top pin slides in and is drilled for a simple bolt to hold it in place. It's protected and leaving it long makes it easy to pull out while gravity does it's thing.

To make it easy to get the hole aligned I ground an arrow in the pin and filed a hash mark to locate it correctly. Takes the guesswork out of it.

For the wings I made a template of the needed contour. I rough cut them with the plasma and went to the angle grinder. I got one right and then laid the other one behind and used it as a guide to grind to.

These will take some serious stress so I relieved from both sides till only an 1/8" was left in the middle. Should be 100% penetration that way.

I tilted the wings up so the wood doesn't get pinched on the bottom. Wedge angle goes up only as you can see. Here they both are all cleaned up after welding.

Decided to mount it all up to see what it looks like. Centerline of the cross is on center with the ram.

 

[redheadwoodshed]

I really like that 4-way design you got there.Should be quick and easy to swap out.Keep up the good work.

 

[andydodgegeek]

Amazing!!! And I thought I did alot of work in my garage. Very nice work. I would like to try splitting with that thing. Excellent thread.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Put the cylinder at full extend with about 1/8" space between the wedges and back plate. This way takes the guess work out of the rear mount location. Set the centerline of the pin the same as the slide. Double checked the space between cylinder bottom and beam and it is the same everywhere.

Plan is to use 2, 1/2" plates per side for the mount. Making this a little more complicated as I'm leaving clearance for up grading to a 6 inch cylinder if needed. here you can see the needed clearance for future use.

This will give it enough to clear the body. The pin section can be cut out with a hole saw and another plate scabbed on the outside and it should be ready if I decide to upgrade.

Relieved all the plates and clamped it up. Kept adjusting till everything was not binding and straight. Then put several tack welds on it.

I welded the plate to the beam on the inside. I knew it would warp in so To try to keep it at a minimum I used bar stock about .150 bigger than what I wanted to finish size to be. Spread it and drop them in near the edges. I then welded it complete along with the outside plates.

These are the welds running up the angle and I did them vertical. The welder is working well and I have the settings down.

This is the bottom view of the mount. It's 23 inches long and some marathon welding here. Decided not to stitch these either. One pass on the 2 plate joint and 2 passes on the plate to beam.

Close up of the bottom welds all cleaned up.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Decided to put a center plate in and weld 2 strips in to fill the gap. Got it tacked here, equally spaced on the bottom and will stagger weld the bottom top chase the weld warp.

Cut out the plates along with a small piece to bridge the top. Welded it all up and I think it is there to stay!

Here you can see the reliefs and how it will allow a bigger cylinder if needed. Notice no weld near the pin hole so it can be cut out easily.

Hole in the top plate is for easy access to the zerk fitting on the back of the cylinder.

Got all the welds cleaned up and reassembled it. Starting to look like something again.

Everything slid together nicely. You double check everything but their is always that worry in the back of your mind you missed something.

The working end is okay as well. Everything seems out of scale because of the size of things. A 24 inch log will look small in there!

Did some layout and started with the hydraulic tank. Decided on the best place for the pick up hole and cut the hole. Then welded on the threaded bung.