Proper Splitting Swing

[Islander]

Tire & Bungee Ideas

After watching the video, I'm planning to give these ideas a try this weekend.

If I look at how much energy I waste on fetching "launchers", and the safety issues too, seems like its worth a shot.

I do lean manufacturing stuff for work, and we always harp on eliminating wasted motion. For splitting wood, the act of actually splitting the wood is value added work, but all that gathering and moving is not. Seems like these methods could eliminate some of the waste...

Between using a DR Powerwagon to move wood from the woodlot to the pile, better organizing my wood pile (adding pallets for "book ends" has helped save time by not having to cross-stacking the ends), and splitting in smaller batches next to the main pile (avoiding piles of unsplit rounds that need moving), I'm getting leaner and spending more time on the fun stuff...internal combustion therapy (chainsaw), splitting, and of course burning.

 

[Woodjack]

:agree2:

I've been using a tire for a month or so now--can't believe I used to split wood without one! Between my pulp hook and the tire on my chopping block, my back is in heaven!!! I also like the added safety of the tire absorbing any misses or glancing blows.

NP

any pics?

 

[woodbooga]

I am right handed, but swing the maul left handed. This allows my more coordinated right hand to aim the maul, since it is the hand that stays fixed at the base of the handle.

I'm the same way. Ditto with swinging a baseball bat, sweeping with a broom, raking, playing put-put golf, or anything else with a handle.

I guess I use a hybrid technique. I lift the head of the maul to the apex with my left hand off to the side and let it drop in one continuous motion. The maul's ascent begins at around hip height.

I do the all in front of me method if aim is an absolute priority, e.g., if I'm halving a too-large split or putting the finishing touches on a cleave that made it only 2/3's through on the previous whack.

I've been splitting a lot of white pine fof kindling lately. For that I use an axe - all in front.

 

[coog]

I don't think I'd better analyze my swing too much; I'd probably hit my foot if I tried to swing and think at the same time.

I have somewhat of the same Left/Right issue as you, except I use my left as my trigger hand on guns and chainsaws even though I'm right handed.

 

[woodbooga]

I don't think I'd better analyze my swing too much; I'd probably hit my foot if I tried to swing and think at the same time.

I hear you on that. I had to think real hard about the mechanics of my swing. I usually just 'read the wood,'pick up my maul or axe, and have at it. Seems almost involuntary - and writing about it as difficult as describing the mechanics of breathing, swallowing, or sneezing.

I have somewhat of the same Left/Right issue as you, except I use my left as my trigger hand on guns and chainsaws even though I'm right handed.

We only had right handed guns growing up, so I had little choice. Also, all my saws are right handed. So's my truck. And my peavey and pulphook.

Like a left-handed Jimi Hendrix learning to play a right-handed guitar.

Seriously, though, my wife gets mildly p.o'd at me because I'm lefthanded when I put wood in the stove. Aparenetly I leave the lid lift and poker facing the wrong direction after I load up the firebox.

 

[injun joe]

When I was in my 20s, I once watched an old Indian guy working with a standard sized ax and 30-inch rounds of hardwood. He never went for the center split. His first split was to knock off a fairly flat piece along the edge, and then work his way through the round from one side to the other, using the edges he created and taking advantage of the natural fault lines in the wood, with each piece the appropriate size for either the cookstove or woodstove. I commented on this when he was taking a break. He said he'd been splitting wood his whole life with nothing but an ax.

He got this twinkle in his eye and made a comment about white men always taking the hard way. I had to laugh, because he was describing me.

Since then, while I have a maul and wedges, I rarely use them. Mostly I'm using a log splitter these days, but when I do pick up the ax I work those rounds just like he taught me.

As for the swing, I compromise. With the ax, I take it back over my head but not too far back, with left hand on the end of the ax handle and right hand up the shaft. Then as I come down toward the wood the right hand slips down the handle to meet the left hand. Pretty much like the guy in the video. Taking off stove-sized pieces, I'm not able to be accurate enough with a full roundhouse swing, either. If I was center splitting it'd be a different matter.

same way i split the big rounds. lol fine words my fellow indian jk.

 

[Woodjack]

same way i split the big rounds. lol fine words my fellow indian jk.

Yeah, that's a beautiful story - but it's twice the work to chip away at the ends. The only time it makes sense to split wood that way is when it's too difficult to split down the middle.

. . . as I said to my grandson as he observed my ax work with a twinkle in his eye.

 

[injun joe]

Yeah, that's a beautiful story - but it's twice the work to chip away at the ends. The only time it makes sense to split wood that way is when it's too difficult to split down the middle.

. . . as I said to my grandson as he observed my ax work with a twinkle in his eye.

well the cottonwood is way to knotty to split in the center. when i was first learning i thought the center would work boy was i surely mistaken. if you wanna split a small round of cottonwood bout 20'' gotta hit the very edge just to put a crack in it. then after that splittin it aint to bad. but on the big damp rounds you gotta work the sides until you reach the center and even when you reach that sometimes it wont split. i also noticed that a lot of the wood being split on here is really straight. almost as straight as an arrow(not in flight). anyone else use a 2 1/2# double bit axe?

 

[Philbert]

well the cottonwood is way to knotty to split in the center. when i was first learning i thought the center would work boy was i surely mistaken. if you wanna split a small round of cottonwood bout 20'' gotta hit the very edge just to put a crack in it. then after that splittin it aint to bad. but on the big damp rounds you gotta work the sides until you reach the center and even when you reach that sometimes it wont split. i also noticed that a lot of the wood being split on here is really straight. almost as straight as an arrow(not in flight). anyone else use a 2 1/2# double bit axe?

Nasty stuff I would use wedges and a sledge.

Philbert

 

[Marc]

Interesting how many people use a sledgehammer with wedges.

I've found I've never needed more than my 6 or 8 lb maul to drive a wedge, and why lug another tool, 12 lbs at that, all the way to where you're splitting if you don't have to? Wedges are heavy enough as it is. I tried using a sledge with wedges once and I didn't like having to switch between heavy and light, either. Once I got my arms trained to swing 6 or 8 lbs, they seem to like to stay with the 6 or 8 lbs.

 

[toddstreeservic]

Nasty stuff I would use wedges and a sledge.

Philbert

I have a 1 in slug of metal in my thigh still from a wedge. I tend to not use them as much as I used to. Be sure they are dressed if you use them!

 

[Farmall Guy]

I pick away at the sides with a double bit ax, I find that I can get things split up alot faster than swinging the maul. I like it because it makes the splits more manageable for mom if she needs to load the OWB and my sholders and back dont get sore with the ax, to each is own I guess.

I save the nasty stuff for the splitter but in the time it takes to get the tractor out and hook up the splitter I can have quite a bit of good easy splitting stuff busted up. Not to mention a 100 horse farm tractor burns alot more fuel than I do while splitting wood

 

[Philbert]

Interesting how many people use a sledgehammer with wedges.

I've found I've never needed more than my 6 or 8 lb maul to drive a wedge, and why lug another tool, 12 lbs at that, all the way to where you're splitting if you don't have to? Wedges are heavy enough as it is. I tried using a sledge with wedges once and I didn't like having to switch between heavy and light, either. Once I got my arms trained to swing 6 or 8 lbs, they seem to like to stay with the 6 or 8 lbs.

I only use them on very large pieces or very gnarly stuff that doesn't want to split. Multiple wedges open up stuff that does not split cleanly, or that even wedges the first wedge. If it splits with an axe or maul, no need.

Usually use an 8 pound sledge, so it is similar to your maul. Sledge hammers are designed to be softer so that they are less likely to send chips of metal flying. And, as noted above, I keep the edges of the wedges (as well as chisels, sledge hammers, etc.) dressed smoothly.

Usually split next to the garage or tool shed, etc., so hauling extra tools is not really an issue. Different if you haul stuff into the woods to split.

Philbert

 

[Woodjack]

I have a 1 in slug of metal in my thigh still from a wedge. I tend to not use them as much as I used to. Be sure they are dressed if you use them!

What does that mean (dressed) and how do you do it?

 

[Philbert]

What does that mean (dressed) and how do you do it?

When you pound on any striking tool (cold chisel, steel splitting wedge, etc.) the top end is softer metal so that it does not shatter when hit. It tends to peen, or 'mushroom' over with sharp edges exposed around the top. These sharp edges can cut your hands, or break off and fly causing injury.

'Dressing' refers to grinding off the sharp edges and leaving a smooth striking surface with a slight, rounded bevel around the top so that there are no sharp edges. Striking surface should look similar to that of a new tool when done.

Considered good safety practice and required by OSHA on striking tools.

Philbert

 

[Marc]

I only use them on very large pieces or very gnarly stuff that doesn't want to split. Multiple wedges open up stuff that does not split cleanly, or that even wedges the first wedge. If it splits with an axe or maul, no need.

Usually use an 8 pound sledge, so it is similar to your maul. Sledge hammers are designed to be softer so that they are less likely to send chips of metal flying. And, as noted above, I keep the edges of the wedges (as well as chisels, sledge hammers, etc.) dressed smoothly.

Usually split next to the garage or tool shed, etc., so hauling extra tools is not really an issue. Different if you haul stuff into the woods to split.

Philbert

I wasn't talking about the use of wedges, I may not have been clear. I use wedges all the time, especially when I split 3 - 4 ft lengths, which I do often.

I just meant using a sledgehammer to drive wedges instead of the splitting maul. Seemed unnecessary to me. I've never sent shrapnel flying by driving a wedge with a maul, although I try not to miss either

 

[Philbert]

I just meant using a sledgehammer to drive wedges instead of the splitting maul. Seemed unnecessary to me.

I didn't have a splitting maul. I split the smaller stuff with an axe and the bigger stuff with the sledge and wedges. Over the years, I picked up a couple of mauls, but neither one of those is good for driving wedges. I know that some others are.

Philbert

 

[Woodjack]

I wasn't talking about the use of wedges, I may not have been clear. I use wedges all the time, especially when I split 3 - 4 ft lengths, which I do often.

I just meant using a sledgehammer to drive wedges instead of the splitting maul. Seemed unnecessary to me. I've never sent shrapnel flying by driving a wedge with a maul, although I try not to miss either

Sure, you can drive wedges with a maul, and hauling around an extra heavy tool is a pain in the ass, but a sledge hammer is the proper tool to drive wedges. Easier and safer.

 

[Marc]

Sure, you can drive wedges with a maul, and hauling around an extra heavy tool is a pain in the ass, but a sledge hammer is the proper tool to drive wedges. Easier and safer.

Ok. You piqued my interest. Why is it safer to hit a wedge with a sledge hammer? And why is it easier, particularly if the you're using a sledge with the same head weight? I grew up in a community where wood burning and cord wood harvesting was the norm. I always assumed the reason a maul had a hammer on one end was for driving wedges. No one I knew ever injured themselves driving a wedge with a maul.

As a matter of fact, similar to Bill Cosby's story, for a while growing up I thought my name was "maul and wedges" because my dad would finish bucking, put the saw down, look at me and say "maul and wedges."

 

[Woodjack]

. . . Why is it safer to hit a wedge with a sledge hammer? And why is it easier, particularly if the you're using a sledge with the same head weight? I grew up in a community where wood burning and cord wood harvesting was the norm. I always assumed the reason a maul had a hammer on one end was for driving wedges. No one I knew ever injured themselves driving a wedge with a maul.

Injuries, minor and major, are common when splitting wood (fingers, shins, etc.), just like in construction. The objective is to minimize the likelihood of injuries, especially a major injury. When I'm swinging an 8lb splitting maul with the sharp edge facing up and towards me, my common sense screams at me to stop.

I find that sledge hammers usually have a larger strike surface and a better balance than most splitting mauls, making it easier to hit the mark properly and therefore safer as well.