I just came in from slpitting wood so I went back out and snapped some pix. I tried to get my son to come out and shoot a 10 second vid but he said it's too cold. If you're splitting elm my pics will make you cry. Elm is hard splitting wood . The stuff I have in this pile is all straight grained Red Oak and splits really easy. The dead dry tree I cut down yesterday and the green wood I cut down last friday.
These quarters are from a dead Red Oak that was standing long enough the bark had all ffallen off. All the blocks are cut to 17 inches to fit my stove. As mentioned allready, don't stick you ax in the center of the log. Either shuck thin pieces off the outer edge, or if you quarter like we did, pick a check line where the log has a crack. My buddy was using a 4 lb ax like in the next picture and I was using the 6 lb maul. He would hit the far edge and get the crack going and then I hit the near edge with the maul and the blocks popped right in half. Most of the rounds popped with just 2 hits, one each. All of the quarters popped with one hit.
These are the little pieces I was splitting earlier. I was using the 6 lb Maul because the handle on the ax in the picture sheared off right at the handle yesterday and is just stuck back in for the pic. I would usually use the lighter ax for all of my splitting on the small and quarered stuff. I usually only use the mall to halve and quarter bigger blocks. The maul stuck in the little block is just as I swung it. It stuck in a little chip on the right hand piece and the left hand piece went flying. I set it back up for display.
The green quarter I would usually split with a lighter ax. I would take the point off first like the pointed piece in the pic and then split along the rays from the center out. Then I cut those pieces into smaller ones splitting along the annual rings.
There are lots of methods that work equally well. The bigest thing I've found is like in base ball, bat and ax speed count. If I can get ax speed I don't have to use a lot of strength. I start with my hands apart on the handle, one at the end and one close to the ax head. I only lift it a little over head height and slide my top hand down to meet the the bottom in a fast motion. Practice is your friend. On small pieces like the ones I was cutting great care must be taken. If you miss and hit the edge of the log a glancing blow the ax head can and will take a chunk out of a leg.
As for those 15 and 30 pound monster malls, I'd have a heart attack before I got to my second piece. Be real carefull, use stought foot wear, and practice, Joe.
Joe thanks for the great pics and info! i went outside today and worked on the pieces i had and noticed working from the edge worked pretty good. i still got somemore to split but the 15lbs maul wore me out in about 15 minutes. thanks to everyone for the info it much appreciated
