One Man Basic Wood Splitter

Could use a shot of WD-40

 

I'd like to see him split some oak or apple with that. Looked like poplar or aspen family.
But interesting nonetheless.

 

Certainly it could be fitted with an air ram on the lever arm and a treadle switch.
Edit: a knee switch would be less tiring.

 

Even with an air ram that is not going to split oak or juniper that easily. Hydraulic splitters get a work out splitting oak and juniper.

 

It has mass already, it needs speed. Hydraulics are powerful but slow. With a light weight splitting head, I would agree with you, but with a heavy fixed position, speed would be better IMHO.

 

With the right technique and a good sharp axe one can split wood faster and with less effort than a heavy maul. One does not need more mass to be successful at splitting wood. A lot of times a heavy ass maul will just bounce off wood.

Don't get me wrong even with a sharp axe one needs to put some ass/momentum into their swing to split western juniper.

 

True enough. I split firewood myself by hand and wedges, mauls, and ax. I have no log splitter.
But the question was, can this version could be modified to act like a triphammer. Yes, it could.

 

I suppose it could if you could get a fast swing out of it.

 

Pffft.......my ex wife is such a powerful hair splitter and bill splitter....I'm sure that she could also split wood just with "the stare"....

 

Here we use mostly Madrone (Mountain Laurel for you easterners) and I really can't see this doing that job...but a great setup for fir/pine.

 

Im 56 and still do all the splitting by hand. I have two mauls. One 6 pounder I use most of the time. I call the 8 pounder the judge. It breaks big Oak. The trick is to aim at the bottom of the piece you are trying to split. You need to see the maul all the way through it. You do that by aiming past the point of contact. I split red and White oak dead and dry all day with 6 pound maul. The axe trick is done by twisting the axe at the point of contact. Like throwing a curve ball. Hit with an axe straight on and yu will bury the head then break the handle trying to to get it out. I also use a wedge for Burls and such. KF

 

IS there something about splitting wood bye hand that yall like ?? or just that satisfaction of a good workout and something to do ????

I think this spring splitter thingy is a cool idea but have no clue about wood types !!!!
but it could definatly be modified in a few ways ithink

 

Kas, I really don't know how to answer that. It is a chore that must be done, and it is a workout, but I don't dread it. It is a link to the past, in very much like the same style as our forefathers. It requires little thought, and allows me the think on other things. Like where my country is headed, conversation that need to be had, decisions on projects. It is violent and peaceful, artful yet simple, muscle memory and proper aim, but does not require intense concentration. It's hard work, but something I have volunteered to do to help a neighbor or friend.It is simple, yet I can find many ways to make it more efficient, or faster, like a tractor driven splitting wheel, or a water driven log splitter.
As long as there is wood to be split there will always be a new way to do it, or an old way revisited. So yes, there is something about it I like,

 

Ash, Willow and Cypress split like that in the Vid, I'm leaning towards Ash.

The bark is not right for willow or cypress.

 

The main thing I thought about when watching the vid was how long will it take before he hits his fingers or hand. This guy might have the technique down, but if you had a bunch of people using it there would be problems.

 

Of course, they will do that now with just an ax.

 

I may not be a guy, but I split firewood too, with a maul. Am not sure how much the maul weighs. And I concur, juniper is TOUGH. I can do pine, tried juniper once, sparks flew but I couldn't get it to split. I do it not for the exercise, but as mentioned above, it's a necessary chore. Plus it's great for anger management(aka hormonal) issues. You'd be surprised how many problems an axe can solve (yeah I know I said I use a maul, but axe sound better in that sentence).

 

Why not? LiZzy Bordon used an ax to solve her issues too.