How to chop wood without messing around
November 28, 2013 1:59 PM   Subscribe

 
My pile of gnarly hawthorn would laugh in his face.
posted by pipeski at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


Clear, straight grained wood makes a huge difference.
posted by 2N2222 at 2:17 PM on November 28, 2013 [6 favorites]


Best way to cut wood I've ever seen: Local .mil-type offers to split rounds as part of his training for an endurance event.* Chops enough wood to run our stove for next winter. THANK YOU, WOOD GODS.

Neatest axe video of the day: Gransfors Bruks Axe Forge Tour.

* In total, he split 58 cords of wood -- his, ours, miscellaneous other piles. Turns out that the event didn't involve splitting after all.
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:21 PM on November 28, 2013 [11 favorites]


That's some nice dry, knot free wood. That said, I've used one of those splitting axes before and the mass on them is great, and if you have two you can use one as wedge and then hit with the other one butt-to-butt and drive through the wood. I love the chain idea, it would save me a lot of time when chopping at the backcountry hut.
posted by furtive at 2:23 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Let's not talk about chopping wood and messing around in the same sentence.
posted by phaedon at 2:25 PM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


That's some nice dry, knot free wood.

That's what I thought too. It looks like some kind of idealized, perfect wood that came out of a mold in a wood factory. Like a log by Pringles. The hardest part of most of my chopping jobs is just getting the irregular, twisted, Quasimodo logs to stand upright on the block.
posted by CaseyB at 2:33 PM on November 28, 2013 [12 favorites]


Or there's this.
posted by jeffj at 2:34 PM on November 28, 2013 [9 favorites]




Also.
posted by CaseyB at 2:43 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


CaseyB, the OP included that video under More Inside.
posted by radwolf76 at 2:49 PM on November 28, 2013


You don't split firewood on any scale with an axe. Those heavy half-sledgehammer things are called mauls.
posted by idiopath at 2:53 PM on November 28, 2013 [6 favorites]


Oops.

By way of apology: the scariest woodcutting machine I've ever seen. The stuff of Lorax nightmares.
posted by CaseyB at 2:55 PM on November 28, 2013 [21 favorites]


There is nothing more satisfying that spending several minutes assessing the grain of some knotted bit of hardwood and then raising your maul and splitting it with one mighty strike.
posted by humanfont at 2:58 PM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


Sure. Now try that on a pile of elm.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 3:00 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


I actually think I own that exact axe - bought it after destroying my old wooden axe. I don't have much need for a fancy axe but I still love that thing.

i know somebody who has to cut a lot of firewood for heat and they previously broke at least one wood-handled axe every year, but the fiberglass one they have has lasted them several years.
posted by Reversible Diamond-Encrusted Ermine Codpiece at 3:04 PM on November 28, 2013


What I wanna see is how he gets that chain contraption out from under his clever pile of fresh split logs without upsetting the stack.
posted by notyou at 3:07 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


CaseyB: "Oops.

By way of apology: the scariest woodcutting machine I've ever seen . The stuff of Lorax nightmares.
"

OH MY DOG! And people wonder why we're running out of forest on this planet. Mother Nature is gonna enact some wicked revenge on humanity!
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 3:13 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


CaseyB: you think that one is the stuff of nightmares? Gaze on this: Timberjack.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 3:21 PM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


InserNiftyNameHere; percentage of forested land in North America has been stable since about 1920 (see page 5). Of course this does not take into account the important percentage of old-growth versus tree farm.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 3:29 PM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]



I actually think I own that exact axe - bought it after destroying my old wooden axe. I don't have much need for a fancy axe but I still love that thing.

Those Fiskars axes are the shit. Nigh indestructible and perfectly weighted.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 3:34 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's the fact that its frozen; knotless, straight grain wood just seems to jump apart.
posted by 445supermag at 4:17 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


InserNiftyNameHere; percentage of forested land in North America has been stable since about 1920 (see page 5). Of course this does not take into account the important percentage of old-growth versus tree farm.

Fascinating to compare what it used to be like. In 1600, forests covered slightly less than half (see fig 1, page 5) of the entire land area of the US. Today's forested areas are about 70% of that, but of course no where near that original old-growth.
According to the World Resources Institute, as of January 2009, only 21% of the original old-growth forests that once existed on earth are remaining. It is estimated that one half of Western Europe's forests were cleared before the Middle Age, and that 90% of the old-growth forests that existed in the contiguous United States in the 1600s have been cleared.
What it must have been like...
posted by Celsius1414 at 4:58 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


The log I would have simply quartered (he turned it to shingles.) Splitting mauls/axes have their place but it would be very strenuous to work an 8 hour day with that technique and tool. In my experience if you have to actually split wood by hand over an extended period you want light weight that you land with precision. The endurance part of the work should be the raising of the axe with the power you want to impart coming from the speed at the beginning of the swing. A high arc (hands fairly loose and sliding to the end of the handle) and gravity should do the brunt of the work. You shouldn't be muscling the landing and pounding the wood, (it hurts just watching the physical effort (also understand he was going for speed and had an easy log may be why technique suffered (but also a good way to get your axe stuck))) If you read the wood and land precise blows it is rare to get a log you can't split.

I prefer a two and a quarter or two and a half pound double bitted axe (it is good to wrap the handle with baling wire (first 2 or 3 inches below the head) to protect from the misplaced blows it will endure)) that I can swing all day. Your axe is a tool for much more than splitting, it is used to pick up and set up wood, bring closer, flip it around, separate frozen chunks, knocking split pieces away, etc) it extends your reach, gives leverage and helps you avoid bending down and handling the wood and moving unnecessarily. Cutting wood is already hard work, why create more work for yourself. Picking up and putting down one tool to then work with a second tool and going back to the first then picking up a second ... gadgeting every piece of wood just doesn't seem as efficient as holding onto one tool and plowing through a pile.

When I was about 10 or 11, I thought a splitting maul/ax would be a great thing to have. Hell it stated right in the name what it was designed to do. I talked to my dad who agreeded it might be nice and said when we had enough Canadian Tire money we would get one. It took two or three years but eventually we saved the 15$ or there abouts and made the purchase. I was elated and wanted to test it right away.

When we got home I immediately went out to the wood pile and chose my victim. The first log had no chance. One swing and it was toast. Normally I would have done two strokes, far side score, near side attempt split, with perhaps a centerish finishing blow, depending on twist and internal hang up. But with my new tool I was going to double my production. Log number two ... same fate as the first ... but 15 minutes in, the maul was getting heavy, my aim sloppy and I had to take a break. A short rest and I attacked again. Single splits followed. "Okay this is great" I thought until 5 minutes later and I was struggling, flopping the axe instead of planting it and had to again set it down and lean on the handle a bit. I decided to give it a break and go back to the old standard, perfectly balance double bit. Twirl and swing away! The splitting axe went on to become a sledgehammer when we couldn't find the sledge and a wedge when we couldn't find a wedge.
posted by phoque at 5:02 PM on November 28, 2013 [20 favorites]


My grandfather welded a maul head to some steel pipe to birth InvincaMaul. It worked great if you split with your stroke; but if you just buried the head, or missed and hit the handle, the vibrations sent your hands flying. Extra special pain points when you used it when snow was on the ground.
posted by The Power Nap at 5:31 PM on November 28, 2013


You are looking at splitting wood, not chopping wood. Maybe there was a translation error.

The most important part is not the chain - though that's novel. The wood was cool and old and dry and had straight grain. The most important component is not the blade being sharp - the opposite in fact- a duller blade that has an aproximately 30° bevel that drives the grain apart is more effective - you are splitting wood, not chopping it [chopping wood is across the grain]. The most important part is that when you are splitting wood you get the maximum energy yield when you initially impact the peice being split at a 90° angle.

The important thing, in that video, is the height upon which the piece of wood being chopped rests. It raises the angle of impact to 90°.

[I did this for a living in my younger days.]
posted by vapidave at 5:39 PM on November 28, 2013 [7 favorites]


That was cool. I'd like one of those. I couldn't help but cringe at the shuffling in snow while quickly swinging a cutting tool though.
posted by tychotesla at 6:58 PM on November 28, 2013


Like Pogo_Fuzzybutt says, that Fiskars is a work of art. They do call it a "Splitting Axe" which is a misnomer, but it sure does split.
posted by notsnot at 7:09 PM on November 28, 2013


By way of apology: the scariest woodcutting machine I've ever seen . The stuff of Lorax nightmares."

Wow, that is really scary just watching it. There is some emergent personality that seems to emanate from the machine that is more than the sum of its mechanical parts. It's like the end boss in a video game where the machine becomes sentient, and its goal is to cut you down and trim your body parts like wimpy, wimpy branches.
posted by SpacemanStix at 7:19 PM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


We bought that very Fiskars splitting axe/maul last winter and it is an amazing thing. It powers through the cord of fairly knotty and still slightly green lodgepole pine logs we get every fall as a gift from my stepfather. Although he's pretty much creating kindling there; I use a lightweight and wicked sharp little hatchet for that.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:29 PM on November 28, 2013


Those scary machines are called "feller-bunchers." Search for those on YouTube and your inner Lorax will flee forever.

However your inner "I'm out of toilet paper, and where is my moleskine and did you read the paper today" will thank you.
posted by salishsea at 7:34 PM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


My dad had some guys come and tackle a pile of log ends he had on his property. It was a logging machine with a special claw on the end, that they had built/machined, and it would pick up the stumps and log ends and cut them apart. Not a log splitter, but something built on the end of a logging truck claw. A giant claw log splitter thing. Fascinating to watch.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:38 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Pro-Tip: Get your mom to do it, then you can watch Three's Company and WKRP.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:18 PM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


So something I've often wondered about is the difference in the physics between a splitting maul or wedge with convex cheeks (like most 'Merican mauls) and a wedge shape with concave cheeks, like the Fiskar or the the Gransfors Bruks maul I use.

I guess it's a plot of pressure over time, with more pressure less perpendicular to the center plane of the blade initially with the convex, versus a lower pressure more perpendicular to the center plane for a longer time and then ramping up at the end with the concave, if that makes any sense
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 9:44 PM on November 28, 2013


MonkeyToes: "Neatest axe video of the day: Gransfors Bruks Axe Forge Tour ."

I've always loved Gransfors and have wanted one. When he said he's never seen an axe you could shave with before, my immediate thought was "well then how are you supposed to test to see if it's sharp enough?!"
posted by Deflagro at 12:16 AM on November 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


The scariest (albeit in a different way) wood splitting machine I've ever seen.
posted by primer_dimer at 1:22 AM on November 29, 2013 [6 favorites]


They say that back in the day, a squirrel could have run from Essex to Yorkshire without touching the ground.
posted by cthuljew at 2:49 AM on November 29, 2013





The scariest (albeit in a different way) wood splitting machine I've ever seen.


When I saw the FPP, I assumed it was this video. (There's a moment in there when he's kicking a stuck piece where a small error would have impaled his foot. Bad, bad decision.)

But for truly the stuff of nightmares, imagine your hands anywhere near this or this.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:52 AM on November 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


Or you can do it like this
posted by Tom-B at 8:05 AM on November 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


yeah that axe is the best. finally got one this year. love it.
posted by J0 at 9:39 AM on November 29, 2013


No muss no fuss.

I think this lady delivers a very good illustration of proper technique. A good pace. Accurate strikes, power adjusted for each blow. Not a lot of extraneous movement. She does a lot of little things right which make it look easy.
posted by phoque at 9:44 AM on November 29, 2013 [5 favorites]


There's another video where it looks like she's splitting logs while barefoot and bare-legged, which seems exceedingly stupid given how newly split wood tends to fly. I'm sure she knows what she's doing, but still. When I was young, I'd never do this without boots and jeans on.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:43 AM on November 29, 2013


i went to a small boarding high school in rural vermont located on a 1000 acres of second growth forest full of sugar maples and whatnot. being a typical high school they had issues with students which they dealt with by issuing something called 'sinner's hours,' which was supposed to mean one hour of hard labor. i collected a few hours from time to time but was friends with a teacher who would then tell me to stop by her house to split some wood. so in the afternoon after classes i'd bring my maul and split the five or six pieces of tamarack or pine or some other simple wood and then she'd sign my chit indicating that i had worked 20 hours of hard labor. it was a nice system and very convenient for me since i was often getting more hours.

so sometime in janurary or feburary did a massive transgression--involving being AWOL from campus for several days as me and some friends went to new york city to procure illegal substances. we, of course, were busted shortly after our return. due to a quirk of fate i was spared the harshest penalty and was given only 20 hours for hitchhiking while my other friends received much harsher sentences. as luck would have it my teacher friend was at the meeting and said immediately 'lester you can come by this afternoon to split wood.'

another staff person said, 'well jack has some wood to split too. lester can help him'. i tried to duck jack but he caught up with me at dinner. 'so you're going to split my wood.' he said with an evil grin.

the next day i went to his house. jack had cut down one of the old sugar maples, reducing it into large chunks that appeared to be the size of volkswagons. and of course it was the whole tree so there was a lot.

i broke my maul in the first hour. jack just grinned and handed me an iron wedge and a 16 lb sledgehammer. it took me two weeks of 3-4 hours of work after classes to split all his wood.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 1:00 PM on November 29, 2013 [2 favorites]


Related, previously.
posted by Kabanos at 1:27 PM on November 29, 2013


« Older Project 562   |   Right on now! Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments