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We've been splitting wood all wrong
Mother Nature Network ^ | 1/28/14

Posted on 02/01/2014 4:03:16 PM PST by Kartographer

The basic shape and design of the axe hasn't changed in, well, millennia, as attested to by archaeological discoveries from around the world. At least, that was true until an enterprising Finn decided to rethink the way we chop wood.

(Excerpt) Read more at mnn.com ...


TOPICS: Outdoors
KEYWORDS: axe; chopwood; vipukirves; wood
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To: Kartographer
only way to cut and spit wood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=an2QRmJ3CK0

41 posted on 02/01/2014 4:39:56 PM PST by piroque ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act")
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To: smokingfrog
Okay for the small stuff with little or no knots.
But not very practical for the real world.
If you'll notice, he's cutting very short lengths, also. The chances for that working in the real world with a 30" to 36" diameter, cut with about 20" to 24" of length, with several knots where the tree limbs bush out, are less than one percent.
42 posted on 02/01/2014 4:40:35 PM PST by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: newnhdad

Yea, I wonder if it’s OSHA approved LOL


43 posted on 02/01/2014 4:42:57 PM PST by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: JoeProBono
Works great with soft wood, like paper barked birch, pine, and other soft woods.
But what about water oak, red oak, post oak, hickory, ash, iron wood, ect. ....
44 posted on 02/01/2014 4:46:49 PM PST by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: Kartographer
Looks interesting. He seems to be splitting clean wood. No knots and straight grain. I'd like to see it work on white oak or maple with knots.

The best maul is made by Fiskars. I used to use mauls and wedges and sledges. The Fiskars splitting axe is usually a one shot deal through most wood up to 20" in height and it only weighs about five pounds. Puts the 10# mauls to shame. I blow through birch to the chopping block like it's not even there. The red oak is little harder but it is nothing like the old days with a standard maul I've had the Fiskars blow through wood

45 posted on 02/01/2014 4:49:02 PM PST by raybbr (I weep over my sons' future in this Godforsaken country.)
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To: Yosemitest

Yeah, and what about mahogany?


46 posted on 02/01/2014 4:50:42 PM PST by JoeProBono (SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
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To: 9422WMR

There is a technique for splitting wood with an axe, that involves, just at the point of contact with the end grain of the wood, a small twist is applied through the axe handle. The twist causes the severed grain of the wood to fly sideways, which is what this device does without depending on the judgment of the axe handler, as to the exact instant at which to make the small twist.

And there is that further complication, that some varieties of wood are just a lot harder to split than others. A willow or slippery elm has very tenacious cross-bonding between the wood fibers, and will shred much like a piece of rope with the standard techniques. But wait until the temperature is well below freezing, when the moist tendrils of that wood fiber are crystalized ice, and even these very moist woods will pop apart like pine.

An axe is actually a very simple machine, a wedge, and relies of the surfaces of the inclined plane to push the two parts of the wood grain apart. An adjunct to the axe is the splitting maul, or the splitting wedges, that are dropped into the partially opened split to further widen the gap formed by the first strike of the axe.

I know, as a kid my dad Ole had me out there in sub-zero weather learning all these tricks. If you wanted to get back in where it was warm, you learned quickly. You also worked up a sweat first, so the wood would warm you up twice.


47 posted on 02/01/2014 4:52:17 PM PST by alloysteel (Obamacare - Death and Taxes now available online. One-stop shopping at its best!)
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To: posterchild

“Is that what people mean by ‘unnatural axe?’”

Now, that’s funny, I don’t care who you are. (Larry the Cable Guy).


48 posted on 02/01/2014 4:54:34 PM PST by Marcella ((Prepping can save your life today. I am a Christian, not a Muslim.))
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To: mountainlion

Yikes! That doesn’t look very safe.


49 posted on 02/01/2014 4:56:04 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Kartographer
Only way to split wood ... The Super Split ...


50 posted on 02/01/2014 4:57:33 PM PST by CapnJack
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To: Kartographer
OH, Ashley, I know you are trying to be manly...but there's a better tool for that now
51 posted on 02/01/2014 5:00:02 PM PST by ZinGirl (kids in college....can't afford a tagline right now)
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To: Kartographer

I’ve been chopping wood like this for years. All you have to do is twist the axe a little just after it enters the wood. Pops straight grain wood like pine right apart.


52 posted on 02/01/2014 5:00:52 PM PST by ModelBreaker
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To: ZinGirl
BONUS! Gone With the Wind on TCM tonight!

:)but Ashley will still be using an ax.

53 posted on 02/01/2014 5:01:11 PM PST by ZinGirl (kids in college....can't afford a tagline right now)
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To: Kartographer

the only problem with gadgets to split your wood is you lose half of the warning effect


54 posted on 02/01/2014 5:04:18 PM PST by scottteng (Tax government employees til they quit and find something useful to do)
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To: raybbr

That’s what I use. The best :)


55 posted on 02/01/2014 5:05:06 PM PST by always vigilant
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To: Kartographer

Let’s how well it does on black gum (tupelo).


56 posted on 02/01/2014 5:06:21 PM PST by fso301
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To: Kartographer

Up`n here we`uns just git a long metal pipe or a gutter, lay`er up`n aginst the side of a tall tree, you like it, wait for the thunderstorm to hit it with a big bolt n go out n pick up the cut timber.

Makes no sense to work when God can do all the work.


57 posted on 02/01/2014 5:14:50 PM PST by bunkerhill7 ("The Second Amendment has no limits on firepower"-NY State Senator Kathleen A. Marchione.")
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To: WorkingClassFilth

More like $260.


58 posted on 02/01/2014 5:18:27 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: raybbr

I like my Iltis Oxhead splitting axe. It’s not quite a maul but it goes through most rounds like a hot knife through butter.


59 posted on 02/01/2014 5:23:50 PM PST by Edward Teach
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To: Kartographer

$200 for an axe? Really?


60 posted on 02/01/2014 5:24:53 PM PST by Sequoyah101
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