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 ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=an2QRmJ3CK0
Yea, I wonder if it’s OSHA approved LOL
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
Yeah, and what about mahogany?
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.
“Is that what people mean by unnatural axe?”
Now, that’s funny, I don’t care who you are. (Larry the Cable Guy).
Yikes! That doesn’t look very safe.
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.
:)but Ashley will still be using an ax.
the only problem with gadgets to split your wood is you lose half of the warning effect
That’s what I use. The best :)
Let’s how well it does on black gum (tupelo).
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.
More like $260.
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.
$200 for an axe? Really?
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