Posted on 01/02/2010 3:01:30 PM PST by incredulous joe
Natural wonders never cease!
I was just splitting firewood.
It is about 20 degrees with a 10 to 15 degree chill factor, and noticed a spark come off the head of my ax while I spilt one particular log.
I examined the log, but did not find any metal in the wood.
Is it possible that a spark can be generated from steel to wood contact. I have split a lot of wood in my day and I have to say that I have never had this occur previously ~ ever.
Has anyone else? Theories?
The wood that I was splitting was a very dense cherry.
Global Warming. Run for your life!
A piece of stone could do that.
Not a scientist, but yes I think it is possible. Why not? If you can get fire by rubbing two sticks or two stones together, why not one against the other?
Probably a small pebble grown into the wood.
Tiny piece of stone maybe.
Husband says that if the wood is frozen you CAN get a spark.
Hurry and throw the wood on the fire. Now stand close and warm up. You’re having a brain freeze.
I’ve not seen a spark from an axe or maul, but have seen them occasionally from a chain saw chain as I start a cut. Now that you mention it, I think I see it more often in extreme cold.
Possibly a tiny bit of metal embedded in the wood. Maybe even flint; you never even be able to see it.
was the wood from near the base, in a high-iron soil?
Were you flying a kite??
You better call ALGORE, this may be series and hugh!
Such sparks can happen when you hit a hard surface which is not stone or steel, beause a small chip of steel comes of the axxe and makes the spark in doing so, either by a fracture spark, or by comini off and then sparking on the axe itself.
These steel chips are very miniscule and tend to happen in the cold weather when the steel of the axe is much more brittle.
If you use a splitting maul, it almmost never will happen. With a sharpened axe, it happens more easily in the cold, the steel blade is thinner. The spark is from steel on steel chip( a small minisule , even microscopic size.)
I have had this happen, but I cannot explain it.
A piece of metal could have been placed there by other swings of the ax from the head, or a piece of the chainsaw blade when cut into logs?
Off the top of a not so pointy head, some oxidation on the axehead might cause a spark when energetically struck. Of course any dirt or stone grit on the end of the wood being split might be the culprit.
“knotty conundrum”
I suppose it’s possible the spark was a wood ember, not a piece of steel.
Wintergreen life savers give off sparks when you bite into them. Are you sure your axe hit a log?
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