Posted on 04/26/2014 3:45:42 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
Science!
Axing technology is as old as time, but thanks to physics and people with good ideas, it has just been vastly improved upon.
Finnish inventor Heikki Kärnä created an ax that works more as a splitter, lever and wedge all at once, The Blaze writes.
Though it looks a little funny, it splits wood in record time.
Geek explains:
Its essentially acting as a lever instead of a wedge (Vipukirves translates as Leveraxe). A regular axe needs to be driven downward with enough force to separate wood along the grain. Thats a lot of force, and if a log is hit off center, the axe blade can deflect at unexpected angles. Thats not good your squishy flesh is much easier to split than a log.
So what makes a lever different than a wedge in this scenario? The Vipukirves still has a sharpened blade at the end, but it has a projection coming off the side that shifts the center of gravity away from the middle. At the point of impact, the edge is driven into the wood and slows down, but the kinetic energy contained in the 1.9 kilogram axe head continues down and to the side (because of the odd center of gravity). The rotational energy actually pushes the wood apart like a lever. A single strike can open an 8 cm gap in a log, which is more than enough to separate it.
Watch it in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jDR_2Zsr40#t=327
Pretty cool alright. Good catch by Straight Vermonter.
Those chucks of wood sure were even all the way around. Flat too.
In all my years as a teenager splitting wood for the winter I sure didn’t see a lot of wood that looked like that.
Save yourself 193 euros. I have been splitting wood for heating purposes for over 50 years. Chopping is much easier if the chopper (that’s the axe, not you) is tilted about 5 degrees as it strikes the block. You get both splitting action and the angled head tends to kick both parts of the block away from each other.
Much the same principle as described in the article on the axe. All with a $5.00 yard sale axe, properly sharpened.
Looks like maybe alder.
Good points all.
Bet it wouldn’t do that to oak or hickory.
Been cutting & splitting my own firewood & heating with wood for over 40 years (finally got logsplitter 5 years ago) and I don’t believe this thing will work for on our hardwoods.
First of all, my logs are 24” - 30” long. Almost any wood is easy to split into 12” - 14” sections like in the video.
One trick I did like though was using a tire to hold the log while splitting - though again, not sure how it would work on a 24” log.....
I wonder how it does against seasoned Texas mesquite. I cut a lot of wood for BBQ’s. My shoulder joints are feeling their age.
Careful with that Axe, Eugene.
Agreed...
Agreed. I’ve probably split 30 or 40 cords by hand and they never split any where near that easy. I usually split elm and oak.
In 1940`s I watched my grandfather blow trees apart with dynamite for kindling and wood for the iron stove in the kitchen
I can't imagine living in a place so cold you need all that wood to stay warm...
Mr. Fancy Axe, me Mr. Elm.
I split elm and oak as well. There were times I’d wedge the axe in about an inch or two, and have to dislocate the wood to continue. It certainly didn’t go like the demo.
It obvious I wasn’t using their product. Laughs...
Hey take it easy.
I often do use the chainsaw instead.
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