I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
(about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
it down that line.
My goal was to get a few slabs.
The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
and sledge.
Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
Portable hydraulics? Anything?
Curiouser and curiouser,
H.
You are kidding, right? That's got to be one gd big froe. Did I
mention the log is about 4 FEET in DIAMETER? Hey, if you know that a
froe can do it, then I'm all ears. I've seen chairmakers use froes on
smaller diameter (and length too: don't forget I'm working on a 6 foot
long piece, and want to keep it that long) oak, but this wood is
dense.
Thanks,
H
Phisherman <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On 24 Nov 2003 15:57:37 -0800, [email protected] (Hylourgos) wrote:
>
> >I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
> >large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
> >long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
> >(about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
> >it down that line.
> >
> >My goal was to get a few slabs.
> >
> >The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> >quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> >then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> >dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> >and sledge.
> >
> >Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> >Portable hydraulics? Anything?
> >
> >Curiouser and curiouser,
> >H.
>
>
> Froe
After whacking it all afternoon and breaking one sledge? Hell yea,
that was my first thought! Teach that SOB oak to mess with me.... But
then I thought, "what would Jesus do?" (who was, after all, a
carpenter) and immediately removed those revengeful thoughts.
H.
Nova <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hylourgos wrote:
>
> > Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> > Portable hydraulics? Anything?
>
> Have you considered blasting? ;-)
Thanks for the tip: I googled a few things and came up with some good
stuff on riving (e.g.:
http://www.greenwoodworking.com/riving/riving.htm).
H
"Sweet Sawdust" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Use wooden wedges along the crack, you can adjust them for depth if needed.
> look up split rails
> "das" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Work from the end of the log just like a log splitting machine would do.
> > Pound in a couple of wedges till you get a crack and then pound some in
> from
> > the top. I've split some big logs this way but never a four-footer. My
> Stihl
> > 064 would take care of that bad boy.
> >
> > dean s
> >
> > > The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> > > quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> > > then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> > > dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> > > and sledge.
> > >
> > > Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> > > Portable hydraulics? Anything?
> > >
> > > Curiouser and curiouser,
> > > H.
> >
> >
Thanks, Phil and David.
It just got down to 29 here last night, so maybe I'll try it again
this weekend.
One problem is orientation: it won't be easy to work on the endgrain
since these things are so big, and in cramped quarters. There's no way
I can move them much. Maybe the freeze will help split them though,
I'll give it a try.
H.
"David Babcock" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<JuGwb.228061$ao4.825680@attbi_s51>...
> Cold, freezing cold. There is nothing quite like the feeling of splitting a
> cord of oak in 20 degree weather. Steam coming from your body, radio playing
> whatever you like to hear, a thermos of something hot, or spiced, (probably
> not spiked, that can wait) and the anticipation of a warming fire. But not
> the wood YOUR splitting!!!!
>
> Dave
>
> "Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
> > large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
> > long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
> > (about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
> > it down that line.
> >
> > My goal was to get a few slabs.
> >
> > The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> > quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> > then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> > dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> > and sledge.
> >
> > Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> > Portable hydraulics? Anything?
> >
> > Curiouser and curiouser,
> > H.
[email protected] (Hylourgos) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> After whacking it all afternoon and breaking one sledge? Hell yea,
> that was my first thought! Teach that SOB oak to mess with me.... But
> then I thought, "what would Jesus do?" (who was, after all, a
> carpenter) and immediately removed those revengeful thoughts.
Obviously he would get his 12 buddies to do the work while he gets drunk on wine!
Hylourgos <[email protected]> wrote:
> I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
> large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
> long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
> (about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
> it down that line.
How about you cut just a wee bit deeper with the chainsaw. Let me guess,
you don't have a chainsaw with a 32"+ bar. You could rent one, or I bet
someone out there would be willing to help you out in exchange for one
of those slabs.
Cold, freezing cold. There is nothing quite like the feeling of splitting a
cord of oak in 20 degree weather. Steam coming from your body, radio playing
whatever you like to hear, a thermos of something hot, or spiced, (probably
not spiked, that can wait) and the anticipation of a warming fire. But not
the wood YOUR splitting!!!!
Dave
"Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
> large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
> long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
> (about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
> it down that line.
>
> My goal was to get a few slabs.
>
> The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> and sledge.
>
> Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> Portable hydraulics? Anything?
>
> Curiouser and curiouser,
> H.
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> After whacking it all afternoon and breaking one sledge? Hell yea,
> that was my first thought! Teach that SOB oak to mess with me.... But
> then I thought, "what would Jesus do?" (who was, after all, a
> carpenter) and immediately removed those revengeful thoughts.
Yeah, He would look at the log and say "Be split" and not only would it
be divided into regular sized bits, but they would be neatly stacked to
boot.
Not terribly useful, I know.
CharlesJ
--
========================================================================
Charles Jones | Works at HP, | email: [email protected]
Hewlett-Packard | doesn't speak | ICQ: 29610755
Loveland, Colorado | for HP | AIM: LovelandCharles
USA | |Jabber: [email protected]
Freeze them.
Get them good and cold. They'll split.
Freezing the logs will freeze the moisture in them allowing the wood fibers
to cleave easier.
Trust me, Minnesota Red Oak is no fun to split on a summer day. Get it near
zero and it will split like a breeze.
Phil
"Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
> large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
> long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
> (about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
> it down that line.
>
> My goal was to get a few slabs.
>
> The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> and sledge.
>
> Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> Portable hydraulics? Anything?
>
> Curiouser and curiouser,
> H.
Work from the end of the log just like a log splitting machine would do.
Pound in a couple of wedges till you get a crack and then pound some in from
the top. I've split some big logs this way but never a four-footer. My Stihl
064 would take care of that bad boy.
dean s
> The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> and sledge.
>
> Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> Portable hydraulics? Anything?
>
> Curiouser and curiouser,
> H.
"Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
|
| Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
| Portable hydraulics? Anything?
Unless you're a glutton for punishment, go rent a portable log-splitter.
On 25 Nov 2003 07:55:33 -0800, [email protected] (Hylourgos) wrote:
>You are kidding, right? That's got to be one gd big froe. Did I
>mention the log is about 4 FEET in DIAMETER? Hey, if you know that a
>froe can do it, then I'm all ears. I've seen chairmakers use froes on
>smaller diameter (and length too: don't forget I'm working on a 6 foot
>long piece, and want to keep it that long) oak, but this wood is
>dense.
>
>Thanks,
>H
>
My froe blade is 16". Several wedges and a lot of muscle will do it.
Less work with a log splitter, though. Easier to split a green log
than a dry one.
"Hylourgos" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
> large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
> long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
> (about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
> it down that line.
>
> My goal was to get a few slabs.
>
> The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> and sledge.
>
> Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> Portable hydraulics? Anything?
I have the exact same situation. 3-1/2' diameter white oak logs, 6' long.
I am planning on getting a ripping chain for my Stihl 066 (28" bar) and
cutting almost the full length of the bar into the log. Slow going, but it
will split when done. I plan on quartersawing the log anyway on my
Wood-Mizer, so it will work out fine. Something that big *needs* to be
cut - you will not be able to split it just with wedges unless you have a
dozen or so and a much bigger hammer (and a lot of muscle).
Jon E
Toolmiser writes:
>Don't know if this will help but here it is anyway. "If" you are located in
>a
>cold climate, an "old timer who sold wood, but split it by hand" told me it
>is
>much easier to split once it gets frozen.
>
Old timer? It is MUCH easier to split when frozen. I used to do a lot of
splitting when it dropped to zip. People think you're nuts working in a T shirt
in taht kind of weather, but almost anything else and I'd sweat, which is no
fun when it's really cold.
I used wood to heat almost exclusively from about 1973 until 1986. Then I
married a farm girl who wants no part of it. She's been there, done that, with
the hard work and the extra dirt.
The truism used to be that wood warmed you twice, once when you cut it, and
once when you burned it. But it gives a moderately good warm up during
stacking, carrying inside, and cleaning up the debris before and after burning,
too.
Charlie Self
"Say what you will about the ten commandments, you must always come back to the
pleasant fact that there are only ten of them." H. L. Mencken
"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Toolmiser writes:
>
> >Don't know if this will help but here it is anyway. "If" you are located
in
> >a
> >cold climate, an "old timer who sold wood, but split it by hand" told me
it
> >is
> >much easier to split once it gets frozen.
> >
>
> Old timer? It is MUCH easier to split when frozen. I used to do a lot of
> splitting when it dropped to zip. People think you're nuts working in a T
shirt
> in taht kind of weather, but almost anything else and I'd sweat, which is
no
> fun when it's really cold.
Dontcha just hate it when we're already *in* that "oldtimer" category?
However, back to the wood . . . I've also started a wedge, take a good swipe
@ it, and have that )*&%^*(%&*$% wood launch the wedge like a rocket, and
you're looking for cover until it comes back down! Life is never dull when
you work with your hands.
Nahmie
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Norman D. Crow wrote:
>
> > However, back to the wood . . . I've also started a wedge, take a good
> > swipe @ it, and have that )*&%^*(%&*$% wood launch the wedge like a
> > rocket, and you're looking for cover until it comes back down! Life is
> > never dull when you work with your hands.
>
> Red gum!
>
> "We have incoming! Run!"
>
> Those were the days. We didn't have no sissy sledge hammer either. That
> thing weighed close to 20 pounds. I can't even come close to swinging it
> anymore.
IIRC, it was either Hickory or Red Oak! 20lb.? Sounds more like a fence
maul! I *think* Uncles' was more in the 10-14lb. range.
Nahmie
Norman D. Crow wrote:
> However, back to the wood . . . I've also started a wedge, take a good
> swipe @ it, and have that )*&%^*(%&*$% wood launch the wedge like a
> rocket, and you're looking for cover until it comes back down! Life is
> never dull when you work with your hands.
Red gum!
"We have incoming! Run!"
Those were the days. We didn't have no sissy sledge hammer either. That
thing weighed close to 20 pounds. I can't even come close to swinging it
anymore.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
'Round here, the old timers stand the pieces on end. Helps them keep
from drying out and becoming hard to split. Seems like I tried some
once and it did make a BIG difference. But I am not a pro
woodsplitter.
On 29 Nov 2003 09:08:01 GMT, [email protected] (Charlie Self)
wrote:
>Toolmiser writes:
>
>>Don't know if this will help but here it is anyway. "If" you are located in
>>a
>>cold climate, an "old timer who sold wood, but split it by hand" told me it
>>is
>>much easier to split once it gets frozen.
>>
>
>Old timer? It is MUCH easier to split when frozen. I used to do a lot of
>splitting when it dropped to zip. People think you're nuts working in a T shirt
>in taht kind of weather, but almost anything else and I'd sweat, which is no
>fun when it's really cold.
>
>I used wood to heat almost exclusively from about 1973 until 1986. Then I
>married a farm girl who wants no part of it. She's been there, done that, with
>the hard work and the extra dirt.
>
>The truism used to be that wood warmed you twice, once when you cut it, and
>once when you burned it. But it gives a moderately good warm up during
>stacking, carrying inside, and cleaning up the debris before and after burning,
>too.
>
>Charlie Self
>
>"Say what you will about the ten commandments, you must always come back to the
>pleasant fact that there are only ten of them." H. L. Mencken
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
On 25 Nov 2003 07:55:33 -0800, [email protected] (Hylourgos) wrote:
>You are kidding, right? That's got to be one gd big froe. Did I
>mention the log is about 4 FEET in DIAMETER?
Split in half with wedges, then take a froe to the 2' segments. Hard
work, but you can do it.
I can't help wondering why you're splitting this, rather than milling
it. Round here, 4' oak logs are worth good money when sawn. We only
fool around splitting the skinny stuff.
As others have said, split it from an end, not the side.
Another point when splitting oak is that it only splits radially. You
have to align the froe _exactly_ between the rays, because it's one
hell of a job to try and go through them.
--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
On 24 Nov 2003 15:57:37 -0800, [email protected] (Hylourgos) wrote:
>I went out yesterday experimenting, on a lark, with splitting some
>large oak logs. They range from 3' to 4' in diameter and are about 6'
>long. I thought I'd just chainsaw a shallow line down the length
>(about 3" into the sapwood) then use sledgehammer with wedges to split
>it down that line.
>
>My goal was to get a few slabs.
>
>The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
>quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
>then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
>dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
>and sledge.
>
>Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
>Portable hydraulics? Anything?
>
>Curiouser and curiouser,
>H.
Froe
Use wooden wedges along the crack, you can adjust them for depth if needed.
look up split rails
"das" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Work from the end of the log just like a log splitting machine would do.
> Pound in a couple of wedges till you get a crack and then pound some in
from
> the top. I've split some big logs this way but never a four-footer. My
Stihl
> 064 would take care of that bad boy.
>
> dean s
>
> > The oak just laughed. It wouldn't budge, and I wore myself out pretty
> > quickly slinging that 18 lb sledge. The wedges went in (maybe) 1/2"
> > then acted as if I were hitting concrete or iron (except they weren't
> > dulled really). I guess the mass is just too much for a single wedge
> > and sledge.
> >
> > Do you know of other ways than sawing to split a log this thick?
> > Portable hydraulics? Anything?
> >
> > Curiouser and curiouser,
> > H.
>
>