Help my first time cutting up firewod. We purchased a truckload of wood but it seems to be awful big. Purchased a splitting axe took a file to it but it only bounces off. Any suggesions appreciate. Helpfull ones would be better than snide remarks
Don
Are you trying to chop the wood into manageable lengths or split it?
If the former, buy or rent a chain saw. If the latter, you're pretty much screwed. Look here for some ideas:
Don,
YouTube has plenty of videos on splitting wood with mauls axes, wedges et c. Watch some. Expect to be tired the next day. Splitting firewood is hard work.
Dave M.
Seasoned wood (which has partly dried out and thus developed cracks) is usually easier to split than freshly cut "green" wood. (I do a couple of cords every year with a 5 lb. axe, deliberately blunt, preferred over a maul.)
Sounds like your wood is still pretty green. Let it dry some more. Or rent a splitter.
Get someone who has done it before to show you how. That's the best way to learn.
That's not necessarily the problem; many woods split just fine when green. I still think the best thing the OP can do is get a friend who's done it before to show him how.
Do you know what kind of wood it is? If it is something like twisted elm or cypress, it won't split without some hydraulics. If it is oak, you just need a strong swing. [and a dull axe is fine for splitting]
Seasoned wood splits easier. Hard to split wood becomes easier when the frost is in it.
Don't try to slit a 12" diameter log by whacking it in the center. Take slabs off the outside edges and work your way in.
Make a good splitting platform. [a stump works fine.]
Do a little at a time. You'll be using some muscles that haven't gotten a workout in your lifetime.
Jim
Maybe if already split it is OK. You don't want to burn all kindling. I had a neighbor that was never happy with wood he bought and cut it down to stick size which is going to burn fast but not give a sustained fire that does not require constant feeding.
Splitting depends on type of wood. I use ax, wedge and sledge hammer when I have to on wood gathered from trees in my yard.
up firewod. We purchased a truckload of wood but
Doug Miller's advice is best, get someone who has done splitting to show you how, it is much easier than learning by trial and error. Also, examine the wood for any natural cracks or fault lines and start there. I always sort of peel around the perimeter, as Jim Elbrecht said.
ng up firewod. We purchased a truckload of wood but
One thing a lot of folks overlook is standing the chunk on end on a solid surface - preferably a large piece of un-split firewood. This does two things:
1) Reduces the cushion effect of the blow. A solid base puts the force of the ax or maul into the wood,not softer earth. 2) Safer. With the work elevated you are less apt to have the ax bounce off and end up hitting your foot or leg (bad!)#2 is another reason to follow Doug's advice. You can get hurt, seriously hurt, splitting wood; and the tireder you get the higher the probability of accident.
You can rent splitters - or better mooch splitter time from a friend. A case of beer goes a long way toward reducing aching muscles.
RonB
If it is the file bouning off the steel of the maul try a belt sander.
If it is the maul bouncing off the rounds of wood then start with ones that have obvious cracks or the smallest ones first until you get the hang of it.
Curious. What is the reasoning behind the "dull ax bit"? That just makes the work harder.
Harry K
I see it has been mentioned about green wood. Some is very difficult to split when wet so wait for at least a couple of weeks. You don't want the blade too sharp either as it ill dig in as opposed to pushing the sides apart.
Next is leverage. You want the blade to hit the wood at 90 degrees to the handle, not near the bottom of the swing arc. Get a round of wood to use as the base, then put the wood to be split on top of that,. You get a more powerful and meaningful blow to the grain of the wood,.
Even better is to wait until the cold weather comes. After a long freeze, the wood that is bouncing today will literally pop into two pieces with one well placed hit.
Wear gloves and hard tipped shoes or boots, safety glasses. Splitting wood is far better than paying to go to a gym.
"Harry K" wrote
From experience, the sharp blades want to cut in and stay while the duller blade pushes the wood apart better.
Heres another question. Birch splits along its grain so easy I was thinking it would be best used for making kindling and smaller sticks rather than burning in junks. Any opiniuons?
When I used such things, my felling axe was sharp enough to shave my arm. I never touched the splitting axe with a file in 30 years. A sharp splitting axe is more likely to bury itself in a log without splitting it. It splits by force & inertia, not by cutting.
Jim
Not familiar with birch but it is a good idea to google up the fuel value of various woods. The hard woods are usually best. I think some like fat wood which is from a high resin pine stump makes good fire starter but burning a lot of pine is a no no because of high creosote build up.
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