SeanKroll
Treehouser
Madsen's flattest wedge is around 9 % slope, something like twice the degrees. That thing will lift some wood.
Hard head wedges.
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Top looks unusual. I computed the angle of K&H 12" from specs found online, it came out to 6°. There's a lot of uncertainty there trusting found specs that people don't care that much about aside from general terms, and I can't measure mine cause it's at work, so hard to say how accurate that is.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
From pics it looks like maybe they just made the tip thicker…?
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
…maybe the butt thinner too
Tip shouldn't affect the angle. If it's truly lower than competing wedges, it would be done by making the butt thinner. I think the only way to know for sure is to buy a couple and see what you think. Their current "sale" price isn't ridiculously more expensive than competing wedges.
Burnham
Woods walker
I'd not be averse to having had a couple of those in my kit, back when such things mattered quite a bit to my well-being 
.
@davidwyby Input from a smaller guy that had to carry his felling gear all over hell and gone (which I know is not your situation) ...any driver head over 5 pounds is superfluous to the job. Head speed is the be-all. You will be more accurate in your driving strikes if the driver is not overly heavy, imo. If you can't hit a wedge square with an axe poll, you need to find another job
.
Again, high head speed with a decent amount of weight there, drives wedges to the best effect. Anything much lighter than 5 pounds is too light, and anything much heavier is too slow, besides being too difficult to carry through the woods.
.@davidwyby Input from a smaller guy that had to carry his felling gear all over hell and gone (which I know is not your situation) ...any driver head over 5 pounds is superfluous to the job. Head speed is the be-all. You will be more accurate in your driving strikes if the driver is not overly heavy, imo. If you can't hit a wedge square with an axe poll, you need to find another job
. Again, high head speed with a decent amount of weight there, drives wedges to the best effect. Anything much lighter than 5 pounds is too light, and anything much heavier is too slow, besides being too difficult to carry through the woods.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
Making the tip thicker would have the same effect as making the tail thinner
I don't think that's right. A thicker tip would give more lift faster. You're eliminating the (trivial in this case)lift you get from tip, and effectively "choking up" on the wedge. I'm guessing they just do it for durability purposes.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
Yeah…I'd not be averse to having had a couple of those in my kit, back when such things mattered quite a bit to my well-being
@davidwyby Input from a smaller guy that had to carry his felling gear all over hell and gone (which I know is not your situation) ...any driver head over 5 pounds is superfluous to the job. Head speed is the be-all. You will be more accurate in your driving strikes if the driver is not overly heavy, imo. If you can't hit a wedge square with an axe poll, you need to find another job
Again, high head speed with a decent amount of weight there, drives wedges to the best effect. Anything much lighter than 5 pounds is too light, and anything much heavier is too slow, besides being too difficult to carry through the woods.
6lb 32”
Should have kept it shorter
Council fire axe. I think that’s what @MatthewMMeckley runs…but he’s younger and stronger
No matter. I’ll re hang it. I went down the axe rabbit hole and I have various weights and lengths from 3-6lb.
6 is nice cuz you don’t have to swing it fast. But 32” is better for splitting and chopping than banging wedges.
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Burnham
Woods walker
That's a nice looking head shape, David. Fine striking surface with that poll.
FWIW, I have always liked about 26 inches of handle on my wedge driving axe. Short enough to swing easy for onehanded taps...long enough to swing strong and hard twohanded.
FWIW, I have always liked about 26 inches of handle on my wedge driving axe. Short enough to swing easy for onehanded taps...long enough to swing strong and hard twohanded.
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davidwyby
Desert Beaver
It’s also nice if the handle reaches down to the wedge height while standing in a comfortable position. Probably 28” for me.
Have not swung this in anger yet but like the feel. 4# custom backwards handle, used to have a 3 on it.
Have not swung this in anger yet but like the feel. 4# custom backwards handle, used to have a 3 on it.
Kaveman
Treehouser
"Swung this in anger"
I like your style David!
As I've said before, I put on my harness feeling like a night donning his armor.
Striding forth I wield my motor-sword to devastating effect. I slay giants. I dismember them, often where they stand. All fall.
Muuuhahahahahaha!
No really though, I have a 100% accuracy rate! Every piece I cut, hits the ground!
I like your style David!
As I've said before, I put on my harness feeling like a night donning his armor.
Striding forth I wield my motor-sword to devastating effect. I slay giants. I dismember them, often where they stand. All fall.
Muuuhahahahahaha!
No really though, I have a 100% accuracy rate! Every piece I cut, hits the ground!
SeanKroll
Treehouser
The angle would be the same... the tip should fit the kerf correctly.
I was thinking about this last night, and Dave could be right depending on exact interpretation, and exactly how the wedges are made. End of the day it's rise over run. That blunt wedge if exactly 12" would have less of an angle than a sharp wedge that's exactly 12", with both having the same butt thickness. To compute the blunt wedge, you'd have to extend the lines til they intersected, and that would give you an effective length >12".
It's all pretty marginal with the dimensions we're talking about, and the lesser angle of the blunt wedge would be slightly offset by the greater effort it takes to start it due to being further along the wedge length. For these wedges, I don't see a blunt tip being a problem. These aren't "I misjudged a cut and have to get my saw unstuck wedges". They're for the biggest trees, and you're gonna have a few set before your backcut's very far along.
It's all pretty marginal with the dimensions we're talking about, and the lesser angle of the blunt wedge would be slightly offset by the greater effort it takes to start it due to being further along the wedge length. For these wedges, I don't see a blunt tip being a problem. These aren't "I misjudged a cut and have to get my saw unstuck wedges". They're for the biggest trees, and you're gonna have a few set before your backcut's very far along.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
the wedge could be sharpened or blunted by changing the angle of the top. Moving the top line of the triangle up or down at the thin end.
Or the angle could remain the same and the front could be beveled.
I suspect Bjarne made the front a touch higher or thicker and the rear a touch thinner.
Or the angle could remain the same and the front could be beveled.
I suspect Bjarne made the front a touch higher or thicker and the rear a touch thinner.
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