Splittin' wood tips.. the old fashoned way

[Cobleskill]

They were old as the hills and he used to grind them. His pocket knife too. No patience at all. I was just looking at an old Barlow knife that was his the other day. I think he used to get them free with catalog orders.

 

[Al Smith]

The blade portion is hardened but about half way up it is not or at least most aren't .

That old splitter I have is hard forged and the cutting edge is so hard you can hardly file it .The head and eye portions are soft .

There's old blacksmith tricks they had of which I only know a few .I think though if I'm not mistaken they buried a portion the axe head off in the cooler portion of the hot coke or charcoal bed and let the steel absorb the carbon out of the coke or charcoal .It takes a certain amount of carbon content in the steel before it can be hardened .

I'm only guessing but I imagine they kept the axe head probabley around cherry red in the coke fire a half a day then laid the air to the forge and raised it to about the color of a pumpkin and water quenced it then tempered it back so it wasn't brittle .

 

[Cobleskill]

My first ax I went to Sears and bought. It was good for chopping but terrible for splitting. Long slim cutting edge would get buried and stuck. It is still kicking around here somewhere after almost 40 years.

 

[sotc]

She didn't get stuck because she was flipping it not because it was blunt. She is good at it

 

[Altissimus]

... handle lenght, gets personal ... longer handles give more leverage, shorter handles more accuracy.... as far as splitting surface I am fond of a gnarly dinger four to six inches thick maybe twenty inches across flat and stable ... gives a good smash platform to stand work on and protects the Steel from dirt or concrete

 

[Al Smith]

I had one short squaty Ash trunk today about 20 inch across and 12 feet long .I couldn't even get a wedge started in the knotty rascal .About like driving an axe into the rubber track of an Abrams tank .I mean that SOB is tough .It'll wait for the hydraulics .

I don't know what it is about those EAB killed ash but those things are hard as a rock .I've done a fair amount of ash prior to the EAB and I don't remember any of them being like than .

 

[NickfromWI]

Wait...you're splitting a log 20' long? Why?

 

[Al Smith]

No no no ! The log was a gnarly knotty pot licker 20 inchs in diameter and 12 feet long .I had it cut into 16" long rounds .Geeze twenty feet ,make a hell of a rail fence for sure or a tooth pick for a giant .

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I would like to have a working one of these again....

Trouble is someone would probably put my nose to the grindstone.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Do you really know what "nose to the grindstone" means?

Get to Googling!

It's not what you think it is...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Number two.. yes I do know to what it infers.......

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/217200.html

 

[Al Smith]

Which no doubt would cause rather flat noses one should think .

 

[Adam_P]

Nobody said you have to tell her.

She beats me home a lot. I've tried explaining I have a secret admirer that orders me nice things from time to time. She rolls her eyes, I smile, and we do the same dance next time I get a "gift."

I got my x27 today and we bagged a medium sized cherry today. I probably have 3/4 cord to split sometime in the next few days. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Jack]

She doesn't read this, right?

 

[Adam_P]

As long as you guys don't start posting pictures of jewelry or nail polish we're safe!

 

[Jack]

I got a wild black cherry a couple of years ago. FWIW: it was hard to split ... one of the few times I resorted to steel wedges on the big rounds. FYI ... Let me know how it goes.

 

[Cobleskill]

She didn't get stuck because she was flipping it not because it was blunt. She is good at it

And because it is easy splitting wood. Flippin or not, on tough wood your gonna get stuck sometimes.

 

[Al Smith]

Cherry really isn't the best firewood although it does smell good when it's burning .I've got maybe a cord from standing dead and windfalls .Anything over about 10" and straight 8 foot or longer I try to save for saw logs but it's been a long time since I've found any .

There looked like a decent log in one I dropped about two weeks ago but the ants had gotten to it and at best only 6 foot of decent log . Not worth fooling with .

 

[Al Smith]

On that chick flippen that axe ,yeah that might work on aspen or poplar .Send her eastward some time and see how she does on oak or hickory or even EAB killed ash .

 

[Cobleskill]

I remember the first time I scored some cherry firewood and thought I really had something. Highly disappointed.

 

[Jack]

EAB ash for free = way over priced!

but, cherry smells soooo gooood ... like those big white mints in the men's room.

 

[Al Smith]

I always try to have a couple wheel barrows full of good dry cherry or hickory to burn when the grand children are here over the Yule season .The rest of the heating season I could care less ,swamp willow or pizz elm ,it all burns .

 

[Al Smith]

.. like those big white mints in the men's room.

Those are urinal cookies for heavens sakes don't eat one .It is comical to drop one in somebodies beer glass though .

 

[MasterBlaster]

Comical maybe, if you wanna fight! Ha.

 

[Altissimus]

Cherry and apple do smell real nice burning, but edging both those out is Juneberry, some books call it Serviceberry... great heat, really nice aroma ... you never get any in a log truck load as they don't get real big here ... I always bring it home if it is close enough to the truck, mostly on clearing, or woodland manicure jobs