Four: Now that I read up on them. It's where you secure a kickstand so you can have 2 hands on the sledge at all times.
I think that's it... Orrr...maybe that's one of those ultrasonic wedges that they were experimenting with...yeah, a properly designed and placed hole causes the wedge to ring ultrasonically when hit, reducing the number of hits needed by 25%...
I bet they put that hole in there to save weight. Ya, that's the ticket, a "skeletonized" splittin' wedge.
East/West compass. Hold it out in front of you and look through the hole at the North star. Hold your left arm out to your side, bingo that is West. Gary
Five : Rope eyelet for a small rope for the lumberjack wedge tossing competition. The goal is to toss through the highest crotch in a tree.
I guess the groove is to reduce surface area in area of the wedge that it provides no purpose except to add some mass. The hole is to distribute the stress as efficiently as possible at the end of the groove. Like drilling a hole at the end of a crack, or said another way, keeping the force from the striking edge away from the groove, which is a stress riser. Or it's for hanging it on nail. Mine lay stacked on the sill in the garage.....because there's no hole!
Let me take a look but I think I may have some old wedge holes lying around, maybe I can send you one. I tend to save them 'cause not all wedges come with them, as you so sorrowfully found out. Brian
Thanks for the offer. Hold off until I look around here. It didn't occur to me that I could use any left overs we might have and I'm sure I've seen a few in the junk drawer. They might not be wedge holes specifically, but the ones I remember are probably a similar size and I could make them work. I'll let you know.
I found a few behind the stapler. Right size and color and I think it fits perfect. Can't wait to try it! Thanks!
Great! You are lucky you found a left- handed hole that fits that wedge correctly. Now you too can split wood in a hurricane without worry, no matter how strong the wind gets. Brian
Generally in non woodsplitting applications, the hole and slot was for a metal pin. It was inserted between two opposing wedges (one on top of another, but facing each other) so that as the two wedges were driven home, the force would keep the wedges from slipping off one another. Two wedges were needed because it allowed for "wedging" but on two flat planes (top and bottom). I used this a lot on a Bridgeport in my machinist days. Lets say I needed to hold a piece down for milling and needed to lift the holding device at a specific height. A tap of two opposing wedges would raise the holding device, but I needed the wedges to keep from slipping off one another (sideways). A metal pin allowed that. These were rather small, specific wedges and not splitting wedges, but back in the old days, tools had to provide multiple uses, so I THINK they might have been there so such an option existed. That is just speculation, but also MAY explain why old ones had them, and new ones do not.