kinda looks like cherry mrfancyplants . Elm wouldve twisted by the time you got to the other end of the split IMO Nice score regardless
It does look like cherry from the “how to split cherry thread.” I’m not used to wild cherry though there are tons of the ornamental varieties around here. I’ll have to go sniff it to compare on my lunch break. Sniffing logs out of the trunk of my car on lunch break... it’s a good thing we have a support group for this problem.
OMG! thats funny!!! Im laughing with you!!! Watch me split wood and its common place for me to PU the split and give it a good sniff!!! Yesterday it was sassafras! FHC version of scratch n sniff...SPLIT n SNIFF!!!
It smelled like just about nothing.. just a hint of mildew. I’m leaning away from cherry as the bark is smoother than the examples I see. I thought maybe it was just worn down. Sure it’s not an oak? I saw some dark spots in the wood that could be that fungal issue that is taking them out?
Huzzah! Some sort of oak. I had to go back because I forgot my hammer and it wasn’t there when I went back. I’ll have to star a new 3 yr stack. Any recommendations on a new hammer? The cheap one I had was kind of smushing up the metal on the back of my Fiskars splitter.
Definitely not oak. Cherry was my best self educated guess, based on bark, split texture and heartwood color.
The one I had was working pretty well other than maybe the metal being to hard. I think it was six pounds and maybe 16” long.
sorry i was referring to your prior pic of the split in half. Yes that is oak, some type of red oak, maybe pin oak. Fresh split pin oak smells like manure
so a mini sledgehammer? I have this 4lb that i rarely use for wood made by Estwing. The Kobalt brand sold by Lowe's is good too. Depends on your swing technique...are you driving in a railroad spike or blacksmithing metal?
Mini sledge sounds right. Hmm, interesting question. I think I am blacksmithing. Is there a type of metal that might not mess up my splitter so bad. I was thinking the tool steel might have been the culprit. Maybe the splitter just isn’t made to be whacked, but it was so much more effective for me than unsticking the splitter and setting a wedge. I think red oak because of the angle of the leave lobes. Also, no noticeable smell when splitting. Thanks for the help Brad. I appreciate it coming from a hand splitter.
Axes and mauls arent really made to be struck with another hammer but ive done it for years. Not that often but i know what you are saying. The metal is hardened, can and will chip, sending shrapnel out in any direction. Its a pain to dislodge the axe and swing again. Much easier to give it a smack with the sledge. Especially with a lot of the knotty wood you scrounge. I broke my Fiskars back in March Broken F iskars! (not from pounding on it). I then used the head as a wedge Fiskars wedge which did work okay with a small sledge. Id recommend wearing safety glasses, even though i dont.
You are going to go through Fiskars at a rapid rate if you are hitting the poll with a sledgehammer. I have two methods for getting my ax unstuck. First, try hitting the extreme end of the handle with your palm a few times. The leverage may loosen it up. If that doesn't work, and the round isn't too big, lift it up with the stuck ax, and drop the round at an angle against another round or log.
In the first picture with split log, the wood looks almost like cherry, but the bark says more like red or "swamp" maple. Hard to tell with the sunlight burned photo, but the crotch wood log behind it may be Walnut? Anyways, nice morning score!
Man, I just realized I'm really late to this game.... the second car trunk picture is definitely a load of red oak. You made need the larger Fiskars Isocore maul with wood like that. I only use the smaller fiskars splitting axe for "gentleman wood".
I'm picking up a vintage monster maul off Craigslist tomorrow. Just for yucks. it may be too heavy for me. There were 4 models, the heaviest had a 12 pound head, and the lightest was 8 pounds. I don't know which one this will turn out to be.
I have one of those. Its the heavy 12lb. one i think. Friend who no longer used it and gave it to me. Was it called the log blaster? If not very similar to it. Think i bought one for my dad many years ago, dunno what ever happened to it. Dont use it that often. Its on one of the rounds in front. Knew i had a pic somewhere
Love that Eastwing Lump hammer Brad, had the same one for many years and lost it, have to pick up a new one, one of these days..
