Using the maul as a wedge?

Over the past few years of burning and splitting, I have always used my sledge hammer on the flat part of my splitting mauls when they have gotten stuck. It always seems to work well - no more messing with the stump trying to free your maul!!! However, these have been cheap hardware store mauls so no big deal if I ruin them eventually. I just bought the Oxhead (Stihl) professional splitting maul.

When it gets stuck in a stump, is it permissible to use my sledge on the flat back part to drive the maul like a wedge? Isn't that what is is for?

Thanks

 

I have an 8 lb maul that has a chip out of the back. Was like that when I got it, but would not have wanted that chunk to hit me. I think it depends on how it's hardened. thistle isn't the new maul you bought specially hardened to use as a sledge as well?

 

Yup specs says its OK for driving steel splitting wedges.

 

I wouldn't make it a habit of using a maul as a wedge.

 

I have an old head that I use as a wedge but only after I start the split with a regular wedge.

 

With my luck I would miss and hit the handle. Couple of 10 to 14 dollar wedges work for me.

 

Ok, thanks all.

 

That's what this site is for.... To help each other out. Let us know how you like that new maul.

 

no, wedges are soft steel so they mushroom without chipping. Mauls are tempered and will chip instead of mushrooming, causing flying objects which cause pain.

 

I knew it was something like thats. Thanks.

 

I got to use it yesterday. I put some motor oil on an old rag and wiped down the head. The maul destroyed some rounds. It stuck a couple of times but otherwise worked very well. Only problem is that the wood kept flying out of my chopping tire; which means more bending.

 

something else I did which helped using the maul. Take an 8 inch grinder, fine grit and polish the sides smooth, remove casting/forging marks. slides thru the round.

 

Kind of where I got the idea for the oil, including to keep the head from rusting. Once I wear the paint off, I might polish up those sides.

 

get rid of the paint asap, it is sticking the maul.

 

With the pa80, you will definitely want to polish the cheeks. The paint they used causes some additional friction.

 

Ok, Thanks!!!

 

I got the pro version, not the pa80 (they are very similar) , but I will (hopefully soon take you all up on your suggestions.)

 

Not really, IME. If they're made of suitable alloy and properly heat treated, you can whale with them on wedges or the polls of other mauls, with NO effect on their steel. Exanples: Mueller 3 kg, Council Tools 6 lb. Look at how a good hammer-head holds up, and tell us how it mushrooms or chips. Never seen that yet.

Tempering is no inducement to malleability or brittleness.

I have no qualms whatsoever about driving a *quality* maul into a round, and then treating it like a wedge when hitting it with another *quality* maul. Ain't gonna say "pretty please now."

 

Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys. Tempering is usually performed after hardening, to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal to some temperature below the critical point for a certain period of time, then allowing it to cool in still air. The exact temperature determines the amount of hardness removed, and depends on both the specific composition of the alloy and on the desired properties in the finished product. For instance, very hard tools are often tempered at low temperatures, while springs are tempered to much higher temperatures

what type of hammer, claw, ripping , framing, ball peen, sledge, tacking, tinners, brass, bronze, rawhide, plastic, dead blow, lead, all hammers have different uses and are tempered to different specs for their designed use. Take a framing hammer, designed for driving nails, and strike another framing hammer and I guarantee they will chip. Take a brass hammer, designed for driving hardened pins, and hit another brass hammer and it will mushroom. Proper tool for the job, a maul is not a wedge.
If you wish to abuse tools, that is your choice, please wear safety glasses " so you don't put your eye out".

 

directly from warwood forged tools


Designed for splitting wood, the wood choppers’ maul is a tool with a round, bevel-edged striking face and a splitting edge opposite. These tools are also used in conjunction with wood-splitting wedges by first making a notch with the splitting edge, and then driving the wedge with the maul’s striking face. Never use this tool in striking concrete. Never drive a maul by striking it with another maul, sledge or other striking tool.