Top Performing Splitting Tools

One can argue whether it is energy (1/2 MV^2) or momentum (MV) that is the better predictor of splitting efficiency. Energy favors a lighter faster head while momentum favors a heavier slower head. Obviously, heavy and fast would be great, but the human body can only do so much. I think it is wise to put more focus on the human end of the handle rather than focussing on the metal end.

That is why I have an assortment of splitting implements. The Gransfors probably gets the most use, but I rotate around. Different weights, different handle lengths means different body mechanics and that means less chance of repetitive motion injury. I ended up getting a lot of shoulder pain when I was using the Fiskars exclusively. Great tool, but I needed to mix it up. For my body, the Gransfors is more comfortable than the Fiskars in long term use. For one thing, I swing the Fiskars faster, so it may just be that I actually do less work in an hour with the Gransfors. But I also think it has to do with the resonant frequency of the Fiskars just happens to tweak my shoulder. That fast light head splits some wood, but it also slows down faster than the slow heavy head. For my body and my wood, I'd use the Gransfors if I had to use only one, but I am most productive and hurt the least if I switch amongst the various implements that I own.

 

Not sure if this jives with what any of you guys have seen but it appears that young men prefer heavier mauls (tough guy image), older men prefer light mauls, and everyone else prefers a good splitting axe.

It seems everytime an older fellow buys a Fiskars they just are not won over by its performance and I'm wondering if it's because they aren't getting the speed into their swing even though they have the strength to run a 5-6 lb maul effectively.

Just a thought.

 

I wrote this in a notebook a long time ago but I can't recall the source: a 12lb maul travelling at 30mph produces c. 871 joules; an 8lb maul travelling at 50mph produces 469 joules. A joule is a measure of work. On that basis, weight (mass) is important. It is certainly crucial in trying to break up heavy rounds. I went from a 6.6lb maul to 11lb which is almost double the weight, which caused a significant increase in my productivity. It would be impossible to almost double the working speed of the maul flight from what I normally do and I would like to think that I can swing at speed. This example is a rebuttal to those that suggest that the speed of the maul/axe should be doubled and not the weight of the implement in order to increase the work output. Does this make sense?

 

perfectly, proves the math side of it. However if you could swing the small axe fast enough, it would be equal but not practical.

 

Absolutely. Makes sense but individual mileage may vary.

Does anyone actually know at what speed a maul/axe head is traveling? I would assume this could be measured with a radar gun like they use for baseball?

 

Funny thing is I was taught to split wood by my grandfather. At 5 foot 8 and 190 he was not as big as his brothers but ran an 800 acre farm by hand with no tractors.. land was too hilly so he used draft horses.. but his hands were over 3 inches thick milking cows by hand. At 80 sitting in his lazy boy if I tried to hold his arm down he could curl my then 160 pounds in a bicep curl.

He cut and split over 40 cord a year for cookstove, house and sugar shack. never owned a chain saw or splitter. he had a 10 pound maul he was still using at 80. the 2 man saw and double bladed axe are still on farm wall. he also kept a sharpening stone in his flannel shirt til his dying day..

For years I have tried to split like him 1 swing 4 pieces equal quarters.. I have seen it done and still try but just figure I am not tough enough.

He would put a 12 inch round usually sugar maple on a block (a lot of maple have a natural cross in them when the start to dry) adjust it so he was hitting small side of cross and angle head of maul on entry. and 4 prices fell to ground

In 80s when my dad bought a chainsaw and splitter for camp he was like what do you need that splitter for its too slow..I lined up the rounds and split 12 by hand in four pieces in less time it too splitter to do 2. At that point gramps was in his late 70s with numerous heart attack and strokes.. Dad has a video of it somewhere on 8 mm...

I still split some by hand trying to learn this technique.. but I figure it was learned over hundreds of cords of wood and a lifetime...
I will see if some of the old films can be digitized.. because the old reel to reel stopped working decades ago..

my point (finally ) a lot of it is being comfortable with tool and muscle memory

 

I think your math is incorrect. 1 Joule unit = 1 kg*(m/s)². I don't feel like doing the metric conversion, so let 1 Curry unit = 1 lb*(mph)²

1/2 * 12 * 30² = 5400 Curry's. 1/2 * 8 * 50² = 10,000 Curry's. So the lighter head, swinging only 40% faster, is doing nearly double the work. Now, if you're hitting the speed wall with the 8lber, and you could swing that 12lb at the same 50mph, then it's doing 15,000 Curry's of work.

Any increase in speed yields an exponential increase in power. So if amount of work done is the correct measurement, and I think it is, then the best axe is the one that just heavy enough not to slow you down. Plus I would argue you will produce more by the end of the day with such an axe; purely on a basis of fatigue, no matter what the math would suggest.

 

ya, what he said^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Muscle memory, technique, and pure muscle will make the job look easy to an outsider!

 

I like the way you think. I recalled from previous discussions on this topic that speed was more important than mass to achieve a maximum splitting force. Again that is why the Fiskars design works better than mauls on most wood for most folks. Like I said back at the top of this page, the older gentlemen who don't get the speed aspect do not have good results when they use a Fiskars.

 

Now that I am beginning to understand the mathematics, I see your point. I have done the sum myself and I have come up with the following result: 12lb maul travelling at 30mph produces 238.14 joules; 8lb maul travelling at 50mph produces 438.048 joules. It is completely in favour of speed over mass.

 

Now, of course splitting wood is not purely a matter of applying the maximum power. Most of the time, I'm not even swinging my 6.3lber at full speed. I think that technique and an understanding of wood grain in different wood types is much more important than brute force. Hitting the wood in just the right spot will make a huge difference in the amount of force required.

 

Is that a King George V class battleship in your avatar?

 

Believe it or not, it's a H class German Battleship. It was never built although one or two keels were laid down in 1939 and subsequently broken up. Designed with eight 16 inch guns, it would have been the successor to the Bismarck and the Tirpitz. I was taken by the elegance of the print. Tell nobody: they will think we are 'going off topic'.

 

Interesting. Curious how someone from Ireland would have a German ship on their avatar. Did you have ties over there?

Just a WW2 nerd here asking questions LOL. I have toured a number of the museum ships on this side of the Atlantic.

 

I have an interest in twentieth century history, particularly in relation to the World Wars. I have no particular ties, except for cousins in America who do. By the way I visited the USS Massachusetts in Fall River.

 

I have been there as well! Hoping to hit all major museum ships stateside first and visit the Missouri last. Hopefully I will get to Texas and hit battleship Texas and carrier Lexington this summer.

 

even in sports it has been learned head speed is more important

 

Radar Gun would not work too well unless you were using it at the log to be split, or directly overhead of the log. Radar guns send pulses that come back at different times to calculate the speed. The axe head travels more in an arc than in a straight line. My guess is that it would take calculus to figure it out....

 

You could easily figure the speed with a high speed camera of known frame rate. Position a size reference next to the log and film from the side.