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New member with a log splitter wedge question.

Started by breese, April 28, 2006, 07:47:30 AM

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breese

Hey all, really enjoy the forum.  Hope to offer more than just questions in the future.

Anyway, here's my situation:
I supply smoking wood to a bbq restaurant.  The restaurant is located in a big city with strict firebox size requirements, consequently the place uses 4 commercial "pits" that will only accept 2" thick wood.  Picture an 8-10" long chunk of 2x6, that what I need to end up with.

I've been doing about 2 cords per month of this small stuff and its getting old in a hurry.  Been using a fixed wedge Lafonte splitter to split one piece at a time.  I need to come up with a wedge that will allow me to split multiple pieces at once.  Any help or ideas would be great.  Thanks.


Ron Wenrich

I saw a splitter at a show last year that had multi-wedge on it that looked more like a grate than a wedge.  I asked the vendor if they would be interested in selling the wedge, and they said no.   >:(  Had to buy the whole machine.

The design didn't look all that hard to duplicate, if you're a good welder.  You'll need some type of a multi-wedge to speed up your production. 

We also used to have a splitter that ran on a rack and pinionl design instead of a hydraulic cylinder.  It was pretty quick and would reduce your splitting time significantly. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

onionman

It may sound crazy to most but when I cut my last load of smokin wood, I just laid the logs on the sawmill  busted them down , then cut them to fit in the smoker. Sure beat spliting them by hand :)
Onion

Murf

I built a multi-wedge thing-a-ma-jig fer a friend of my Dad's a couple years back.

I didn't like the way it worked myself, the owner was very happy with, and I suppose that's what counts.

Anytime you try to push a piece of wood through what is basically a die like that it eats up lots of power since you have to make the clearance for the blade in the wood.

Sort of like trying to put 10 pounds of 'taters in a 5 pound bag.  ::)

I suggested a progressive set of cutters would be a better way  to go, then you limit the amount of force required at any one time.
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

sawguy21

Gripo makes a rack and pinion splitter that is fast, 3 second cycle time. I have found that the ram won't  return completely without assistance  if pitch or bark builds up on the beam. Pam or WD40 help somewhat. A multiple splitter might not be cost effective as it would need a lot of power and strength
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

wiam


sawguy21

That is identical to the Gripo except for the colour. You do not want hands anywhere near the block when the ram is activated :o
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

getoverit

try THIS LINK for some serious firewood splitting. you can also adjust it to split the log 8 ways.

check out the VIDEO also
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

rebocardo

Go to www.northerntools.com and type in "wedge" for the search. Would the four way split wedge help?

Go to yahoo and search using this "log splitter wedge eight way" and .com


breese

Thanks for the ideas.  Should have clarified that I'm not necessarily looking for better splitter speed, I kind of like my slow and steady hydraulics, just looking for a way to splitt mulitple pieces at once.  The conventional 4 and 6 way wedges won't work, I need to split relatively uniform 2" thick pieces.

I figured it would take more horsepower to push a block through a wedge like this.  Murf, I'd be interested to hear more about the one you built, or your idea for progressive cutters.

Murf

The simplest way, especially if you already have a splitter, is to make a single horizontal blade with 2" clearance between (under it) to the table or deck. This would require however repeated splits.

Each time the block is pushed through it isn't split as normally a splitter would, it just cuts a 2" thick slab off the bottom. The deck would need to stop a few inches short of the cutter, then each piece could move away from the cutter to each side as it passed by. This would take the least power.

The more aggressive way would be to have a series of horizontal blades, each one about 2" apart  from the next, and no verticals at all, this way you are at least only trying to force the wood from one direction, not two. This would take considerably more power, but would be at least double the speed.

The one I built was strictly to divide the block into multiple wedges of wood, not relatively flat uniform pieces. I don't think it would help you much.

Finally, if you need relatively uniform pieces it might almost be easier to start with at least one flat surface. Have you thought about cutting log length pieces in half down the center, before cutting them into blocks. You would at least then have a uniform 1/2 block to start from.
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

beenthere

Sounding more and more like sawing the logs into 2" flitches rather than splitting would be the quickest, most sure way to get the product desired.

I've seen splitters designed with more than one wedge, and the problems involved when two wedges are parallel to each other. No room for the center piece to go when it is 'squeezed' between the wedges.

But the 'table' idea, starting with one flat surface, and a wedge 2" from the table like a sourkraut cabbage cutter might have some merit getting even thickness split wood. Wood will tend to split along the grain, which if not straight, will not end up with uniform thickness splits.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

getoverit

I wonder of something like a cedar shake machine would do the trick? It can cut cedar shakes as thin as paper, and I bet if ya tried hard enough it would also cut them pretty close to 2".

possibly changing the wedge to something like a 1/2" thick by 4" wide piece of metal, welded edgewise and sharpened on the cutting edge with a side grinder would help out also.  Perhaps staggering several of these several inches apart might help also, to split the whole log to 2" on one pass.something like this:




The only other thing I could think of is a vertical band saw to cut the log into 2" slabs, then it could be sent through the splitter to break it down to what ever size is needed or sent back through the bandsaw to cut it to 2" in the other direction
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

Murf

Dats a good point too, but I doubt he's splittin' anything near as soft as cedar......  ::)
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

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