Tom Clark - wood splitter and innovator

Curt Hal said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKIsDKFtA-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Z2UXEFUIw

I came across this when I was following up on the Cordwood Challenge. Good explanation an effective splitting technique with an innovative axe.
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Definitely an efficient technique if your know what your doing.
The axe however nice it is ( I like it a lot ) doesn't really seem all that innovative, but rather it just harkens back to the early American long poll axes though it is a bit thinner overall.
 
Square_peg said:
Yeah, but you could split just as well with a skinny poll-less axe with an S-shaped handle.

;)
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I'll have to give it a try. That being said, rather than adding mass to the poll, you could (in theory) actually put an adze-like handle on a conventional polled axe that has the center of gravity inside the eye to deliberately set the run of the handle ahead of the center of gravity and you'd get the same effect. :)
 
Thanks for this! Really slow piston on that wood splitter! There is no doubt about it Tom Clark is ruthlessly efficient and strikes exactly where he aims. Notice how the axe tips to the side rather than ever entering the wood. A deft flick of the wrist is what does that. Looks to me like a good plug for rafting type (high poll) axe profiles too!
 
300Six said:
Thanks for this! Really slow piston on that wood splitter! There is no doubt about it Tom Clark is ruthlessly efficient and strikes exactly where he aims. Notice how the axe tips to the side rather than ever entering the wood. A deft flick of the wrist is what does that. Looks to me like a good plug for rafting type (high poll) axe profiles too!
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You can also just hold the axe deliberately out of alignment with your stroke so it's already a bit twisted at the time it lands. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
You can also just hold the axe deliberately out of alignment with your stroke so it's already a bit twisted at the time it lands. :)
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Sort of like hypothesizing about not straight throwing darts, arrows or javelins? Try this yourself and get back to us. What Tom's doing is standard practice for folks that have efficiently learned how to split wood. And mauls don't lend themselves to it either. In large part the reason why the Depression-era gent I knew was so wonderfully effective with a pulpwood (boy's) axe.
 
300Six said:
Sort of like hypothesizing about not straight throwing darts, arrows or javelins? Try this yourself and get back to us. What Tom's doing is standard practice for folks that have efficiently learned how to split wood. And mauls don't lend themselves to it either. In large part the reason why the Depression-era gent I knew was so wonderfully effective with a pulpwood (boy's) axe.
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I have tried it. I do it frequently. What's actually causing the split isn't your twisting action, exactly--it's the head striking the wood with the head out of alignment with the vector of force. The edge enters the wood, and then the mass to the side of the edge wants to keep moving along the trajectory of the stroke until a force stops it. That causes the edge/edge shoulder to act as a fulcrum and the length of the rest of the head as the lever arm, which has a mechanical advantage over the short counter-lever of the edge. Just try making a downward stroke with the axe turned in your hands about 30° and watch what happens.
 
I've seen some old mauls, maker unknown, that had a shelf cut in the bit to deliberately stop penetration, and the eye was off to one side in the head, provoking the same twisting action when used with a straight downward stroke. You could make one yourself by grinding mass off one side of the head and grinding in the little shelf in the edge. It's the same principle the LeverAxe works on--it's just the expensive "training wheels" version of it.
 
42 is exactly right on this. It's the same way I split. Just hit the wood with the axe held at the right angle and momentum does the rest. There's no precisely timed wrist flip needed.
 
AFAIK an axe is basically a wedge. Here is an illustration of the translation of force from an axe (wedge) from vertical to horizontal.

31732788100_3d16fb3266.jpg


I have never understood the "wrist flick" concept for splitting. It seems like it is just steering the bit into the cross grain. I would think that you would just strike the wood and let the axe follow the path of least resistance separating the wood between the long grain fibers. The same would be true of a non vertical strike unless it was done to follow non vertical grain.

Anyway, just my two cents.


Bob
 
A particular advantage to twist splitting is that you do not need to rely on your axe having a thick splitting profile, because it is levering the wood apart rather than wedging.

15894885_10211505666865751_4636216131915744291_n.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Just try making a downward stroke with the axe turned in your hands about 30° and watch what happens.
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I have some freshly cut frozen oak and hemlock I have been splitting up. You are welcome to come on over and hit it with an axe turned 30° all day long. I will get some popcorn going and watch from the porch. Should be hilarious.
 
Twist splitting, in general, is best used on fairly easy to split wood. Anything full of knots and I'd much rather use a conventional splitting axe or maul. But if you've got easy splitting, the method makes for fast work with a light axe, or if you're stuck in a situation where you have a thin axe but have wood to split. My usual splitting is done with a 5.5lb maul that I swap out long and short handles on, depending on the splitting.

While I don't at all endorse the product, Leveraxe does have a good slow-mo video showing the twist splitting effect in action. It's pretty much the same thing when done with a deliberately off-kilter stroke of a conventional axe, as diagrammed above.

[video=youtube;eqsQ28Se9to]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqsQ28Se9to[/video]
 
With a large heavy poll or a double bit axe you do get a 'wider push' with the twist method. Granted, there is no additional force there - there can't be. But the method pushes the wood further apart then simple wedging action will. This is especially true when the applied force would carry the axe thru the wood and into the splitting block or ground. The energy that would be wasted against the block or ground is instead employed to spread the split wider.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
A particular advantage to twist splitting is that you do not need to rely on your axe having a thick splitting profile, because it is levering the wood apart rather than wedging.

15894885_10211505666865751_4636216131915744291_n.jpg
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42 is right again. It is levering action which pushes the wood further apart.

I wish you could all try splitting with a rafting axe once. They're not just heavier but they also have a wider poll, but still with a narrower entry profile than a maul. You can swing them as RJDankert illustrates above and they do a tremendous job.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
While I don't at all endorse the product, Leveraxe does have a good slow-mo video showing the twist splitting effect in action. It's pretty much the same thing when done with a deliberately off-kilter stroke of a conventional axe, as diagrammed above.

[video=youtube;eqsQ28Se9to]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqsQ28Se9to[/video]
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It does demonstrate the action of the leveraxe but once again he's splitting straight grained wood that I could easily split with my 19" house axe using the straight blow that Bob illustrated.
 
Square_peg said:
42 is right again. It is levering action which pushes the wood further apart.

I wish you could all try splitting with a rafting axe once. They're not just heavier but they also have a wider poll, but still with a narrower entry profile than a maul. You can swing them as RJDankert illustrates above and they do a tremendous job.
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I'd imagine the method would work well with Swedish style splitting mauls with their narrow bits and large polls. Straight handles tend to do best with twist-splitting, too, I've found. The crook of a curved handle provides counter-leverage that fights the twist. Good for tracking when chopping, not so good when trying to let the axe do its thing in a twist.
 
Square_peg said:
It does demonstrate the action of the leveraxe but once again he's splitting straight grained wood that I could easily split with my 19" house axe using the straight blow that Bob illustrated.
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Oh I agree. It's just a good slow-mo of the action of twist splitting. This is where still having some mass in the tool is useful. A light axe like the Leveraxe simply doesn't have the mass to throw tougher wood because it's the inertia that's doing the work after the bit enters. Try using nothing but muscle and you'll be dead from exhaustion in no time.
 
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