Tom Clark - wood splitter and innovator

A lot of the time with really gnarly stuff I actually want a splitter that will stick well for the very initial entry into the wood because what I'll do is sink the bit, pick the axe up with the log attached over my shoulder and then drop the poll on the block. The inertia of the wood forces it down HARD onto the upturned bit. If I can't get the bit to stick I can't lift it like that. Concave "German-style" splitting axes tend to do well for that work.
 
This conversation reminds me of the wannabee martial arts instructors.
"Grab my arm and I will take you down..........no take my other arm."
It is a parlor trick that you may be able to squeeze some usefulness out of if you squeeze hard enough. But at the end of the day it is still just the parlor trick it is.
 
Woodcraft said:
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.
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With very hard to split wood it's best to use a sledge and wedges. Sharpen the wedges with a slightly concave bevel to help them get purchase on the wood. Set the wedge with a single jack and then drive it with a double jack.

See this thread for the way your wedge should look.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-sharpness-for-an-axe?p=10496889#post10496889

But read that whole page for the discussion. A fellow forum member tries this style wedge and finds it effective.
 
Square_peg said:
With very hard to split wood it's best to use a sledge and wedges. Sharpen the wedges with a slightly concave bevel to help them get purchase on the wood. Set the wedge with a single jack and then drive it with a double jack.

See this thread for the way your wedge should look.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-sharpness-for-an-axe?p=10496889#post10496889

But read that whole page for the discussion. A fellow forum member tries this style wedge and finds it effective.
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Yup! Works a charm. Also, I find that most wedges as sold are way too thick at the edge shoulder. I like to use an fore-and-aft motion against the contact wheel of my grinder to put a smoothly transitioned convex on 'em that knocks off a lot of that shoulder without mucking up the geometry behind it. Once started in the wood the body of the wedge is what's carrying the wood, not the edge itself, so making the edge good and penetrating doesn't hurt the splitting and improves the ease of getting it started.
 
Square_peg said:
With very hard to split wood it's best to use a sledge and wedges. Sharpen the wedges with a slightly concave bevel to help them get purchase on the wood. Set the wedge with a single jack and then drive it with a double jack.

See this thread for the way your wedge should look.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-sharpness-for-an-axe?p=10496889#post10496889

But read that whole page for the discussion. A fellow forum member tries this style wedge and finds it effective.
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Thanks for the tip. I will read it. It seems like a good excuse to buy a sledge and wedges if nothing else:). I usually just work around the edges(outside in as apposed to straight down the middle) on the tough stuff and the one that beats me becomes a splitting block.
 
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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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I think your illustration is analogous to splitting with a froe.

26049892035_4defe810eb.jpg


One can imagine the difficulty of splitting using a froe without a handle. Unless you are splitting match sticks, it seems like a hell of a strong set of hands would be required for "twist splitting". :)


Bob
 
Here is a woman with no shoes.
https://youtu.be/7fWo0P0MdJM
I think if you watch closely you can see the twist is not actually splitting wood.(she hits straight on and the wood still splits the same way I think around 228 or so she hits one dead on and pulls straight back and it still just falls apart.) The wood is split as soon as the bit strikes into it. The twist only frees a hanger on fiber or two, or flings the wood away.(She sinks the bit straight in on the harder pieces then drops the twist hit) It is a good method letting the head roll on the round to stop the bit from striking the rocks she is using as a cholping block. As apposed to yanking back in the oposite direction.
 
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rjdankert said:
I think your illustration is analogous to splitting with a froe.

26049892035_4defe810eb.jpg


One can imagine the difficulty of splitting using a froe without a handle. Unless you are splitting match sticks, it seems like a hell of a strong set of hands would be required for "twist splitting". :)


Bob
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Similar, except the leverage forces are being exerted by the mass of the head pivoting around the fulcrum location rather than your hands. You're fully swinging the axe and letting the force of the stroke translate into explosive leverage at the time of impact. If it was really up to your hands/wrists to supply the force, then yes you'd have to be Popeye to even split kindling that way. Those who try doing the flick right at the point of impact are really either turning the bit just before impact and creating the purposeful misalignment shown or else are managing to make the turn when the edge is less than 1mm into the wood. And even then, it's not their hands/wrists that are making the split happen--it's the mass of the head.
 
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15894885_10211505666865751_4636216131915744291_n.jpg


Both of these methods can result in efficient splitting or in wasted energy. If the 'twist method' or a leveraxe throws the wood further than just separating it then you have wasted energy. With the straight blow method any energy absorbed by the splitting block or the ground or spent throwing the wood is wasted energy.

With the twist method you sometimes hit a piece of wood that needed more penetration and less throw. The throw has robbed penetration power and requires you to take additional strokes.

The goal with either method is to apply only as much force as is needed for the split. The wood splitter is constantly making judgments of how much force is needed.

It's also true that any wood that can be split without being picked up is a major savings of energy. When we have wood that allows this method it's a great way to split.
 
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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[video=youtube;_BxCmG5sG6A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxCmG5sG6A&t=128s[/video]

At about 2:14 Tom says "The axe is swung straight down but held at approximately a 30 degree angle".


Bob
 
rjdankert said:
At about 2:14 Tom says "The axe is swung straight down but held at approximately a 30 degree angle".

Bob
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However this is being done it is spectacular to witness in person. Especially when it's the ordinary-looking fella next to you who is calmly producing firewood 2 or 3 times faster with a boy's axe than you are from wailing away with a maul.
 
rjdankert said:
[video=youtube;_BxCmG5sG6A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxCmG5sG6A&t=128s[/video]

At about 2:14 Tom says "The axe is swung straight down but held at approximately a 30 degree angle".


Bob
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I was a little curious to see that weight he welded on the poll. I could not find the dimensions but I found this, that sold online. Manufactured in the 80s.
35b7eb7.jpg
 
rjdankert said:
[video=youtube;_BxCmG5sG6A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxCmG5sG6A&t=128s[/video]

At about 2:14 Tom says "The axe is swung straight down but held at approximately a 30 degree angle".


Bob
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Well there ya' have it. Right from the patron saint of twist splitting himself. :D

I've seen that video probably a dozen times but didn't remember him specifically explaining it that way outright. :thumbup:
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Well there ya' have it. Right from the patron saint of twist splitting himself. :D

I've seen that video probably a dozen times but didn't remember him specifically explaining it that way outright. :thumbup:
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I had the impression that your definition of "twist splitting" was what Tom described, but with a "flick" (head rotation) when the axe is just above the wood or just as it enters the wood.


Bob
 
300Six said:
However this is being done it is spectacular to witness in person. Especially when it's the ordinary-looking fella next to you who is calmly producing firewood 2 or 3 times faster with a boy's axe than you are from wailing away with a maul.
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I am beginning to think his real talent was flinging away the piece he split off while leaving the piece that needed to be split further still standing.
 
rjdankert said:
I had the impression that your definition of "twist splitting" was what Tom described, but with a "flick" (head rotation) when the axe is just above the wood or just as it enters the wood.


Bob
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Nope. I had been referring to what a lot of other folks say you have to do with twist splitting. It's totally not necessary. Just hold the bit out of alignment with the stroke and swing straight. The head being out of alignment with the vector of force induces the twist without having to do any fancy acrobatics.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Well there ya' have it. Right from the patron saint of twist splitting himself. :D

I've seen that video probably a dozen times but didn't remember him specifically explaining it that way outright. :thumbup:
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I agree. I think this is a longer version of the video! I have never seen this long version. Anyone on these forums own a buster axe or tried to replicate the geometry of one?
 
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