What types of material makes the best wedges?

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biglapdog

Joined
Apr 19, 2011
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Alright forumites don't flame me to much I searched but didn't find what I was looking for so if it is on the board then my bad. With that said, what are the best woods for cutting wedges out of? Or rather what type of wood is best? And should the wedge be cured or wet?
 
The wedge should be made out of very dry hardwood. You want minimal compression. Many varieties will do, even most fruit woods. Woods with a coarse grain stay stuck better.
 
I used to have some cocobolo pieces laying around that you couldn't compress with an M1A2
Abrams, but it was definitely not course grained and was slicker than snot when you sanded it up. Would red oak or white oak work. It is pretty large grained and opens up like crazy if you wipe it with a wet rag. I can get oak, pecan, mesquite, ash, maple and maybe hickory. Any thoughts on these.
 
biglapdog said:
Would red oak or white oak work. It is pretty large grained and opens up like crazy if you wipe it with a wet rag. I can get oak, pecan, mesquite, ash, maple and maybe hickory. Any thoughts on these.
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Seems to me that all those woods should work just fine for wedge material. I had a little issue with a maple wedge being a little slippery and working its way out of a purpleheart 18" haft. That was prior to soaking in BLO so I drove the maple wedge back in and soaked the hung head in BLO for a couple days and have had no issues since then. I will use something other than maple if/when it works its way out again.
 
you guys keep making me think of questions. where is a handle measured from since I'm trying to refit some of my old heads and need to order new ones. is it from the bottom of the poll or the top?
 
Lately I've been using some dry black cherry for a wedge since I have it on hand. I like the contrast in color between the hickory and cherry. I'm thinking black walnut would be cool. I'm not sure what wood has the best characteristics for a wedge, I am going for overall attractiveness, and seeing if it works out.
 
All I know is what ever House Handle is using for their wedges is the worst material for a wedge. Honestly, they are terrible.
 
cooperhill said:
All I know is what ever House Handle is using for their wedges is the worst material for a wedge. Honestly, they are terrible.
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Agreed. I'm thinking its poplar, not sure. It makes me wonder if they don't have enough scrap Hickory to make hickory wedges????
 
Seems to me grain direction is important as well as species. My feeling is that the grain should run along the long axis of the wedge. Is this correct?
 
Cooter Brown said:
Seems to me grain direction is important as well as species. My feeling is that the grain should run along the long axis of the wedge. Is this correct?
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Your wedge would actually compress less if the grain ran across the short axis. However it will creak much easier when driven in. I cut mine with the gain running long wise as much as reasonably possible.
 
Maple is waxy. I wouldn't choose it. I've had good luck with Elm and London Plane. I have some Plum around that I think would be good, it's hard as heck and coarse-grained. I think white oak would work well. Any wedge that feels too smooth could be hit with some 36-grit sandpaper to give it a little more bite.

I've always had the grain running the short way through the wedge. I can see that it would be less likely to crack with the grain running the other way but I wonder if there isn't some other reason for the traditional way. There usually is.
 
I've been using dipropylene glycol or DPG on my wedges for the past 6 months. It's the chemical in Swel-Lock. I haven't had a wedge come loose since I've been using it.

DPG is a colorless odorless harmless liquid that is frequently used as a base for perfumes. It's readily available online for prices much lower than Swel-Lock.

Just sayin'.
182974-whistlingron.gif
 
Square_peg said:
I've been using dipropylene glycol or DPG on my wedges for the past 6 months. It's the chemical in Swel-Lock. I haven't had a wedge come loose since I've been using it.

DPG is a colorless odorless harmless liquid that is frequently used as a base for perfumes. It's readily available online for prices much lower than Swel-Lock.

Just sayin'.
182974-whistlingron.gif
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I wish you'd stop that...or else I may be forced to actually try something new!!!!! :D
 
Square_peg said:
Maple is waxy. I wouldn't choose it. I've had good luck with Elm and London Plane. I have some Plum around that I think would be good, it's hard as heck and coarse-grained. I think white oak would work well. Any wedge that feels too smooth could be hit with some 36-grit sandpaper to give it a little more bite.

I've always had the grain running the short way through the wedge. I can see that it would be less likely to crack with the grain running the other way but I wonder if there isn't some other reason for the traditional way. There usually is.
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I think it may be the compression issue. As far as I know, most woods will more readily compress "across" the grain compared to "against" the grain. I've been meaning to try some of my elm wedges cut with the grain running short.

I agree on roughing up your wedges. They need some friction, which is why I don't usually slick them up with oil before driving them in. I've tried that a few times, and one of them kept popping out until I pulled it out and put in a new, dry, roughed up one. I should try it again, because it may not be accurate to blame it on the BLO.
 
Square_peg said:
I've always had the grain running the short way through the wedge. I can see that it would be less likely to crack with the grain running the other way but I wonder if there isn't some other reason for the traditional way. There usually is.
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I didn't find info on the traditional grain orientation of a wedge back when I did a brief search. So, I mulled it over for awhile and had a little tug of war in my head over which direction. Both directions have pluses and minuses. I guess if you can get that wedge driven in without cracking it the grain running sided to side would be ideal because it won't compress as easily. Even if it does crack and is a tight enough fit it wouldn't really matter. I had one crack on me and when all is said and done you can't even tell its cracked. I think the reason it cracked was because I wanted to get it a little extra tight (it was that maple) and I hit it a couple times with a smooth faced Estwing hammer. I normally drive my wedges with a mallet. Anyway, I think I will be going back to the traditional way.
 
One thing I have done to reduce cracking of wedges is to use an intermediate piece of wood between the wedge and hammer. I use a 1x2 piece of oak that I lay flat on top of the wedge so if I strike just off a little bit, it still spreads the force evenly over the wedge. Now if it is a grossly misaligned blow, it will still crack the wedge. But this helps a bit for sure. Also if you don't have a wood mallet, this method helps.


-Xander
 
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