Milling a log splitter blade

Hello,
Has anyone got any information on log splitter blade angles for wood? I am using a piece of grade 300 flatbar.

Lanza said:

Hello,
Has anyone got any information on log splitter blade angles for wood? I am using a piece of grade 300 flatbar.

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Sneak into a hardware store with a bevel square and nonchalantly measure an axe head (or better, a splitting maul). Make sure to look up thoughtfully, and maybe lift your hat, wipe your forehead and scratch your temple for a few seconds while in mid-measurement. Lock the bevel square and put in your back pocket and then stroll along. Maybe even purchase the bevel square on the same run. Do I have to think of everything?

Any help? https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/log-splitter-wedge-angles.112645/

What kind wood you got out there ? You may have some kind
of abrasive, tough wood.

Milling ? I would suggest pocketing it for inserts....

Based on some of the splitters I've run over the years, you want a completely blunt edge, at least 1/32" of an inch across. Definitely no more than 1/8" flat though, or the pump will start to struggle a bit.

You know you got it 'just right' when the wedge pushes up against the piece without any apparent effect while the pump whines, and then the piece seems to explode about a second later.

If you are building your own wedge then do yourself a favor and add wings to the back of the wedge. Around here there is nothing quite as fun as driving your wedge into a nice chunk of white oak and then struggling to get it off the wedge. If you are only splitting red oak then don't worry about it. That stuff splits if you look at it wrong. On mine the wings are six inches wide about four inches past the wedge. They are just pieces of 1/2" plate welded to the back of the wedge.

Here is a picture of the wedge for the splitter I built. It's super sharp on the end which allows it to easily slice right through tough knots and then transitions to a fat section the splits the round apart. Works perfectly, even in tough, knotty Doug Fir as well as Oak and Madrone.

Stuart

Why stick with a fixed angle? Make it adjustable like these.

After making a couple of splitting screws and then watching them work, I generally saw that the split was already complete by the time the screw had got in to the 1.5" diameter or so. The rest of the cone (that went up to 4" diameter) really didn't have much to contribute to the split. That was in aspen, poplar, birch and spruce. Don't know about hard woods. The cone included angle would have been around 20 degrees.

I suggest the center of the wedge be made from 1" material with a 25 - 30* included angle. Set the wings 2 - 3" back from the cutting edge and set them for about a 60* included angle. That is based on several splitters I looked at. You want the cutting edge to enter the wood a couple inches before the wings start to spread the wood.

I have seen wedges with the cutting edge angled to tend to pull the wood toward the beam. That also slightly lowers the force need to push the wedge into the log.

If you attach the wedge to the ram make sure the foot on the end of the beam is strong enough. The bending stress in the foot where it meets the beam should be about 0.3 times the yield strength of the material. The moment would be based on rated tonnage of the ram acting maybe 2/3 of the distance from the face of the beam to the end of the foot. If your wood is big and way out of square you may want to consider the force of the ram acting at the end of the foot.







'

Blade angle, etc.

Lanza, this is an example of many blades in use in Norfolk, UK. Mild steel plate with a cutting edge welded on, the cutting edge is produced from a vehicle leaf spring, it's tweaked straight with a flypress and carbide milled to 60° inclusive. A piece of thick wall tube, approx. 1" dia., is split in two along it's length and welded along the blade to produce the splitting action. My splitter is of a "guillotine" style for a reason, I also use it as a crude brakepress, such things are very rare here in rural Portugal and I can easily bend 12" wide x 1/4 thick M.S. plate.
Ray.

So why are they built with a moving wedge? If the wedge was stationary and a pusher plate drove the log around the wedge you could add a simple ramp after the wedge and direct the split pieces right on to a pile or into the back of your truck!

^^Check out how the commercial splitting machines work. Split wood pushed onto a conveyor and into a pile or truck.

Tom

garyhlucas said:

So why are they built with a moving wedge? If the wedge was stationary and a pusher plate drove the log around the wedge you could add a simple ramp after the wedge and direct the split pieces right on to a pile or into the back of your truck!

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If the wedge is stationary and the ram moves, the split pieces drop on the ground. A subsequent split of the same piece means the operator has to stoop over, pick up the piece and stick it in the machine again..arg! With a fixed plate and moving wedge, the splits stay on the machine, each part rolling onto a wing so the operator can re-split if necessary or merely toss them off onto a pile. Very sensible.

Most fixed plate-anvil machines are "tilt-able". This means you can tilt the ram to a vertical and now you can roll big old fatty rounds under the ram/wedge and split them. These big rounds would be impossible to lift onto a splitter unless you had Wheaties for breakfast.

If you study all this shit before you embark on building your own machine it all becomes clear as mud!

Stuart

atomarc said:

Most fixed plate-anvil machines are "tilt-able". This means you can tilt the ram to a vertical and now you can roll big old fatty rounds under the ram/wedge and split them. These big rounds would be impossible to lift onto a splitter unless you had Wheaties for breakfast.View attachment 230916

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Very nice to have it vertical for large pcs. Unless you put a lifting arm on it.
And dont eat any Wheaties, Bruce Jenner did that and look how he turned out.bruce jenner wheaties box - Yahoo Image Search Results
bruce jenner wheaties box - Yahoo Image Search Results

Yikes...after seeing the picture of Bruce 'post nuts', my lifting arm went limp..'no more liftee for me'

Regarding a lifting arm, that horribly complicates a simple log splitter, IMHO.

Stuart

I built my splitter in 1980. It's got a 4 cylinder (half a 304c.i. V-8) out of a 1979 I.H. Scout. Direct drives a single stage hydraulic pump. 4" cyl. x 2" ram. Wedge is 1" thick and a foot tall, with angle iron "wings" welded on about 3 inches back from the cutting edge.

If I was doing it all over again, I'd use a larger diameter cylinder, too.

Back when I built this, I wish I'd have known to put the wedge up on the cylinder ram! I've split more wood than Carter's got little liver pills... and had to drag each piece back to split it in half again! What a waste of energy on the operators part!

Those splitters that you tilt vertical.... not a good idea, in my mind. I've used one... it's too much trouble getting down on your knees wrestling some 300 pound chunk of oak back up against that beam to get it in place under the ram.
I also don't think much of the splitters where a guy has a hydraulic cylinder operated lifting platform attached to the splitter beam to allow him to lift big pieces up to beam level. That stuff would be in the way if you want to stand beside the beam while you split to keep ahold of the pieces being split...

I put one of those Harbor Freight low headroom jib cranes (that's made to fit in the bed of your truck) on my splitter... mounted up above the cylinder on the splitter, attached one of their "radio remote controlled" 12 volt winches on top of that... and I use that to drag big, heavy, unwieldy chunks of tree trunk over to the splitter and raise them up in the air (with log tongs) to place on the splitter beam.

All that stuff works like a charm. It allows me to split huge pieces of wood by myself.

atomarc said:

Most fixed plate-anvil machines are "tilt-able". This means you can tilt the ram to a vertical and now you can roll big old fatty rounds under the ram/wedge and split them. These big rounds would be impossible to lift onto a splitter unless you had Wheaties for breakfast.

Click to expand...

My favorite that I've seen lately has fork pockets attached to be lifted with a forklift or bobcat with the beam on top. Let the rounds lay on the ground and lower the splitter over them to split, the pieces of big ones fall conveniently positioned for a second split.

Wow..I had no idea they even had trees in Kansas let along ones that would require "tongs".

Getting down on your knees to wrestle rounds is easy, it's getting back up that's a bitch.

Stuart

I will dog pile on the traveling wedge. It makes life much much easier especially for standing the splitter a vertical configuration. You will find yourself handling the wood far less as when you find a tough spot just move an inch or two and try again. A little hard facing built up on the primary edge will keep the edge keen longer. 1" core with 50-60 degree secondary wedge works well on our hardwoods most of the time. If you do make the machine convertible i.e. horizontal and vertical, pay close attention the protecting fittings (experience).