Procuring firewood, splitting it and storing it is a labor-intensive process. To make this task easier, you need to use a good tool - a splitting axe, work according to the rules, or even mechanize your work. How to chop wood quickly, with the least effort - a few recommendations...
How to choose a suitable cleaver
A cleaver for chopping wood is a type of ax - a heavy and blunt sledgehammer ax with a long ax handle. The main thing when splitting a log is the impact force, the more, the better. The second condition for successful preparation of firewood is the creation of bursting forces in the log, which causes it to crack. An ordinary ax with a sharp, light, thin blade is not helpful here. The cleaver should be heavy and thick.
Experienced craftsmen usually choose a slightly longer ax handle, but for beginners and general home use it is still better to stick to the average standard.
The weight of the cleaver is recommended on average 2.2 – 2.5 kg. Experienced workers choose a slightly heavier one in order to create a stronger blow with practiced movements.
The ax handle is made of durable, but not hard wood. Birch is most often used. The softness of the handle material is very important. The material must dampen vibration; if it does this poorly, it will break itself and put unnecessary stress on the woodcutter’s hands.
Eared or wedge cleaver
Eared cleaver - with a sharp widening of the blade. By design, this leads to better cracking at the same impact force. The tool is used for exclusively dry wood, with reduced fiber cohesion. In a wet log it knows how to get stuck tightly.
A wedge-shaped cleaver can also chop wet wood, which is always more difficult to give in than dry wood.
An expert advises that you should not start chopping wet firewood. Let the logs lie for at least six months, or a year under a canopy. But frozen damp wood splits quite well - frozen water expands it from the inside. So you can just wait until winter...
How to chop wood correctly
It's a big mistake to try to use extra force to hit. You need to strike a lot, energetic diligence will quickly take away your strength with the help of a heavy cleaver. You need to make maximum use of the weight of the tool and the length of the handle - the moment of force is directly proportional to both.
- A die (deck) is selected - the largest, dampest and heaviest, with a flat surface, not high. All splitting logs must stand confidently on it.
- It is better to turn the block so that the knots are at the bottom.
- To split, you need to hit along the visible knot, and not across it.
- You need to try to get into a visible crack.
- Wood logs that are too large first chip at the edges,
The expert recommends. You should not drive a splitting ax into large logs, lift them by weight on the ax, turn them over and hit them with the butt on the block - a lot of energy is wasted and creates dangers, it is better to chop at the edges.
What size of firewood should it be
To confidently enter winter, it is important that the results of collecting firewood are pleasing. The length of the logs should be 3/4 of the length of the firebox. Typically, wood sawers (harvestors) adhere to standards in this case. But the cutting is always individual. The average recommended size for a firebox is 10 cm. Thin firewood will burn out faster, but during this time it will release all the energy contained in its mass. Thick firewood will have a smaller burning area, burn longer, and are better suited for maintaining long-term combustion. In general, the workpiece should contain both large and small ones, and over time, the optimal size of firewood will be found for a specific firebox and heating system.
Security measures
- The cleaver is heavy. You should not joke with this tool and work while drunk or tired.
- It is important to maintain balance and not place your feet opposite the log being split; it is more convenient to spread them wide apart.
- The block must be larger than the block being processed and should only stand steadily and not wobble.
- Do not chop wood under trees or wires. Getting your ax caught on an obstacle or deviating from the trajectory can be too expensive...
- Work in thick clothing, a hat, and glasses. The flight of chips is always unpredictable.
- Before working, soak the splitting ax in water for several hours to allow the wood to swell. Do not use a faulty tool. The reliability of the attachment to the ax handle must always be monitored.
How and where to chop wood
If we talk about traditional splitting without automation, then you will need a cleaver. An ax is rarely used for chopping wood - you can work with it (sharpened), but everything turns out much slower. It will be needed, but to cut down knots or plan splinters.
Firewood splitters: traditional with a wooden handle and created using the latest technology with a plastic handle
The best cleaver for firewood is a forged one, but cast ones are also good. In order for a cleaver to serve for a long time, it must be well-tempered. You can check the quality of hardening by sound: click on it and listen. If the sound is dull, it’s not suitable for us, but if it’s sonorous, it’s a good instrument.
Firewood splitters: choose the handle to make it convenient for you
How to choose a cleaver? Firstly, the handle must be wooden, and birch. For a beginner, this is the best choice: working with a cleaver with a plastic and metal handle is more difficult than with a wooden one, and such a handle can burst with an incorrectly directed blow, and this happens. So, choose a cleaver with a wooden handle. Secondly, the length of the handle and the weight of the cleaver are selected individually. You should be comfortable. This applies to the shape of the handle, its length, and the weight of the cleaver as a whole. You won’t have to swing this weapon ten or twenty times, so you need to hold it confidently: it should, as they say, “fit into your hand.”
In order to work comfortably, find the largest and widest deck that you have, and install it on a flat area. This will be your “working” place for chopping wood, or as they also say “block” or “block”. Therefore, place the deck so that you don’t hit anything when you swing the cleaver. It is also advisable that people rarely walk in this place: logs and chips fly in different directions and can cause serious injury.
Electromechanical press for chopping wood
Another machine option is somewhat reminiscent of human work, that is, the preparation of wood fuel is carried out by impact, followed by wedging of logs. However, the difference is that the blow is applied in a horizontal direction to the log laid in the tray, which in turn collides with a wedge rigidly fixed at the end of the chute. Here, the source of impulse is an electric motor connected to a hydraulic cylinder, the piston of which creates a load of about 5 tons.
The advantage of such a splitting cleaver is that it is quite compact, since it is a frame mounted on two wheels with additional supports that ensure stability. Having moved the frame to the woodpile and given it a horizontal position, you connect the electric motor to the power source and lay the first log. Then all that remains is to press the large start button and turn the lever that holds the hydraulic mechanism in the starting position. As a rule, such units are made in such a way that you have both hands on the controls, in order to avoid attempts to hold the log in the chute, which will certainly lead to injury.
How to chop wood correctly
The place and tools for the work were prepared. Now a little about firewood. It is best to chop dry or frozen firewood. Freshly cut ones “go” hard. If possible, let the logs dry out or freeze. This will make your work much easier.
The size of the firewood is chosen based on the size of the furnace firebox: its length should be approximately ¾ of the length of the firebox, and its width should be about 6-10 cm. With such dimensions, the fuel will burn for a long time and evenly, soot will form in minimal quantities.
How to properly chop wood: the correct stance
Now the process itself. A block of wood is placed on the deck. If there is a crack on it, turn the crack towards you and try to hit it with a cleaver. If there is no crack, but there are knots, try to get between them or along one of them. If you're lucky, the log will split. If not, the cleaver will get stuck. Then you need to either hit the butt with a sledgehammer, or pick up the cleaver with a block of wood, turn it around and hit the deck with the butt. But the second option is not available to everyone: swinging a cleaver is no longer easy, and if there is also a deck hanging on it...
Screw electric firewood cleaver - operating principle
If city dwellers have to put up with problems arising in the central heating system, then in rural areas whether the house will be warm in winter depends only on the advance preparation of fuel. However, not everyone enjoys swinging an ax, having purchased logs costing from 1,000 to 1,700 rubles per cubic meter. Many people prefer coal, which leaves a greasy soot, or chopped firewood with delivery, which costs 3,500 rubles per cubic meter. Is it really necessary to pay double the price every winter if the wood fuel procurement process can be automated?
Devices for chopping wood
Swinging a cleaver is only great at first. Then my arms and back hurt. And I already want some devices to make life easier. And a lot of them have already been invented. From simple “their people” to very technological ones. But few people will use high-performance installations in a private backyard, so let’s consider ideas suitable for implementation in everyday life.
The first thing people pay attention to is the weapon. Sometimes design ideas come up with amazing solutions. For example, here is a cleaver with wheels. It probably won't get stuck in the deck. But how long it will last is the question.
Improved firewood cleaver: wheels have been added to prevent it from getting stuck in a log
There is also a device to ensure that the logs do not fly apart during cutting. Here, for example, is this.
Folk device for chopping wood
Or a more technologically advanced option - a metal chain placed on a block of wood. How to handle it - watch the video. A master works here.
There are also a variety of devices for chopping wood: mechanical, hydraulic, electric or with motors running on gasoline/diesel fuel. Mechanical wood chopping is a machine in which a log of wood is fixed. Then, using a system of levers, the cleaver is activated. Such devices can have different types, some can immediately chop a log into several parts, but the principle is still the same.
A hydraulic firewood splitter is designed on the same principle, but the force is created by a hydraulic jack. It can be operated using the power of the arms or legs or using a motor. Can be of different power and configuration. The choice on the market is quite large, but the prices are not low. In the video you will see one of the options for a hydraulic jack.
A very interesting option using a cone. Moreover, such a homemade cleaver for firewood is not difficult to make. It feels easy to chop wood without an ax (the video demonstrates this very well).
This electric firewood splitter is becoming increasingly popular - it's easy to make and has excellent performance. But when working on it, we must not forget about safety precautions: one wrong move and injury is guaranteed.
And now the promised video - Adriano Celentano chopping wood. As you understand, he did this for a reason.
