A wood splitter is a wood working tool only in the crudest sense, but is valuable anyway. I suspect that there are one or two other wood heaters on this forum, so I’m posting this question.
The wedge on my splitter is FLAT on the end – about a 1/16th flat, then it wedges out. Would the splitter split better if I sharpened it?
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>> Would the splitter split better if I sharpened it?
Not very much, IMO. The two halves of the log don't curl out of the way like plane shavings, so the leading edge of the wedge is only in contact with the wood for a very short distance. After that the edges of the split bear on the cheeks of wedge. You might use a little less fuel and time driving a sharp wedge in for that initial distance, but I doubt it would add up to anything over the course of a heating season.
It tends not to bounce out and hit you in the shins quite so much if you sharpen it a little. No real difference in the amount of effort required.
No. Splitters are meant to be dull wedges that split wood. If you sharpen it, it will get stuck more easily in the endgrain of logs, rather than splitting it quickly which is how they're designed to operate.
All i do is dress up the wedge side. File away any gouges or mushroomed edges. Its not sharp when i get done, just looks like a wedge.
My philosophy of wood splitters is that the best splitter to use is the one that's firmly welded to the frame of a hydraulic splitter. I decided several years ago that putting on more clothes was more energy efficient than beating on wedges with a large maul. - lol
My wedge is welded to an I beam. I use the $400 special splitter from Northern Hydraulics that mounts on the 3 point hitch of my tractor. I paid $400 for the splitter, $100 for shipping, and $100 for 10' hoses with John Deere quick disconects. I hook them to the bucket hydraulics and pull the bucket lever back with a bungee cord.
A little rube goldberg, but it's a pretty good splitter and drives itself around the property.
I save the wedges and maul for splitting wood longitudinally for slicing into lumber - mostly olive, black and english walnut, eucalyptus, and some oak and almond. Even our venerable 5 in 1 cherry tree when the root rot caught up with it.
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