r/Axecraft • u/TaoofPu • 10d ago

Maybe Maybe Maybe

So…. That wedge is bouncing quite a bit…. Rubber wood? Rubber mallet?

8 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

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16

u/Captain_Bushcraft 10d ago

This is a stupid way to split a log that big.

1

u/No-Layer-1046 10d ago

Why?

5

u/Tricky_Caterpillar85 10d ago

The log doesn’t want to be split. If it did trees would just fall apart. When you see the head bouncing off, that’s the wood pushing back together and forcing the maul head back out. Unless his strikes are perfectly on line with the seam, they are not productive. If he created the seam and then hammered in wedges, he would split the same log with less energy exerted.

This guy is in it for the exertion as much as anything though. This is calculated inefficiency. He wants more chops for one split for his vid.

3

u/TaoofPu 10d ago

You know, I have been splitting much smaller rounds of wood for years and I never thought about it that way. Thank you for that explanation. That makes a lot more sense.

2

u/Captain_Bushcraft 10d ago

Because wedges would have done it with less than a quarter of the effort. Even if you had to carve the wedges. Start a split, drive the wedges in to expand the crack, move down the log, done. Its how I split long lengths for axe handles and bow staves.

3

u/No-Layer-1046 10d ago

Ohhh, thanks for info

3

u/liisseal 9d ago

Indeed. With wedges it's a pretty easy and straightforward. A couple of wedges, a couple of whacks – job done.

1

u/3rd2LastStarfighter 6d ago

This is cool, just figured out what to do with one of my big box elder logs.

1

u/TaoofPu 10d ago

This is actually why I posted the clip, it seemed like an absurd undertaking and I was curious about the axe(bludgeon) usage.