Everyone is different. My elbows cannot handle splitting 10 cords/year anymore, so I just purchased a 28 ton splitter. That said, I always preferred a heavier maul, and when it stuck in the log, I would hit it with the sledge. That's the reason for using a maul in the first place.
Splitting by hand
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Everyone is different. My elbows cannot handle splitting 10 cords/year anymore, so I just purchased a 28 ton splitter. That said, I always preferred a heavier maul, and when it stuck in the log, I would hit it with the sledge. That's the reason for using a maul in the first place.
So they say. It isn't all that much different than using the hamme/wedge that he showed in the video. Over time, you definitely get some mushrooming on the top of the maul or wedge. I simply put the edges on a grinder, and clean them up.
I've been doing it for over 30 years, and never had an issue. And.....the older I got, the smarter I got. I stopped having to slam the maul with the sledge as much as when I was young and crazy. I developed little tricks for splitting those crazy maple butts with the spiral grain. I honestly haven't had to grind a maul in decades. Maybe my hammer is softer steel, because I'm starting to see a little mushroom form. I've never ground that yet.
Doesn't it depend If the maul is made of hardened steel or not?
If the maul isn't hardened I thought it was fine. The eye can still get deformed & make the head loose though. Also not good.
Why then then do they make the back of the maul that shape?
(This is meant as a genuine question, not a sarcastic comment)
TE
Two guesses
1) It has to be shaped in one shape or another and to achieve the proper balance I'm guessing that shape is the least cumbersome
2) To be used as a sledge in a pinch
Again Redd....your position is the same as the manufacturers, I believe. I think they employ CYA terminology in the directions. But....the maul is designed to be used the way I stated. I just looked at mine, and after 20 plus years of using this one, there is no mushrooming whatsoever. The sledge has slight expansion, but not enough to even grind off yet. After at least 100 cords of wood. I view these tools as any other....they might require basic maintenance over the years.
I think another key is to use heavier mauls and hammers. You don't have to hit as hard.
Again...what's the difference between hitting a wedge, and hitting a maul?
I think another key is to use heavier mauls and hammers. You don't have to hit as hard.
Again...what's the difference between hitting a wedge, and hitting a maul?
laxin213
Burning Hunk
I'm guessing the metals themselves have to be hardened differently. I wedge is hardened to be hit by metal and a maul is hardened steel to take and hold an edge?
Not sarcastic - just my thoughts.
farmboy05
Member
I'm thinking that the wedge is softer so that when you hit it, it'll deform a little to absorb some of the impact instead of breaking and sending pieces flying.
Splitting wedges mushroom with routine use. It's by design. Sledges are not designed to mushroom. At all.
The steal in a maul is much harder than the steal in a splitting wedge, and when it does give way it will do so catastrophically and without warning,
I had some crap that was a bear to split with my maul, so I got a sledge and some flat splitting wedges. It didn't make it any easier. Then I got these dealies:
![[Hearth.com] Splitting by hand](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F318eMDpxu8L._SX300_.jpg&hash=00e573494c7d479a347815b077af0993 "[Hearth.com] Splitting by hand")
and guess what? Still didn't split any easier. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but there is really very little I can't split with my maul. Those things that I used the wedges on may have taken a full swing or two fewer, but I had to get them safely started, so the payoff was minimal.
and guess what? Still didn't split any easier. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but there is really very little I can't split with my maul. Those things that I used the wedges on may have taken a full swing or two fewer, but I had to get them safely started, so the payoff was minimal.
And that's what I thought you meant by 'shrapnel'. Severely mushroomed wedges can have those edges fly off if you hit wrong.
In over 30 years of using mauls/hammers, I have NEVER had a chunk of steel fly off of my mauls.
Is the claim that sledges should never be used to hit steel?
I drive around without a seat belt. Often. And I'm still not dead. But after 20+ years I still do not recommend it to anyone.
The "claim" is that different tools are made from different steal with different properties. Wedges let you know when they need dressing. Harder steal - like the steal found in mauls - gives no indication it's about to frag
Another reason I still insist that mauls are meant to be used with hammers.....when you get the maul stuck in a piece of wood, you can easily break the handle when you try to force it out. I did that on my first maul when I was just learning about wood splitting. I was told to hit it with a hammer when it gets stuck. I guess this is all moot now, as my joints are now too old for splitting by hand. I've got a hydraulic splitter.
And just as we are warned against not using a seat belt, the manufacturer warns against using mauls/hammers. Yet thousands still do it. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm saying it's effective, and I've never had a problem.
Fair enough. Just because I've never seen it, doesn't mean it can't happen.
smokedragon
Minister of Fire
In most cases, I agree. However, it really depends on what the maul is made of.
If it is hardened steel (ie not meant to mushroom) you do run the risk of shrapnel.
I have an old monster maul that I routinely swat with a sledge hammer, but it is a softer steel and has been touched up on the grinder many times because of some mushrooming.
I think a lot of this is lawyers saying that they have to put these warnings on products. Like all new chainsaws saying you MUST engage the chain brake before starting. Never have, never will. Also not gonna sue Stihl if I cut my leg off.
My $0.02
If it is hardened steel (ie not meant to mushroom) you do run the risk of shrapnel.
I have an old monster maul that I routinely swat with a sledge hammer, but it is a softer steel and has been touched up on the grinder many times because of some mushrooming.
I think a lot of this is lawyers saying that they have to put these warnings on products. Like all new chainsaws saying you MUST engage the chain brake before starting. Never have, never will. Also not gonna sue Stihl if I cut my leg off.
My $0.02
smokedragon
Minister of Fire
I might. It should say "Don't use in the shower. Seriously, it's a bad idea. We aren't just covering our butts."
I agree....I mentioned the CYA issue with the maul's instructions. Kind of like spackle buckets. Check out the required picture of a baby falling head first into a bucket, next time you're in Home Depot. One idiot wins a lawsuit, and the next thing you know, there are new and creative methods of idiot proofing common products.
If your aim is so bad that you can't hit the center of your maul, then I suppose you might have an issue. I've been employing the maul/hammer method for almost 40 years. I guess I'm just lucky.
If your aim is so bad that you can't hit the center of your maul, then I suppose you might have an issue. I've been employing the maul/hammer method for almost 40 years. I guess I'm just lucky.
KenLockett
Minister of Fire
I hate splitting wood by hand. I MUCH prefer using an axe.
I find it easy to split quite FAST with my X27. But the reality is it is getting to be too much for me lately.
I will be buying a hydraulic this spring though as my tennis elbow is getting to be too painful.
Will be a whole new ball game for me with a splitter.
Even with a hydraulic splitter, lifting or maneuvering the rounds onto or into place aggravates my tennis elbow.
lml999
Minister of Fire
I hate pine.
Got a couple of cords in my back yard, cut but not split. I may resort to gnawing at it with my teeth.
lml999
Minister of Fire
I use that same technique, also with an X27.
However, if the wood I am splitting looked like his (all those nice cracks), I wouldn't be sore today.
lml999
Minister of Fire
Would you do me a favor and facetime with my pine?
It's not splitting for me, whether I look at it mean or get on my knees and beg!
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