The Art of the Split

[KaptJaq]

I love the guys that claim to be able to split everything by hand. I just nod my head. Oh yea???

I do split by hand BUT I am picky about what I split... I don't see much elm around here and when I do I make lots of noodles...

My first pass through the pile to to split the clean hardwood rounds like oak. This builds my confidence and loosens my muscles. Then I do the clean rounds that are not as easy to split. Getting my momentum up.Third pass is trimming the crouch pieces as much as possible by hand. Finally I attack the hard to split pieces. What is left gets noodled to death.

I stack in the same order I split. Those beautiful, almost square splits from the first pass are stacked about 7 - 8 feet high under the deck. The uglies are about 4 feet high out in the open.

KaptJaq

 

[Realstone]

Nice looking split job. I have changed over the years and don't like triangle splits anymore. I try to split a large round into all relatively square splits. They stack better in the stacks and the stove. Just me.

How difficult is that with a maul or sledge & wedge? I haven't even considered trying that with hand tools.

 

[Realstone]

I love the guys that claim to be able to split everything by hand. I just nod my head. Oh yea???View attachment 67369

Completely aerated. Dry in two days, match starts without kindling

 

[xman23]

Holy cow, how big are they?

It's a little hard to see how big that round is, but I leave 80 percent of my splits with one of it's side 6 inchs. They burn fine in a hot stove. Less refills.