Splitting wedge / Knife

[Justme]

Has anyone made their own wedge / knife?

 

My Duun came with a 6 way & a 4 way.

 

They do have higher split units available & my Duun is the higher tonnage one so should be ok except on really knotty stuff.

 

Having used it a bit The 4 way is redundant as the way the 6 way is set up you can 4 & 2 way split with it.

 

On larger stuff you need to re split the large pizza slices it makes.

 

Initially I was going to make the 6 way into a 12 way.

 

However now having used it I feel the 4 way has better size options.

 

Smaller stuff can be  split in two, next size up can be 4 way split, potentially get a 6 way out of it as well before going full on 12 way.

 

This is one of the multi ways they offer as standard.

 

My plan is to add the bits in yellow to my 4 way.

 

I think I can bend the 20mm thick hardox & then weld the other bit to it.

 

If not I can weld all 3 bits together.

 

Anyone already done similar?

 

 

[SbTVF]

Strongly advise you just buy the one they sell.  Square centre on our Titan 40/20 is better than the octagonal centre we used to have on our Tajfun 400 too. 

Don't expect to use it on anything smaller than 12" timber without making loads of small pieces. Its great to have in the mix but you'll still want the bigger chunks off your other wedges where possible.

[Justme]

10 minutes ago, SbTVF said:

Strongly advise you just buy the one they sell.  Square centre on our Titan 40/20 is better than the octagonal centre we used to have on our Tajfun 400 too. 

Don't expect to use it on anything smaller than 12" timber without making loads of small pieces. Its great to have in the mix but you'll still want the bigger chunks off your other wedges where possible.

 

I am finding that on the 6 way with over 10" the bits are too much like a pizza slice ie thin but long.  I think that 4" in any direction is about the sweet spot.

 

I could always make this a square center.

I think then I would not bend but cut & weld as a 90 deg might just be a bit to far to get a tight bend on 20mm without heat / a lot of tonnage. 

 

Not sure what the benefit would be to have 4 from the center that are squares.

 

If its a failure then so be it I can always grind it off & go back to the 4 way.

 

I dont have a price on a new one but based on prices for other makes it would be £6-900 + VAT ish. 

 

This adaptation will cost me less than £150 so worth a punt.

[SbTVF]

1 minute ago, Justme said:

 

I am finding that on the 6 way with over 10" the bits are too much like a pizza slice ie thin but long.  I think that 4" in any direction is about the sweet spot.

 

I could always make this a square center.

I think then I would not bend but cut & weld as a 90 deg might just be a bit to far to get a tight bend on 20mm without heat / a lot of tonnage. 

 

Not sure what the benefit would be to have 4 from the center that are squares.

 

If its a failure then so be it I can always grind it off & go back to the 4 way.

 

I dont have a price on a new one but based on prices for other makes it would be £6-900 + VAT ish. 

 

This adaptation will cost me less than £150 so worth a punt.

Yeah I know what you mean for sure. They do definitely get big over 10-11" and the logs aren't perfectly round before hand. The square centre is good for the 11-13" logs as you can raise it up so that you're basically getting a 10 way split by slicing the bark off the top of the log and missing the top 2 portions. 

The centre square pieces are an absolutely ideal size for your first logs on the fire  particularly if you light using the top down method and they dry faster and better by comparison to everything with bark on in my experience.

[Justme]

1 hour ago, SbTVF said:

Yeah I know what you mean for sure. They do definitely get big over 10-11" and the logs aren't perfectly round before hand. The square centre is good for the 11-13" logs as you can raise it up so that you're basically getting a 10 way split by slicing the bark off the top of the log and missing the top 2 portions. 

The centre square pieces are an absolutely ideal size for your first logs on the fire  particularly if you light using the top down method and they dry faster and better by comparison to everything with bark on in my experience.

 

So your saying make the center 4 squares smaller, say 3" x 3"?

 

I have done some mock ups of log diameters starting at 150mm & going up in 50mm to 400mm.

 

Trying to get the sweet spot so your not changing splitter heads or even the height of it all the time.

For some reason the square cut got lost but the hex does look better.

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Justme

[gdh]

If you're adding an extra ring it's probably worth splaying it out. If you add it square to the rest of the splitter you'll be trying to compress the log into a hole rather than splitting it. Hopefully you can see what I mean in the picture.

[BARNSLEY BOB]

Does anyone make knifes.
The new hakki pilke knifes 16 way, are poor.

[gdh]

Tajfun make a 16way as well, our 12 way has always held up to any hardwood we put through and the 16 is a similar design so should be good if you can get it to fit.

[Justme]

14 hours ago, gdh said:

If you're adding an extra ring it's probably worth splaying it out. If you add it square to the rest of the splitter you'll be trying to compress the log into a hole rather than splitting it. Hopefully you can see what I mean in the picture.

Yes I get that.

 

The way round it is two fold.

 

As you say a gentle splay & then only have the edge cut on one side on the inner ring so the cut size is the same size as the gap. The expansion happens on the outer side of the ring.

[Justme]

2 hours ago, gdh said:

Tajfun make a 16way as well, our 12 way has always held up to any hardwood we put through and the 16 is a similar design so should be good if you can get it to fit.

 

 

Cost of a new one is a big factor.

 

As I said Duun do sell them but making your own stuff is half the fun.

 

Stuck in lockdown so might as well get something done.