Splitting wedge / Knife

[andy cobb]

4 hours ago, Justme said:

 

 

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.

Don't know what splitting force your Dunn is but mines 13t and it can struggle with the 8 way in semi seasoned beech, we just use the 6 really and put 4 of the logs back through, it takes a bit more time but gives a good product.

On a different note, picked up a transit engine and box to power the Dunn today.

Just waiting to hear back about a right angle gear box that'll reverse direction of rotation and can start throwing bits together.

[SbTVF]

20 hours ago, Justme said:

 

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.

 

This is all well and good in theory but logs are rarely that shape and you just end up with more slithers. Use it on over 12" and you'll be fine anything less and you're making kindling, especially if your machine doesn't allow enough vertical movement, one thing the titan is certainly not short of is plenty of height adjustment of the wedge. 

I bought a bulk load of logs in due to huge demand and they were all split with a tajfun 480 12 way. It was absolutely full of tiny bits. Way way way too many to sell as it was without picking out the decent bits first.

3x3" squares in the centre is about what ours is, they're a perfect logs and the rest right up about 17" are still a good size.

[Justme]

1 hour ago, andy cobb said:

Don't know what splitting force your Dunn is but mines 13t and it can struggle with the 8 way in semi seasoned beech, we just use the 6 really and put 4 of the logs back through, it takes a bit more time but gives a good product.

On a different note, picked up a transit engine and box to power the Dunn today.

Just waiting to hear back about a right angle gear box that'll reverse direction of rotation and can start throwing bits together.

 

Mine is 11T did not know they did a 13t on the 420.

I have a 2.8 from an Iveco daily. I am torn between using the diff & welding one side up once I see what rotation / gear I will be using & a 90 deg box.

What design is your 8 way?

Some I see have all the wedges level so its trying to do all the splits in one go. Stepping each set back reduces load dramatically.

Just did half a lorry of seasoned mixed hardwood up to the max that would fit.

Only time the 6 way had issues was if it fell in wrong & we missed it & still hit split.

 

If I did longer logs then I would not think about using a high split wedge but on the 250mm stuff its an easy split.

 

Smaller processor only has 3 or 4 t with a 4 way & that manages fine.

[Justme]

44 minutes ago, SbTVF said:

This is all well and good in theory but logs are rarely that shape and you just end up with more slithers. Use it on over 12" and you'll be fine anything less and you're making kindling, especially if your machine doesn't allow enough vertical movement, one thing the titan is certainly not short of is plenty of height adjustment of the wedge. 

I bought a bulk load of logs in due to huge demand and they were all split with a tajfun 480 12 way. It was absolutely full of tiny bits. Way way way too many to sell as it was without picking out the decent bits first.

3x3" squares in the centre is about what ours is, they're a perfect logs and the rest right up about 17" are still a good size.

 

 

It has a fair amount of vertical travel. 

You can loose the cross on the 4 way & the lower two on the 6 way dropping it down.

Lifting it up a 8" would go under the 6 way & just split in two.

 

Before I cut & weld I will draw it out on actual rings to see what the sized could be.

 

 

[andy cobb]

1 hour ago, Justme said:

 

Mine is 11T did not know they did a 13t on the 420.

I have a 2.8 from an Iveco daily. I am torn between using the diff & welding one side up once I see what rotation / gear I will be using & a 90 deg box.

What design is your 8 way?

Some I see have all the wedges level so its trying to do all the splits in one go. Stepping each set back reduces load dramatically.

Just did half a lorry of seasoned mixed hardwood up to the max that would fit.

Only time the 6 way had issues was if it fell in wrong & we missed it & still hit split.

 

If I did longer logs then I would not think about using a high split wedge but on the 250mm stuff its an easy split.

 

Smaller processor only has 3 or 4 t with a 4 way & that manages

Thinking about it, mine might be an 11t, not sure where I got 13 from.

Hopefully there should be a pic attached of ths 8 way when it was brand new

[Justme]

31 minutes ago, andy cobb said:

Thinking about it, mine might be an 11t, not sure where I got 13 from.

Hopefully there should be a pic attached of ths 8 way when it was brand new

Like I said virtually all the 8 way splits are happening at the same time.

Plus they are double sided wedges so squeezing the log through a smaller gap than cut it.

 

Mine will be staggered in split & single sided so the expansion happens on the open side.

[andy cobb]

Sounds like a good plan, are you going to use bucket blade sharpened up?

I don't think I've ever used the 4 way so if your creation is successful I might just steal your idea!

[CallumA]

Be very careful not to compress the timber going through the knife. I made a 28 way for a 60 ton spiltter and it was great on straight grained stuff but when it jammed it took ages to clear it. Ended up scrapping it and making an 18 way. So much better but still a bugger when it jams. Only use it for sticks over 20" now as its not height adjustable so loads of small stuff with smaller clogs.

[andy cobb]

Have a look on wearpartsuk.co.uk and look at bargain blades section, has a list of short offcuts around 18", they specialise in hardox so might have something you can use 

[CallumA]

Have a look on wearpartsuk.co.uk and look at bargain blades section, has a list of short offcuts around 18", they specialise in hardox so might have something you can use 

The cheapest bucket edges I found was from Whites Material handing