pyro_John

Update after 2 weeks - can't believe how well this has healed. After a week I could walk downstairs fairly normally. Pretty much got my normal range of movement back now and have been splitting plenty more rounds. Although I leave the sledgehammer well alone! Just my good luck that some poor bugger broke their hip and I got bumped off the surgery list two weeks ago tonight. Think things would have been a lot slower if it had been taken out, would just be getting the stitches out. As George of the Jungle would have said: "John just lucky I guess"

Regarding the smallest saw - I've got an MS260 with a 16" bar. I originally bought it for logging up tree surgery waste into firewood. Some time later I bought a logosol timberjig and use it a couple of times a year with the ms260 to cut boards out to make into blanks for turning the odd bowl or platter. I go pretty easy on the throttle as I don't want to bugg%r the saw and the cutting speed is sometimes incredibly slow. The maximum I can go is about 11" which is OK as the lathe has a maximum of 12" diameter over the bed. The smallest stuff I cut up is 5 or 6 inch diameter and it goes through that a bit faster. Spock would have said "Its milling Jim but not as we know it." Yes I'd love an MS660 or 880 but for very the very occasional use "milling" I just can't justify spending that sort of money, even for a decent second hand saw. If you are just cutting up small bits to get some pretty blanks for turning - and you are willing to be incredibly patient - you can get away with a smaller saw. It has rescued some lovely pieces from the firewood pile.

Agreed with turning it over and knocking the wood off the maul. However, if it's a big heavy lump with the maul stuck in it I often just lift the maul handle 3 or 4 inches to tip the block up then smack the wood single handed with the lump hammer. Does the same job without juggling and balancing a big lump on an upside down maul.

Won't be doing it again. I have a couple of wood grenades which I don't use very often. Are they made from a softer metal? After all they are designed to be hammered into the wood.

I bought the 3.5kg maul and 4kg sledge new about 15-16 years ago from a French supermarket. There have been a few flakes pop off before so it was getting a bit raggedy on the corners. I'll only use it for splitting (as in swinging it) now, not also as a wedge once it's embedded in the wood. Assuming input energy of 10 m/s for 4kg sledge propelling 4g flake of metal with 10% of kinetic energy transferred to flake would result in flake speed of 100m/s (about 330ft/sec) which is a bit over half of 12 foot pound 22 air gun pellet muzzle velocity (605ft/sec or so). To go in so deep may have been going above 100m/s. I've an old Hakki Pilke 1X but couldn't be bothered to get it out for half an hour before tea. Also the wood was poplar rounds and it was splitting dead easy - and I was enjoying it - not worth getting the tractor out for. Just had this one bit with a small knot it it ....

Wednesday afternoon splitting some rounds, pounded stuck maul with sledgehammer, fragment of metal from maul hit me in the thigh. Profuse bleeding but the wound looked clean. Called GP and practice nurse glued the wound back together with superglue. So far so good. Was wearing trousers when it happened and Thursday morning (after laundering blood out) realised there was a cut in the trousers. Leg felt even more sore and couldn't straighten it. All day at Chichester A&E Thursday, X-rays showed metal fragment embedded about 5 cm deep in thigh muscle - as deep as the bone but to one side. Was supposed to be having surgery to remove it Thursday evening, gowned up ready for op when they cancelled it due to a priority broken hip which had arrived. Saw consultant Friday morning and decided now to leave it alone as incision would have been 6cm or so and I'd have been nobbled for a few weeks recovering. Old soldiers with embedded shrapnel? Other than wearing armour I don't know how to stop it from happening again. Anyone know of similar accident or is this a one off? Splitters beware.