''Another splitter Question'''

[loadthestove]

Hate to start another splitter thread but my dad ask a question about my splitter I'm building and I couldn't give him an answer.I'm building a horizontal split with a lift table.

Has anyone ever considered putting a wedge on both ends of the splitter.His logic is when you push on it something will split.Have never give this idea any thought until now.
After some thought the more I think about it the more I like it.

Anyone have any thoughts or comments on this setup......

 

[wdchuck]

It sounds like you are thinking push plate in the middle and wedges on each outside end of the beam, and that could be productive, but how would you remove the split wood if you have a log lift on the opposite side of the operator?

If you skipped the log lift, and just had a flat conveyor on the opposite side of the operator, then you'd be working pretty quickly to keep that setup fed.

 

[loadthestove]

No,will not use a push plate.Will have a wedge on both ends of the bed.one on the cylinder and another on the other end.wood should split from both ends at once.

 

[ericjeeper]

gonna work like a Chinese hand cuff. Or a monkey trying to hump a football.
In a perfect world you might hit the same grain from each end.Otherwise you are going to bury both wedges and be done.

 

[loadthestove]

gonna work like a Chinese hand cuff. Or a monkey trying to hump a football.
In a perfect world you might hit the same grain from each end.Otherwise you are going to bury both wedges and be done.

That is the response I was looking for,thought the same thing,but needed others input..

 

[Ol' Brian]

I think I disagree with the previous posters... and here's why:

Motion of the wedges is relative. Think about it for a moment... You can move one wedge, or you can move both wedges. The piece of wood is not going to care one iota. Imagine, if you had a splitter, with 2 hyd cylinders, opposing each other, with a wedge on each cylinder. You lay a piece of wood on the beam, and then the 2 wedges move in toward it. When the 2 wedges meet, that piece of wood is going to be split, no doubt about it.

Now, let's go back to the OP's design... You've got 2 wedges, moving toward each other (again, all motion is relative...)... When those 2 wedges meet, the piece will be split. What will vary, from piece to piece, is where the piece of wood is on the beam when it does split, relative to the fixed wedge. The piece of wood will move more than a conventional WOC splitter, but less than a conventonal WOB splitter.

I think it will work... I can't see any reason for it not to, just because it's unconventional. But there's only one way to find out for sure... BUILD IT!!

 

[palmrose2]

gonna work like a Chinese hand cuff. Or a monkey trying to hump a football.
In a perfect world you might hit the same grain from each end.Otherwise you are going to bury both wedges and be done.

I agree with Eric. Must be a Jeep thing.

 

[XJWoody]

I agree with the Jeeper twins...

Take that chinese handcuff thought a step further...

Assume that the log will not be split at the same grain line, and also assume that the two wedges (or a single wedge + plate like "normal") can not fully meet - or overtravel.

I think what would result is partially split chunks jammed onto one wedge or the other, and a lot of hand work to a chorus of :censored: "joyful cheers"

OTOH the rounds may just pop apart in fear at the sight of such a mighty apparatus. YMMV

 

[builder1101]

with my tiny 4 and 5" cylinders, i've brought them to a stop, backed up the ram, stuffed in a splitting wedge for a maul, slowly eased it into the peice, then gave it hell, and popped the round like a walnut. the split wedge on the ram side will pop 1/2 the round, then the log splitters wedge on the end will finish the other 1/2. in most cases anyways...


splitting from both ends can be helpful, but rarely i've needed it unless it's a straight up ugly piece.

i've done away with the double end splitting, as this 7" with 3200# behind it is plenty strong. if it doesn't split, it just shears it flat.

i set my current spltiter up so i can drop in whatever the occassion calls. i do alot of redneck 'space consolidation' and press work. so i spent the time and made this beast so i can change what's on the end of the beam, what's on the ramguide, pull some pins and swap the 4 way for a 6 or 8 way.

anyways

if you wanted to try from both ends, don't weld it. it's quite unnecessary unless you split every crotch, Y, knotted, and F'ed up looking piece you can get your hands on.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

There is a manufacturer out there that makes a splitter that work in both directions.....I can't think who it is at the moment. I believe the cylinder is under the table and it has a single wedge that is sharp on both sides. There is a plate on each end and the wedge works through the log the entire direction - then you just reposition the log and on the way back the log is split.

It seems to work well in the video - the orbviously is some mechanical work to be done to account for the leverage against the beam when the wedge is located on one side and the cylinder on the onter side.

Here is the link to one video from Northern. It is kind of a long and tedious video to get to the actual splitting....and it is obvious that it is not any faster it you have wood that is less than half the length of the splitter travel. You will have to click on the video link. http://www2.northerntool.com/logging/log-splitters/item-1159.htm

The one I was thinking about is called a Splitfire. Here is the link to the website and videos.
http://www.split-fire.com/splitter_videogallery.html

 

[jerryw66]

I have a machinist friend that built a splitter 25 yrs ago that split both ways, He sold it to a tree service, and it was the most sofisticated splitter I have ever seen, I'll see if I can track it down and get a pic. I remember 2 cyl under the beam, and two way wedge in the middle, can't remember too many details, but it was a very nice looking machine, lift and all and very user friendly.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

... you are going to bury both wedges and be done.

Yep. :agree2:

When the 2 wedges meet, that piece of wood is going to be split, no doubt about it.

We're talking about splitting, not cutting. You can't get the wedges to align perfectly, unless you spend a TON of money on precision machining the beam and whatever guide mechanism there is for the moving wedge. (Of course, a precision machine like that isn't going to last long with all the dirt and junk that goes with splitting.)

Since the wedges won't be perfectly aligned when the limit of travel is reached, you'll have a piece of wood nicely wedged on two wedges, instead of one, with no easy way to get them off. Back off the ram, and one side will pull out, but the other will probably not. Which side will hold the wood will depend on the wood's grain, so will be random.

There's a time to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

There is a manufacturer out there that makes a splitter that work in both directions.....I can't think who it is at the moment. I believe the cylinder is under the table and it has a single wedge that is sharp on both sides. There is a plate on each end and the wedge works through the log the entire direction - then you just reposition the log and on the way back the log is split.

That's a very different animal to what the OP is describing.

 

[triptester]

The only way to find out if it will work is to build it and test. Unfortunately I think it will fail because where ever each wedge contacts the wood the split will follow the grain. If both wedges are not set on the same grain line it will split the wood into 3 pieces. The middle piece will end up between the two wedges either jamming or bending the wedges.

 

[Ol' Brian]

Yep. :agree2:





We're talking about splitting, not cutting. You can't get the wedges to align perfectly, unless you spend a TON of money on precision machining the beam and whatever guide mechanism there is for the moving wedge. (Of course, a precision machine like that isn't going to last long with all the dirt and junk that goes with splitting.)

Since the wedges won't be perfectly aligned when the limit of travel is reached, you'll have a piece of wood nicely wedged on two wedges, instead of one, with no easy way to get them off. Back off the ram, and one side will pull out, but the other will probably not. Which side will hold the wood will depend on the wood's grain, so will be random.

There's a time to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

We can all sit here and speculate till the cows come home. The only person that has any experience with anything similar to this concept so far says that it DOES work.

I think it would work... you think it wouldn't. It for sure isn't rocket science... not much precision would be needed - He's building a log splitter, not a Space Shuttle.:greenchainsaw: I don't think that it's going to make obsolete every machine already out there, not by a long shot. But I do think it will split wood. That's the whole point.

Let him build the dang thing, and let's find out!! If it doesn't work, all he has to do is just build a push plate to go on the cylinder, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things

And, remember, Engineers say that Bumblebees can't fly, also. I guess nobody told the bumblebees...

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Nobody has posted on this thread about seeing this idea work. Read it again.

 

[Walt41]

I tried the whole two wedge thing on my homemade beast years ago, the whole Handcuff thing sums it up, if you are looking for something slick, build a progressive wedge, I welded two pieces of angle iron about two inches back from the beginning of my wedge. The cut opens up and then the angle iron spreads it like an angry gorilla, resulting in less distance of cylinder travel and less time to split.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Okay, now somebody has posted on this thread about seeing this idea work!

 

[Ol' Brian]

BlueRidgeMark,

For your reading pleasure... (Post #9)

with my tiny 4 and 5" cylinders, i've brought them to a stop, backed up the ram, stuffed in a splitting wedge for a maul, slowly eased it into the peice, then gave it hell, and popped the round like a walnut. the split wedge on the ram side will pop 1/2 the round, then the log splitters wedge on the end will finish the other 1/2. in most cases anyways...


splitting from both ends can be helpful, but rarely i've needed it unless it's a straight up ugly piece.

i've done away with the double end splitting, as this 7" with 3200# behind it is plenty strong. if it doesn't split, it just shears it flat.

i set my current spltiter up so i can drop in whatever the occassion calls. i do alot of redneck 'space consolidation' and press work. so i spent the time and made this beast so i can change what's on the end of the beam, what's on the ramguide, pull some pins and swap the 4 way for a 6 or 8 way.

anyways

if you wanted to try from both ends, don't weld it. it's quite unnecessary unless you split every crotch, Y, knotted, and F'ed up looking piece you can get your hands on.

 

[palmrose2]

Okay, now somebody has posted on this thread about seeing this idea work!

For a guy that seems to be persnickety about the English language, your reading comprehension is surprisingly lacking.