Wedge design

[chaikwa]

As my wood processor project moves very slowly forward, I'd be interested in hearing all of your opinions on how a wedge should be shaped. Do you favor a long, sloping angle from the point to the thickness of the wedge so that the wood spreads slowly? Or do you prefer a steep angle so that the wood starts to spread quickly as it hits the wedge? Sharp, knife edge on the wedge or a more blunt point?

For those of you that have made your own wedges, did you buy a wedge or build it yourself? And if you built it yourself, what material did you use, (ie; was it hardened?).

Thanks in advance to anyone that takes the time to reply!

 

[Fifelaker]

I like a wedge that is about 3/4" thick for 2"-3" then widens to around 3". On a lot of wood it splits almost instantly if not the thick part of the wedge will make it split. As far as a hardened wedge my train of thought is a soft wedge is always harder than wood so it is not needed. I have used one with a hardened wedge and it did not do any thing a non-hardened one wont do. Look at the wedges on the manufactured splitters and borrow from them.

 

[chaikwa]

As far as a hardened wedge my train of thought is a soft wedge is always harder than wood so it is not needed. I have used one with a hardened wedge and it did not do any thing a non-hardened one wont do.

I sort of tend to agree with you on the hardening issue, but... I built a splitter very similar to the Split-Fire, (splits in 2 directions of travel), and I used a standard mild steel block to make the wedge. The knife edge has slightly bent over time, probably from hitting a hard spot in the wood or maybe even a rock or two. My thinking is that maybe the edge got too thin or I should have used a harder metal. That's why I'm asking for opinions so that I avoid this problem this time around.

Look at the wedges on the manufactured splitters and borrow from them.

My whole processor will be from 'borrowed' designs! I'm trying to take the best ideas of all the manufacturers and incorporate them into one machine.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[RiverRocket]

I made my wedge out of 1/4" steel plate..The important thing for me was height..I made it 12" high, It's nice for the larger billets
For my wedge I had a local welding shop sheer the following:
(Sides) Two 6" x 12"
(Back) One 6" x 12"
(Top) One 7" x 12"
After I welded the sides and back i just laid the top on and used a scribe to mark where i had to cut it to match the triangle shape than welded the top on.
For the cutting edge I just ran a couple beads of weld on the leading edge and sharpened
Hope this makes since..

 

[nathon918]

mines a 1" A-36 plate 14" tall x 11" long with a piece of 4x1-1/2 x 3/8 A-36 angle iron on each side to spread the wood,
i used 4x4 angle and just cut 1 of the legs down. on the cutting edge i hardfaced the the entire cutting edge and just ground sharp.
heres a pic...

 

[chaikwa]

Thanks for the replies!

Lots of good information... I never thought of welding the edge to hard face it then grinding it down! Looks like you both like a steep wedge angle as opposed to long and sweeping.

That's a real nice leaf pattern you have on the out-feed table nathon!

 

[nathon918]

Thanks for the replies!

Lots of good information... I never thought of welding the edge to hard face it then grinding it down! Looks like you both like a steep wedge angle as opposed to long and sweeping.

That's a real nice leaf pattern you have on the out-feed table nathon!

tends to happen when you dont have a garage to store it in... dont know what i was thinking buying a house with no garage? i atleast have a walkout basement i work out of but my double doors arent wide enough to fit the splitter in (about 4 inches too small), thinking of buying land across the street from my house and putting up a steel building, i dont know though we'll see

 

[nathon918]

you dont even have to weld it with hardface rod, regular ER70, or 7018 would work fine its still harder than the base material, i used hardface rod because i do alot of it so i already had the rod...
using hardened steel (AR400/500 or 600) i wouldnt recommend as its brittle, almost similar to welding cast iron, thats why when its used for cutting edges its bolted on not welded. its very good for abrasive conditions but not for structural use...

 

[turnkey4099]

I don't recall the dimensions on mine. 1/2" mild steel plate for the spine and cutting edge. "wings" started about 1/3 back from the cutting edge. Worked very well.

You definitely want a sharp edge on the wedge as it is needed to shear through knots. Except for when it is shearing that point never touches any wood after it enters - the split runs ahead of the point.

Harry K

 

[dave_dj1]

I have a single knife edge (1") it's what I had. I ground it to a 1/4" and then ran two beads then ground it to a dull point.
nathon, your splitter looks good

 

[Wood Doctor]

Widen it Out

I like a wedge that is about 3/4" thick for 2"-3" then widens to around 3". On a lot of wood it splits almost instantly if not the thick part of the wedge will make it split. As far as a hardened wedge my train of thought is a soft wedge is always harder than wood so it is not needed. I have used one with a hardened wedge and it did not do any thing a non-hardened one won't do. Look at the wedges on the manufactured splitters and borrow from them.

Agree. Widen it out to 3" or so at the back end. If the splitter and wedge stall out, they will usually do so within the first inch of the penetration into the round.

However, manufactured wedges are sometimes narrow thoughout their length. I think this is a cost and weight savings more than anything else. The further the wedge drives the round apart, the easier it is for you to divide and separate the two sides when the splitter leaves behind stringy wood that holds the two halves together at the bottom of the round.

 

[chaikwa]

you dont even have to weld it with hardface rod, regular ER70, or 7018 would work fine its still harder than the base material, i used hardface rod because i do alot of it so i already had the rod...
using hardened steel (AR400/500 or 600) i wouldnt recommend as its brittle, almost similar to welding cast iron, thats why when its used for cutting edges its bolted on not welded. its very good for abrasive conditions but not for structural use...

That's good info on the AR plate. I've used it to build dump bed floors but never anything structural. And like you, I have hardfacing rod, so that's no big deal.

You definitely want a sharp edge on the wedge as it is needed to shear through knots. Except for when it is shearing that point never touches any wood after it enters - the split runs ahead of the point.

Thanks Harry, that's a good point! <see what I did there? LOL!>

Agree. Widen it out to 3" or so at the back end. If the splitter and wedge stall out, they will usually do so within the first inch of the penetration into the round.

I kind of HAVE to stay with a narrow wedge as I'm building a processor, and the split wood will have to stay within a certain area in order to fall into the out-feed conveyor and not spill over the sides and miss the conveyor. The difference in what I'm building and what is produced commercially is that mine will be able to be used as a conventional log splitter. It will have a log lift so that I can split chunks that are already sawed up when I get them. I have a couple tree services that dump off wood and I can't see not using them just because I can't run them in log lengths thru the processor.

Lots of great ideas here, keep 'em comin'!

 

[Steve NW WI]

Fat wedges suck in stringy wood, and in my opinion don't give a lot of advantage in easy to bust wood either. My wedge has gotten to a radiused tip over the years, but I have perhaps "excessive" tonnage, so I don't notice a difference. With a smaller cylinder and a 2 stage pump, there's probably more to be gained with a sharp point.

I've mentioned this before, but it's worth saying again. Weld some bar stock to the pusher plate on both sides of the wedge, so that at full stroke the pads actually extend past the wedge tip. It makes for a complete split, nearly every time.

 

[wndwlkr]

1 1/2 " thick sharpened like a fillet knife will do good on any type of wood ! I've cut 15" pieces of hedge sideways on mine. If they ever design the perfect wedge, I'll be all over it.

 

[jthornton]

I built mine up from HR (A36) plate but have yet to try it out.

View attachment 299586

JT

 

[AIM]

Just make it tall. I love my splitter but hate the wedge. It's just to short for the big stuff.

 

[Tazfreak]

Hi,I,ve built several wedge types for aussie hardwood.this type ,with a sharp 3 inch high x 2 inch long starter tooth ,sharp 9 inch high tapered edge then about 5 inches from main edge heavy angle iron wings up to 10 inches wide across the back is quite effective,our hardwoods, especially big forks are extremely tough to split,most big forks require noodling into quarters to be able to split them.0n straight grained timber we find a wide wedge splits a lot quicker using only a few inches of ram stroke to fully separate stringy fibres''.In our opinion'' A narrow wedge uses most of the rams available stroke to achieve a completed split rendering them too slow for production splitting.Quick Cycle time means a lot more tons per day achieved.Our push plates stop quarter of an inch from wedge to help with the most interlocked, twisted grained timber that fights to the end.:chainsawguy: