do you just think of random questions to ask here?
Hey, that's a random question.
I post the stupid questions nobody else dares ask for fear of flaming. It's a dirty (and thankless) job, but someone has to do it.
Have been looking at big don't-argue splitters, box wedges, etc lately. Thinking of completely changing the way I produce firewood next Summer down here. Wedges seem to have three main jobs:
- set up the initial tearing of the fibres
- promote their further separation
- cut through any non-parallel grain
I'm sure we have all seen the videos of splitters that seem to kick down to second stages while the round just seems to resist as the load builds up until it finally pops. That to my mind is a significantly undesirable trait. It's loading everything up more than it has to. I've a very sharp 2-way wedge that can slice across the grain pretty well and does a fairly good job of minimising the pop-force needed to persuade the round fibres to yield.
But then I'm wondering how much better the multi-way or box wedges might work if they didn't just stagger their business-ends but had a series of points to concentrate the forces. Some of the manufacturers must be using CNC/NC milling machines and experimented with different profiles a whole bunch, so maybe the long thin profiles are the best.
How about a sharp, scalloped leading edge that rises to a series of sharp points? Not so acute that the leading edges become weak, or the overall depth of the wedge becomes too deep, but instead of the round meeting a sharp thin line, it meets 5 sharp thin points, initially. Perhaps that would be too hard to touch-up in the field?
That's just one idea, I make no claim to it being a good one, and there are bound to be many others.