My Latest Felling and Bucking Wedges

[Wood Doctor]

The other day I was staring at a rough cut chunk of oak leftover from a workbench I made. It was about 12" long, 8" wide and a full 2" thick. I decided to plane it down to 1-7/8" and see if I could make wedges with it for felling and bucking. I cut the wedges at a 6-degree angle, one right after the other using my table saw, its rip fence, and a taper cutting jig. After knocking off the outer sharp ends, two were about 10" long, two were 9" long, and the rest were about 8" long:

I sanded off the rough edges and rounded the tops a little. Here's another view of the collection:

At this point, you are probably saying, "Why the hole near the sharp end?" Well, one thing that happens to wedges is that they sometimes get lost. I decided that something that resembled a big key ring might help. I found two lengths of 3' round steel stock that I salvaged from a political yard sign and made a pair of helix coils, three turns apiece, by wrapping it around PVC drain pipe. The 1/4" countersunk holes allowed an easy thread onto the coil:

I made two sets and thought best to give one to my logging buddy who will probably use them more than I will as he fells and bucks lots of big stuff. Best thing about these wedges is that I can make replacements as they wear out. The stores want anywhere from $6 to $10 apiece for the plastic ones. Yeah, those may last longer, but I have a feeling these will work about as well and they are easy to keep together and hang on a pegboard hook.

Thanks for looking. WDYT?

 

[srb08]

Nice work, those look good.

 

[Gologit]

Nice work.

 

[hunter h]

wood weges

The other day I was staring at a rough cut chunk of oak leftover from a workbench I made. It was about 12" long, 8" wide and a full 2" thick. I decided to plane it down to 1-7/8" and see if I could make wedges with it for felling and bucking. I cut the wedges at a 6-degree angle, one right after the other using my table saw, its rip fence, and a taper cutting jig. After knocking off the outer sharp ends, two were about 10" long, two were 9" long, and the rest were about 8" long:

I sanded off the rough edges and rounded the tops a little. Here's another view of the collection:

At this point, you are probably saying, "Why the hole near the sharp end?" Well, one thing that happens to wedges is that they sometimes get lost. I decided that something that resembled a big key ring might help. I found two lengths of 3' round steel stock that I salvaged from a political yard sign and made a pair of helix coils, three turns apiece, by wrapping it around PVC drain pipe. The 1/4" countersunk holes allowed an easy thread onto the coil:
I have some made from mapel they work well. All the years my dada was logging that is all he used wood weges. Good job.

I made two sets and thought best to give one to my logging buddy who will probably use them more than I will as he fells and bucks lots of big stuff. Best thing about these wedges is that I can make replacements as they wear out. The stores want anywhere from $6 to $10 apiece for the plastic ones. Yeah, those may last longer, but I have a feeling these will work about as well and they are easy to keep together and hang on a pegboard hook.

Thanks for looking. WDYT?

good work all I ever use

 

[Jimmy in NC]

Those look great!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Cut the Top Square

I forgot to add something. The wedge when first cut will actually produce a right triangle rather than an isosceles triangle. That might work OK, but a perfectionist would argue that the wedge should not be shaped like a door stop.

So, after cutting the sharp point off, I shaved the thick end by stacking another wedge point-to-point and half way underneath the one being shaved, leaving the sawblade at a right angle. That way you can create a wedge with both long sides the same length.

 

[Termite]

Hey Doc, cool I may try that.
I would like to see pics of your taper jig and bench. I am planing a wood working bench in the future.

Here is my assembly-glue up bench.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Taper Jig

Actually, Termite, I have two or three taper jigs: one for table legs that I made myself, one el cheapo that I bought years ago, and my latest creation for short wedges, which is the simplest of them all:

(1) Cut a 45-degree right triangle from 3/4" ply or MDF, with 12" short sides and rather blunt points.
(2) Use a good miter gauge and place the right angle to the right, stop blocked on the left. Tilt the miter gauge at six degrees.
(3) Adjust the stop block so that the end of the workpiece is positioned about an inch to the right of the saw blade and make the cut using a combo blade or a ripping blade.

The idea is that the wide workpiece keeps your hands plenty far enough away from the sawblade so that the cut is safe. I also taped the workpiece to the triangle with masking tape just for good measure, but that proved unnecessary.

After that wedge is removed from the workpiece, a simple rip cut produces the second wedge and squares up the workpiece for the next taper cut (steps 1 to 3). Stop cutting wedges when the workpiece drops to less than 2" wide. Your fingers are more valuable than that last wedge. Here's a sketch:

 

[T0RN4D0]

Nice work. I've been meaning to make some oak wedges myself, but i never get around to it. This weekend, for sure!

If i don't forget again. I'm gonna paint them blue or orange or both tho. I hate wooden looking stuff in the woods, blends in too well and i always forget where i put it...

 

[procarbine2k1]

Those look really nice! I would like to try making a couple out of locust when the whether gets a little warmer.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Nice work. I've been meaning to make some oak wedges myself, but i never get around to it. This weekend, for sure!

If i don't forget again. I'm gonna paint them blue or orange or both tho. I hate wooden looking stuff in the woods, blends in too well and i always forget where i put it...

Hey, that painting idea makes a lot of sense. Maybe I could add a 3" thick stripe all the way around somewhere, say half-way down. I've got some bright blue paint on hand.

 

[DDALE]

Wedges

I forgot to add something. The wedge when first cut will actually produce a right triangle rather than an isosceles triangle. That might work OK, but a perfectionist would argue that the wedge should not be shaped like a door stop.

So, after cutting the sharp point off, I shaved the thick end by stacking another wedge point-to-point and half way underneath the one being shaved, leaving the sawblade at a right angle. That way you can create a wedge with both long sides the same length.

Doc- nice pieces ,I have used white oak wedges for yrs. door stop shape does'nt make any differance ,may stack better ? Cutting them on band saw leaving rough surface helps in wet wood .have lost ,split,cut end off,too many to count ,but price was right.

 

[jammin_with_j]

Great work, much better for the environment than plastic too, and much cheaper to replace.

 

[discounthunter]

nice work. i make my own also. when milling ,i use them along my cuts. because i loose them alot(and they split,get chipped,cut ect) i use mostly scrap pine. i paint mine bright pink,so when it falls in the sawdust they stand out pretty good.

 

[4x4American]

wow looks great! report back if your logging buddy likes them and maybe you could start your own side business, I'd for sure bring em into the woods with me

 

[Twindad]

Nice job and great idea! Anytime you can substitute wood for plastic, I'm all for it! A lot of old timers around here used to use rough cut wedges made from dogwood and called them "gluts".

 

[Whiskers]

Those look great wood doc, nice work!

 

[ri chevy]

Oak wedges

They look to nice to even use.

 

[milkman]

Nice job and great idea! Anytime you can substitute wood for plastic, I'm all for it! A lot of old timers around here used to use rough cut wedges made from dogwood and called them "gluts".

Wow, haven't heard that word in years, when I was a kid, I helped dad split fence posts with a couple of iron wedges and gluts. Thanks for the memories.

 

[Hedgerow]

Hey, that painting idea makes a lot of sense. Maybe I could add a 3" thick stripe all the way around somewhere, say half-way down. I've got some bright blue paint on hand.

Let me know if you want to make some out of Hedge...
I know someone who could hook you up with some material at the Iowa GTG...
:msp_wink: