My Latest Felling and Bucking Wedges

[saw dog]

Very nice work, you might try Mullberry and Persimmin soaked in linseed oil, they seem to last longer.
Safe cutting all

 

[Homelite410]

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?

Those would make an excellent donation for a door prize or a race prize for the spring gtg!!

 

[old-cat]

I've had an oak wedge for a long time and I prefer it over the plastic ones cause it was FREE!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Final Product

I decided to paint a 3" wide light blue band around the middle of each wedge to help make it easier to find. These things have a habit of getting lost in the woods. I also found that only half of the thick round stock wire was needed for the ring that holds them together. You only need about 1-1/3 turns. So, here is the current collection that is in use today:

Each ring will probably hold six wedges comfortably, but four apiece seemed enough for a trial run. During the next three months, my logger friend, Andy, says he will be bringing in about 2000 big logs or about 50 flatbed loads. He promises to give these a workout. So far this year the only time he pinched a 36" bar and bent it was when he tried to get by without using a bucking wedge or two. Afterwards he told me, "You just can't take shortcuts in this business."

 

[Rockjock]

Simply beautiful my friend! I love the idea! There is nothing better then using a tool that just fits right! Bravo sir!

 

[Wow]

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".

Old thread BUT someone may be reading. So a Glut is normally a BIG wooden wedge. Much bigger than what I use for felling. I use a Glut for assistance when splitting firewood. Photos shows Three felling wedges and a Glut with mallet.

 

[livemusic]

Those look great, Wood Doctor.

 

[Wow]

Those look great, Wood Doctor.

Thanks, I made the glut out of Persinamon. I painted the Glut and Mallet making it easy to see.
The big Mallet is made of Elm. It's handle is Hickory (if I remember).
I use the Mallet to drive my Glut and that keeps from damaging it. Notice the tops of the felling wedges. That shape helps to keep from driving damage. When I'm using my 22 ton Log Splitter on big stringy blocks and the block cracks partially open. This big ole Glut opens it up totally. I've made Gluts out of 4x4s and even Land scape timber. When splitting with a maul and Steel wedge the Glut really helps. Have a great day.