sunfish
Fish Head
I did 10+ cords a year by hand for over 20 years. Now I have a splitter. Don't know if I'm just older, or smarter
I never wear gloves either, they hurt my hands!
I never wear gloves either, they hurt my hands!
Give it a couple days and go split some more.
As the marines say, pain is just weakness leaving the body. You'll get used to it shortly before you're done splitting for the year, then your hands will get soft again and you'll go throughit all again next year.
For impact protection, you can try a pair of padded work gloves, but really the best thing is to work on your swing so you make fewer overstrikes...when I start hitting the handle I know its time to stop because I'm getting tired and my aim is going.
.. here try one of these
The axe head and speed and focus and keeping the edge straight to the wood does the work. Your hands merely steer this operation. Steer more, power less. Speed more, aim better. Finesse and focus is easier on the mitts than grunt swings.
To me, good splitting is like any other sport. Ya, most anyone can grab a whatever with some sort of edge to it and mangle a chunk of wood into pieces, but the better you get at it the less effort it takes to do even more work. And the less it beats on you, hands included.
I also cull the herd fast. I have all the wood I want, so if a particular piece starts to give me fits, it gets thrown onto the obnoxious/bummer pile. I cull it till later. Two months (or so) later I'll go through the pile again. Amazing what an additional two months of drying will do for you, more cracks to aim at, etc.
Anyway, I think of it as way more a sport/skill than "work" and for some reason it keeps getting easier the more I refine my technique. Especially with the fiskars.
I must say though I am dissatisfied with the fiskars sharpener. I have some brand X one that works better, but even that leaves some meat on the platter. I am thinking I might invest in a rouge wheel instead..maybe. There's a huge difference with the fiskars between normal "sharp" and OMG if your finger gets within an inch you get sliced sharp. The latter will really split some wood.
After splitting some wood (wearing work gloves) it seems there is an area about the size of a 50 cent piece between the bottom of my thumb and my wrist on the palm side is VERY sore... especially on my left hand (I am right handed). It is 3 days later and still pretty sore... wonder if I am doing something wrong or maybe some special impact gloves for splitting wood? There was a couple times that I got an extra big impact from not hitting the log quite right. I enjoy splitting wood, but not with this issue
Thanks for any suggestions
I never wear gloves either, they hurt my hands!
Find gloves that fit right.
What's the wrist strap for???
I tried out those straps on a whim and they alleviated some pain I was feeling in the wrists after splitting. I'm not sure exactly how they are helping. They are just wraps, not rigid bracing so I think they may be dampening any vibrations that make it back up to my wrists. I imagine that your carpals want to scatter like pool balls when a shock makes it back up the handle through your hands.
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