homemade wedges

[Homelite410]

Here is a cool wedge I found, anyone ever seen one?

 

[Red Elm]

It's my job to lay the tree where it is suppose to go. Good wedges are some of my tools, just like a good saw and driving axe. I'll pay for the good ones. You dont fault a good mechanic for having good wrenches!

 

[BigDee]

I have successfully used white oak, black locust and red mulberry. Also hard maple and cherry.
Usually I split a billet first with a froe or maul. Then I know exact the orientation of the grain.
I take the billet to the band saw, cut a flat parallel to the split surface,
and make wedges of various thicknesses for felling, splitting and holding the kerf open when riipping.
I use a 3 tpi band on the saw, so it leaves a surface that has a bit of tooth.
The wedges get MUCH tougher when dry.

When felling a big and scary tree, I will use many wedges.
Even oak will buckle if you hit it enough.
And if the wood is slick like elm I have had wooden wedges ejected ten feet, like shooting a watermelon seed.

So assume a dynamic stance. And keep your guard up at all times

 

[slowp]

I use wedges for bucking. Use a couple and you can make the chunk you are cutting lift up instead of collapsing downwards. Oh, plastic, of course. They come in nice, bright colors or blue.

 

[DanTheCanadian]

I have successfully used white oak, black locust and red mulberry. Also hard maple and cherry.
Usually I split a billet first with a froe or maul. Then I know exact the orientation of the grain.
I take the billet to the band saw, cut a flat parallel to the split surface,
and make wedges of various thicknesses for felling, splitting and holding the kerf open when riipping.
I use a 3 tpi band on the saw, so it leaves a surface that has a bit of tooth.
The wedges get MUCH tougher when dry.

When felling a big and scary tree, I will use many wedges.
Even oak will buckle if you hit it enough.
And if the wood is slick like elm I have had wooden wedges ejected ten feet, like shooting a watermelon seed.

So assume a dynamic stance. And keep your guard up at all times

Throw a little saw dust on your wedge and they won't eject quite so often. Even so, don't let down your gaurd and keep your "dynamic" stance.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Take your paslode with you, drive the wedge in and nail it to the stump.

 

[TheLazyBFarm]

It's my job to lay the tree where it is suppose to go. Good wedges are some of my tools, just like a good saw and driving axe. I'll pay for the good ones. You dont fault a good mechanic for having good wrenches!

Can you define "good wedges".

The only ones I've bought are from the local Stihl dealer where I bought my 362-CM. I have no clue if they're good or not. (Stihl wedges).

 

[Red Elm]

Can you define "good wedges".

The only ones I've bought are from the local Stihl dealer where I bought my 362-CM. I have no clue if they're good or not. (Stihl wedges).

To me a good wedge must hold the kerf open when your bar and chain are in the kerf, be it bucking, cutting or whatever. It should be light weight, not heavy. Enough stuff to weigh you down already. Preferably bright colored so you can see them. I like a lightly textured wedge. Too much texture, they don't drive easy, not enough texture they'll spit back at you. Most wedges including wood will handle all of this, but a GOOD wedge has got to drive well. If you are tapping them w a hatchet or whatever most can take it, but I use a 4# fallers axe w a 28" handle. you get to pounding on a wedge w that when it is 20*F some cant hold up. I seem to break the back corners off the cheaper ones when it gets that cold. K&H redheads are my favorite and Double Tapers are good too. Most all the plastic ones work good until it gets really cold.

Someone on another thread said Stihl wedges are made by K&H. What few stihl wedges ive used have been good.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I keep a couple of plastic wedges in the truck, just in case that one of my shop-built wedges ever fails. They seldom do, so the plastic wedges never seem to see any action. One has been lying there for five years. I'll give it away as a door prize at the next GTG.

 

[gritz]

Maybe, I'm just too cheap, but I don't cut that often either. I usually just cut a wedge from the chunk that falls out of the first notch I cut. I figure oak should stand up to oak, thorny locust to thorny locust, etc. They usually last long enough to fell and buck for a truck load of wood, then I'm done for the day and leave the wedge in the woods. Maybe this is a bad idea, but I've been doing it since, well, since I've known about using wedges. Dad never used wedges. He also dropped a tree on his foot once, lol.

 

[slowp]

Use The Blue Wedge!

 

[stihl sawing]

using a steel wedge with a saw in the tree is insane. Even if you nick a plastic wedge it is not harmed. but if you nick a metal one you have screwed up a 20 dollar chain at the cheapest. Not to mention a safety factor from the saw kicking back from hitting it. Some horrible advice, I'll keep buying the plastic ones. although I have made and used wood ones too. also if you're just a firewood cutter like me, how many wedges are you going to destroy over a year, Not very many I would think. I would think that a skilled person would not hit a wedge much, but stuff happens.

 

[nstueve]

Here is a cool wedge I found, anyone ever seen one?

Interesting mike. I haven't sen one like that. Maybe a splitting wedge?

 

[fearofpavement]

I consider myself to be skilled but also hit plastic wedges with the chain fairly frequently when felling. Not really an issue with big trees but mostly with smaller diameter ones I'm trying to persuade to go somewhere they don't want to. The "less pointy" cut wedges are still used when I am putting in a bunch of them on a big tree. (they won't start in a small kerf but work once the kerf gets opened by other wedges...)
I have had a number of steel splitting wedges over the years but am almost out of them now because I use them to modify hydraulic splitters. I have never used one in conjunction with a chainsaw and wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Philbert]

Here is a cool wedge I found, anyone ever seen one?

Looks like the classic 'wood grenade' for splitting. I have a few; one steel and one alloy, but use standard steel wedges for splitting with a sledge.

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

I bought a pair of the Hard Head Junior wedges to try - HEAVY! Felt like they were going to pull my pants down.

I use plastic wedges mostly for bucking. Just cleaned up a bunch that were used hard: square up the tips on a band saw; remove damage on the striking end, and re-shape the tips on a belt sander. The belt sander softens/melts the plastic, and leaves it rough/porous, so I clean up the last 1/2 inch of the tips with a sharp block plane - gets them sharp and smooth. Could probably do it all with a sharp block plane, if that is all I had. The big tools make it go faster.

Not exactly home made, but home 're-made'.


Philbert

 

[7sleeper]

There is a thread on a german forum about a fellow making them out of aluminum car rims. He said brand name rims from the major car companies has the better aluminum and holds up better than after market and he gets them for free. Here is the link to the thread.

http://forum.motorsaegen-portal.de/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=78022

Here are some pics. Against slipping he just uses a chisel to give the wedge some "fish skin" type structure.

7

 

[Philbert]

Creative idea.

Have to register to access that site. Can you share a little more info? Which part(s) of the rim is he cutting those from? Are those the 'spokes'?

Thanks.

Philbert

 

[7sleeper]

yeah the "spokes".

7

Edit: forgot, he mentioned that the rims he used here were from some exclusive audi where each rim costs about 600-700€!!! It was from a car accident.

7

Edit2: the consense was that high priced rims are forged aluminium while the low cost variant is only cast.

7

 

[Philbert]

Been looking at rims the past few days. Don't see any that look like they would make good wedges.

Philbert