Making Kindling

[dazdmc]

I have access to dozens of scrapped wooden pallets every week (pine) I have been taking them home to split the thin strappy bits from the big blocks, I usually throw the blocks in the fireplace and then use either a small hand axe to chop the rest into nice thin kindling or I put it on my table saw, both methods are time consuming. I am trying to think of an easier and quicker way to make the small splits. I was thinking of welding 3 or 4 pieces of sharpened steel bar upright, onto a bit of flat bar and then welding sides on to try and keep it all straight. The pallets we get in are always the same size give or take a few millimetres. I could then just hammer these thin bits of wood through to make the kindling, or even try mounting it onto the logsplitter I am just about to make. Does anyone have any thoughts on other/better ideas of splitting this stuff up. If the above idea is a bit confusing I can make a wee diagram

cheers
daz

 

[computeruser]

The logsplitter idea would be good. I've been pleased splitting kindling by taking a straight-grained log and splitting it into thin slabs, and then feeding the stack of slabs back through the splitter rotated 90* from the original splitting orientation. I suspect you could do the same basic thing with the pallet flats, too, except they would already be split into thin slabs.

Otherwise, I've also done it the manual way - a small hand ax, a splitting block, and me sitting in a patio chair. Not nearly as tedious as you'd think; I can get a nice pile of 1" or smaller pieces done quickly, and the left over little bits that fall on the ground can be raked up and used for kindling, too.

But your idea about a multi-bladed splitting jig seems good. I've thought about making a 6- or 8-way wedge for my splitter for the same purpose...

 

[MJR]

Last spring I made about a three year supply of kindling from the cedar I milled. Stacked all the scrap on the splitter and let her go. Pallet wood should work well this way. If you go with the chair hatchet thing hold the wood with a second hatchet. No one wants to be stumpy. Good luck.

 

[ropensaddle]

I just use pine knot lite with one match and fire in ten minutes!
Is hard work kicking the knot out of the ground though!

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Kinda tedious/time consuming, but ditto the splitter idea...my small woodstove needs small pieces, 12-14" long, small diameter. Wife's grandson had a ball splitting logs into small pieces. Leftovers will be used for kindling in the wood boiler.

 

[Junkyard Jim]

I use pallets too

I take my pallets and cut them to length by making two ripping cuts. Then I take a narrow bladed hatchet and tighten it in my vice. Then I hold the piece I want to split with a gloved hand at the width I want it to split on the hatchet head and hit it with a shot filled dead blow hammer. It splits in one whack, I don't have to worry about losing fingers and I can stand comfortably at my workbench and do a years worth of kindling in about an hour, start to finish. Pieces that have knots or twists may take a couple of smacks with the hammer.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

The mulch we get for the garden is shredded pallets. The guy runs it through the shredder several times to get the fine consistency that folk like. The first time through it's pretty coarse.

Who says that kindling has to be in stick form? How about using coarsely shredded wood? If you knew someone that had a tub grinder or similar just toss the pallets in and you drive away with a pickup full of kindling.

Ian

 

[sdaly]

How about just using the leftover chainsaw dust/chips after you're done cutting as kindling? It works for me, anyway. It's already there from cutting and it's better than throwing it away.

 

[Zodiac45]

The logsplitter idea would be good. I've been pleased splitting kindling by taking a straight-grained log and splitting it into thin slabs, and then feeding the stack of slabs back through the splitter rotated 90* from the original splitting orientation. .

Last spring I made about a three year supply of kindling from the cedar I milled. Stacked all the scrap on the splitter and let her go. Good luck.

I'm also a cedar guy and do it exactly like Compyuser. Slab the rounds and store them,(they stack easy), when I'm in need I grab a wheelbarrow full of slabs and click the kindling off the splitter. You only need about an inch of stroke in each direction as they pop right off. I usually click off a 4-6 pieces (all one hand will hold) and then toss them into the barrow. In no time you've got a wheelbarrow full.

 

[pacman]

Cut the pallets up with your chain saw and put them in your stove .

 

[rx7145]

Cut the pallets up with your chain saw and put them in your stove .

Thats what I do.

 

[dazdmc]

I didn't think you could use the small chippings from the chainsaw, if I had I wouldn't have left it all sitting in the rain for so long
The reason I want to make a splitter for the kindling is as mentioned above. I wasn't clever enough to put the hatchet in the vice and use a small hammer to hit the wood down onto it, instead I was holding a 24" piece of pallet strap and hit my left index finger with the axe, funny thing is I didn't feel a thing at the time, luckily it was only the skin I caught although it was down to the bone. For 4 days after, every time I bent my finger it started bleeding again. I ended up putting a small splint on it to stop me from bending it. I probably should have went to the hospital for a couple of stitches but my wife was out and I couldn't be bothered getting the kids out of their beds and into the car. Oh well, you live and learn, first time I have cut myself with an axe in all the years I have used one, and probably not the last. I have drawn up a couple of sketches for my idea and have gathered the materials so hopefully I will get it started this weekend. I will take some photos and post the results when finished.

cheers
daz

 

[secureland]

The mulch we get for the garden is shredded pallets. The guy runs it through the shredder several times to get the fine consistency that folk like. The first time through it's pretty coarse.

Who says that kindling has to be in stick form? How about using coarsely shredded wood? If you knew someone that had a tub grinder or similar just toss the pallets in and you drive away with a pickup full of kindling.

Ian

Interesting,
Why not? Try setting up a big screen of drying rack and let the ground stuff dry. It may work very well.

I'm trying it with a few piles of chipped wood. I'll let you know in 5 months.

 

[clearance]

I didn't think you could use the small chippings from the chainsaw, if I had I wouldn't have left it all sitting in the rain for so long
The reason I want to make a splitter for the kindling is as mentioned above. I wasn't clever enough to put the hatchet in the vice and use a small hammer to hit the wood down onto it, instead I was holding a 24" piece of pallet strap and hit my left index finger with the axe, funny thing is I didn't feel a thing at the time, luckily it was only the skin I caught although it was down to the bone. For 4 days after, every time I bent my finger it started bleeding again. I ended up putting a small splint on it to stop me from bending it. I probably should have went to the hospital for a couple of stitches but my wife was out and I couldn't be bothered getting the kids out of their beds and into the car. Oh well, you live and learn, first time I have cut myself with an axe in all the years I have used one, and probably not the last. I have drawn up a couple of sketches for my idea and have gathered the materials so hopefully I will get it started this weekend. I will take some photos and post the results when finished.

cheers
daz

When I was about 12 I was splitting 2x4s with an axe, one hand type of thing. If I was stronger I would have severed the end of my thumb. As it was it just bled and half my thumbnail came off. Its not the big things that get you, its the little things, a lesson I failed to learn then.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Interesting,
Why not? Try setting up a big screen of drying rack and let the ground stuff dry. It may work very well.

I'm trying it with a few piles of chipped wood. I'll let you know in 5 months.

I don't think that chipped wood will work as it will lay in a pile and not get any air through it. Shredded wood on the other hand will stand up like say curlies from a rip cut but would be thicker and burn longer. I had a pile of chips once that I tried to burn and had a heck of a time getting them started.

Ian

 

[turnkey4099]

Sorry to be negative but...

Time consuming? Really? Unless you are using kindling by the gross handfuls, it only takes a few seconds to handsplit 4 or 5 sticks needed to start a fire. An hour with a small ax and a choppign block should produce enought for an entire season.

All the suggestions I have seen only add complication to a simple job. I was doing it by the time I was 8 YOA keeping the kitchen stove supplied. Can't say that it was much of a chore, sorta of a side line to be done every few days as I was carrying in armfuls of stove side wood to fill the box. Usually didn't even have to split kindling, just pick up the chips, strips, etc. left from splitting wood down to stove size.

Harry K

 

[scottr]

I take my pallets and cut them to length by making two ripping cuts. Then I take a narrow bladed hatchet and tighten it in my vice. Then I hold the piece I want to split with a gloved hand at the width I want it to split on the hatchet head and hit it with a shot filled dead blow hammer. It splits in one whack, I don't have to worry about losing fingers and I can stand comfortably at my workbench and do a years worth of kindling in about an hour, start to finish. Pieces that have knots or twists may take a couple of smacks with the hammer.

A similar method is to use a double bit ax in the chopping block and a glut.

 

[shokidq]

High production Kindling machines

http://www.fuelwood.co.uk/kindla_range.html

The kindlet machine is for pallet residue Approx 7,000 GBP. don't know how good they are but I'm considering the splitta that takes 10" rounds.

 

[dazdmc]

Sorry to be negative but...

Time consuming? Really? Unless you are using kindling by the gross handfuls, it only takes a few seconds to handsplit 4 or 5 sticks needed to start a fire. An hour with a small ax and a choppign block should produce enought for an entire season.



Harry K

It's time consuming when you have 30+ pallets and a shed/workshop full of offcuts to do and your wife is giving you abuse for having them all stacked in the back garden where the kids play. I had to get them stripped down and chopped by the end of the weekend. The idea didn't work anyway, the blades I made were too thick so there was no relief for the split material and it just jammed up. I ended up digging out my table saw and set the width on it to half inch. It turned out to be pretty quick and easy doing it this way, although a little dusty. I now have enough kindling to last me a few years and I still have more to split, I might bag and sell some of it as it sells here for around £7 for a small bag that maybe weighs 5kg, don't know how that compares with your prices butit seems quite expensive to me.

 

[woodguy105]

Easy pallet kindling

I use about 12-15 pallets a year for kindling. Stand them up against a tree or lay them flat. Using a chainsaw ( with a crappy chain). Then Cut along the inside of the right side brace( about an inch away to avoid nails), then along the right side of the middle brace and then go to the other side of the middle brace and finish by cutting the last piece on the inside of the left brace.

Cut the braces about 7 inches long so when I light a fire in the wood stove I can set 2 of them up, front to back a few inches apart (part of the strip of pine is still nailed on and helps the piece of brace stand up ) a little newspaper in the middle and " bridge" the split pallet kindling over the 2 pieces of brace & newspaper top it off with a few smaller logs...works like a charm.

I split the pallets on a stump in my basement, holding the strips of wood with one of those .99 spring clamps with the rubber on the tips & handle (Home Depot) and using a hatchet in the other hand..pretty safe, easy and quick.