Home Depot Maul

[Eric Johnson]

Maybe you can get the dealerto show you how to use it properly, Corie.

 

[FINLAND]

It remains on the block but breaks your wrist in the process. There's a win-win proposition.

I fully understand that it is not very easy to realize the function how the VIPUKIRVES/LEVERAXE operates. As we all know, the axe is probably the oldest tool , made by man. Spear was invented around the same time. This all happened (4.000.000 ) four million years ago. At the beginning the blade was made of stone. Now a days it is made of iron. The function is still the same. It is a wedge. Most of the power vanishes to the friction. So we can see that there is not very much development among the conventional/traditional axes.
VIPUKIRVES/LEVERAXE operates totally different way. It is lever. After four million years we have now very safe tool for splitting purposes. The blade is formed to be eccentric/ onesided. You hit the block like with any other axe, but at the end of the hit you must loosen your grip on the handle and let the blade turn to the right and let the handle rotate in your hands. You just hold the handle gently. This rotation happens fully automatically because of certain laws of physics. The friction is very minimal. On its best the friction part is only fife millimeters (5 mm.) The next 60-80 millimeters (60-80mm.) the blade gos in the air without any friction. All the power that was downwards a while ago is now ninety degrees (90) to the left. The splitting force is many times greater than of conventional axes. The blade always remains on the block. It does not hurl/hurtle/fly anywhere from the block. You do not have to worry about the blade, it does not come to your foot. VIPUKIRVES LEVERAXE has some patented features that makes all this possible. Your wrists are fully safe, because the handle does not crash/crack or cause any concussion.
You can find a lot of information on my homepages. Click the flag of England, there you can read the safety instructions and instructions for use.
FINLAND
www.vipukirves.fi

 

[Jake]

Where can this be bought in the US? price?

 

[Corie]

How does the rotation reduce the amount of friction the blade encounters while entering the wood? The process is still the same, a sharp blade hits wood. Unless you have the entire blade coated in teflon, the friction coefficient between the iron head of the maul and the wood is exactly the same.

Also, this rotational motion does nothing to increase the splitting force of the maul. As a matter of fact, the mechanical energy that is being used to cause the maul to rotate is energy being diverted away from splitting the wood.

Conservation of energy says that if I swing both mauls with equal energy, a regular maul transfers more of that energy directly to the log, whereas with your maul, some of that potential energy is being diverted to create the moment which rotates the head.

Also, how is it possible that there is many times more force generated by your maul versus a standard maul? Laws of physics still apply here as well. If both mauls weigh the same, and I can throw them with the same velocity, then they both have the same kinetic energy. This energy then gets transferred to the piece being split as a pressure which is determined by the force of the blow and the area of the cutting edge applying the force.

Your argument is that the torque caused by the cantilevered head forces the wood apart more powerfully that a standard downward maul blow, correct?

While this concept is sound on straight grained soft-woods, a simple pop and twist to the top of many of our non-straight grained hardwoods will do nothing. They require much higher pressures delivered to the log in order to split.



HOWEVER, despite my reservations about your product, I would love to test one and for you to prove me wrong. I would love to give an absolutely honest and objective review of the axe so that you would gain a positive reputation on this board and elsewhere. If you were willing to send me the product I would cover shipping and would even be happy to pay to ship it to various other members of this forum so that they could also objectively test it and give their honest opinions on its practicality of use on our northamerican hardwoods.

PM me if you would consider something like this in exchange for positive publicity. I'll even send the axe back to you when I'm done, if that is what you would prefer.

 

[FINLAND]

Corie
Hello friend
I understand how you try to approach this invention. You think as you are taught to do. Now the question is, can you think differently, try to approach this problem totally new way. Forget all the conventional axes and how they operate. VIPUKIRVES/LEVERAXE has not got very much to do with wedge, that is why it does not matter how slippery the surface is, maybe little but very little.
What happens when you are using an iron bar. You hit,--- not much happens. Then you turn/twist, why? To get some power. The same happens with VIPUKIRVES/LEVERAXE. It twists automatically at the end of the hit. I am not talented enough to explain all the details in English language. There are millions of microwave ovens all around.I bet, very rear people really understands how it operates. Important is that it does its work. It is the same with VIPUKIRVES/LEVERAXE. I have met a lot of people who cannot understand the principles how it works, important is that it works.
Will you contact the Webmaster, I think that you two together can organize an appropriate schedule /roster for the testers. Yes, I will send you one or two test splitters. Please contact me for the details via e-mail.
You will find the address on my homepages. Thank you very much for your interest.
FINLAND
www.vipukirves.fi

 

[babalu87]

If that thing works on twisted Red Oak I will be in. Some of the stuff I split after work was down right evil!

We had a little fire going in the firepit and I threw one piece in because I couldnt wait to burn the little fugger!
I split all my wood by hand and would be very interested in testing one for the US market.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I volunteer as well. I split a lot of wood, and would be willing to give it a fair trial. I would also be willing to pay the freight to get it to the next guy. I think over the course of the summer, we could give the tool a good workout and come up with a consensus, or at least a series of reports on how it worked under different conditions.

 

[babalu87]

I know I am now jinxing myself but I am on cord 8 with the same handle. Epoxyed it in their (thanks Eric) and its still going strong. I did noticed that the handle isnt as straight as when I bought it. I was very careful to pick a nice straight one with a good grain and it is now bowed/bent slightly in the direction that would make sense, maybe from number of swings? Ever have this happen Eric?

 

[Andre B.]

When I was a kid splitting with a double blades axe I would sometimes when bored give the axe a twist just before it hit the block. Much the same as this axe is doing automatically.

The axe would start into the block a little ways and then flop over such that it would land on its side on top of the main part of the block. If done just right with some easy splitting maple the small split could be sent cart wheeling across the yard for 20 or 30 feet so you could keep splitting longer before the splits got in the way but when you went to stack you had to do a lot of walking to find all the splits.
It also kept the axe out of the dirt so that you did not get gobs of dirt down your neck on the next swing.

The technique did not work at all on any stringy type of wood.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I know I am now jinxing myself but I am on cord 8 with the same handle. Epoxyed it in their (thanks Eric) and its still going strong. I did noticed that the handle isnt as straight as when I bought it. I was very careful to pick a nice straight one with a good grain and it is now bowed/bent slightly in the direction that would make sense, maybe from number of swings? Ever have this happen Eric?

I doubt that you bent it from the shock force of hitting the chunks, but how straight do you think you would stay if someone did that to you?

My guess is that now that the handle is firmly attached to the maul head, it can't expand and contract like it could when it was more-or-less loose. So the tension and compression equation is screwed up, resulting in a new shape.

I used to buy factory seconds at the NYS Woodsmen's field days for $2.50 each, but the guy who sold them died and nobody has come forth to pick up the ball and run with it. They were never straight to begin with. So now I'm down at Home Depot paying $10 or $15 like everyone else. For that money, I want a straight handle, dammit. Eight cords is good. I always shoot for ten and usually wind up in that neighborhood. Just about when you think the thing is going to last forever--crack!

 

[babalu87]

Yes, I was thinking over time and hitting that damn oak and bouncing!, the handle just started to "get bent" over time. Now I am shooting for ten, its sure to break the next time I am swinging it

I will be picking and choosing next time too

 

[Mo Heat]

I wouldn't mind trying that thing, too. But I suspect I know what will happen. It will work great as long as there is a big mass of unsplit round creating serious inertia opposite the slab you're whacking off one edge, but once you get down to the core of a big red oak or white oak round, all bets are off. The grain will be too twisted on the white oak and will either bounce off, stick in, or tip the remaining part of the round over when the rotation occurs. The red oak center will be too dense, and /or twisted, and also lack the mass for inertia required to offset the twist action and the round will tip over. I suspect this is why the pictures show the use of a tire to keep the round together enough to maintain enough offsetting mass after most of the round has been fractured. I don't think I'd use a tire myself, though. Seems like too much trouble to me.

But, like Corey, I'd be willing to try it. Since all I have to split is maple right now, it would probably do a lot better than on oak, so maybe that wouldn't be much of a test for my typical wood of choice around here (oak), but might help someone who splits a lot of maple.

On the other hand, is there anyone here who would actually cough up $250+? bucks for a splitting tool? My 12 lb Collins maul and 8 lb Ludell only cost about $60 all together! I'm not sure that thing would even sell in my yuppy neighborhood. Not many of my neighbors even chop wood.

[added] I use a technique similar to this, as I know many others to, when I'm starting a new round that is over 16 inches in diameter, or so. By hitting the edge at an angle away from the round, a big slab of wood usually pops right off, but this ceases to work once the round is whittled down. At that point, it would just tip over in the direction I was biasing the swing.

 

[biggins08]

Just split a bunch of oak tonight and would love to give that maul a try. Craig, I would even drive to you and pick it up. Me you Harley and Elk could just pass it to one another without freight!

 

[FINLAND]

I wouldn't mind trying that thing, too. But I suspect I know what will happen. It will work great as long as there is a big mass of unsplit round creating serious inertia opposite the slab you're whacking off one edge, but once you get down to the core of a big red oak or white oak round, all bets are off. The grain will be too twisted on the white oak and will either bounce off, stick in, or tip the remaining part of the round over when the rotation occurs. The red oak center will be too dense, and /or twisted, and also lack the mass for inertia required to offset the twist action and the round will tip over. I suspect this is why the pictures show the use of a tire to keep the round together enough to maintain enough offsetting mass after most of the round has been fractured. I don't think I'd use a tire myself, though. Seems like too much trouble to me.

But, like Corey, I'd be willing to try it. Since all I have to split is maple right now, it would probably do a lot better than on oak, so maybe that wouldn't be much of a test for my typical wood of choice around here (oak), but might help someone who splits a lot of maple.

On the other hand, is there anyone here who would actually cough up $250+? bucks for a splitting tool? My 12 lb Collins maul and 8 lb Ludell only cost about $60 all together! I'm not sure that thing would even sell in my yuppy neighborhood. Not many of my neighbors even chop wood.

[added] I use a technique similar to this, as I know many others to, when I'm starting a new round that is over 16 inches in diameter, or so. By hitting the edge at an angle away from the round, a big slab of wood usually pops right off, but this ceases to work once the round is whittled down. At that point, it would just tip over in the direction I was biasing the swing.

:question: :bug: :ahhh:
:question:
FINLAND

 

[DavidV]

Red Oak, White Oak. Birch, Beech, Hickory, Sweet Gum (only because of the monster I took down in my yard). That's what I usually cut, and split and burn. Sometimes I get stuck with Elm also. I'd give it a fair workout.