Kindling Splitter

[saydinli]

I came across an ad on Kijiji while looking for some cord wood and found an ad for this kindling splitter called "The Beaver Lever" (www.TheBeaverLever.com). It looks pretty neat for splitting your kindling indoors. Just wondering if anyone else has used one of these before and how well they work.

 

[firefighterjake]

No experience with The Beaver Lever . . . but a few random thoughts . . .

* While I could see a possible advantage to splitting wood inside, the truth is I split up most of my kindling in the summer while splitting my regular firewood and just scatter in it in my stacks or toss it on top. It is rare that I split wood during the heating season . . . and the few times that I do I just grab a trusty hatchet and split it up while under cover in the woodshed.

* Truthfully, it looks like a lot more work than using a hatchet . . . albeit I would not want to be whacking wood with my hatchet inside. My wife would kill me.

* Why is it that so often folks in videos -- where a new-fangled gadget purports to make things easier -- look like complete imbeciles that shouldn't be left alone by themselves. I mean, seriously, the guy attempting to make kindling with a large ax looks like he shouldn't be trusted with a butter knife, much less anything like a woodstove or sharp ax.

 

[drz1050]

Man, you gotta be kidding me. Reminds me of that "gourmet firewood" video.

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[jetsam]

I make a woodpile of cut branches every year. When you take the tree down, why abandon all the pre-sized kindling? It's good BTUs, good for starting fires, and (most importantly) good for chinking in all the cracks when you want your fuel tank as full as possible!

(Edit: I just watched that video, and I am quite jealous of the drugs that the man in the video is taking. I am baffled by the device he is hawking, though. Probably because of the disparity in our drug intake!)

Further edit: I found a better one on YouTube.

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[williaty]

That's a copy of a Scandinavian product who's name I can't currently remember. There's a BUNCH of knock-offs of that design, some of which are quite cheap. We considered that and a couple of other things before settling on a Smart Splitter (distributed from Bailey's but another Scandinavian product). If you've ever used a slide hammer, it's a backwards slide hammer with a wedge on the end. Basically, you stick a pole into your splitting stump and a wedge and weight ride up and down the pole. Set the wedge exactly where you want the piece split, pick the weight up, and drop it. It'll split big pieces down in a couple of drops and, once I'm down to making kindling, it'll split off kindling sticks in a single drop. I definitely would prefer to split rounds using my Fiskars X27 (or more happily my DHT 22 ton) but once I have big splits, it knocks them down into kindling easily.

I'm sure someone who's very skilled could split kindling faster with an axe but I can't. I also have no interest in learning to be that good with an axe because I like having all my fingers in their current locations and lengths. With this thing, you'd have to be extraordinarily stupid to hurt yourself. It's nice that either my wife or I can walk up to it and split a milk crate full of 3/4" by 3/4" by 15" kindling out of hardwood in just a couple of minutes without having to have 30 years of axe skills that neither of us possess.

Once the weather turns, I do intend to move it inside for the rest of the winter.

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[saydinli]

I make a woodpile of cut branches every year. When you take the tree down, why abandon all the pre-sized kindling? It's good BTUs, good for starting fires, and (most importantly) good for chinking in all the cracks when you want your fuel tank as full as possible!

(Edit: I just watched that video, and I am quite jealous of the drugs that the man in the video is taking. I am baffled by the device he is hawking, though. Probably because of the disparity in our drug intake!)

Further edit: I found a better one on YouTube.

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That video is too funny. Can;t believe the things people come up with. LMAO!!

 

[Hogwildz]

You'll get more kindling than you can use in a year from splitting firewood as usual. If you're burning 24/7, you really won't use much kindling. I use wood scraps from splitting, and lumber scraps from home projects. Once it is lit for the 24/7 burning season, kindling goes on the shelf till next year.

 

[saydinli]

You'll get more kindling than you can use in a year from splitting firewood as usual. If you're burning 24/7, you really won't use much kindling. I use wood scraps from splitting, and lumber scraps from home projects. Once it is lit for the 24/7 burning season, kindling goes on the shelf till next year.

You're right. I have a ton of kindling from the 4 chords I got delivered. But like you said probably won't need too much now that 24/7 burning is starting up.

 

[jetsam]

I put a big plastic tub underneath the splitter when I am using it. After a couple hours, it's full of chips and chunks and slivers and whatnot. After it dries for a couple weeks in the garage, that stuff is perfect for starting fires- which I probably won't do again until December when I let the stove go out for its post-shoulder-season flue sweeping.

 

[cckw]

I enjoy using an axe and maul too much to get gadgets like that. The truck wheel thing was very clever, although would only be worth it on oak and the like. But I love any good ol' redneck ingenuity.

 

[Gotrek]

Beaver leaver is a very expensive version of something that already exists...

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24.99$ canadian for the princess auto version (canadians will understand, others think northern tool /harbour freight of canada)

(broken link removed to http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/wall-mount-kindling-splitter/A-p8667727e)