My second, Post your swing videos...

[akkamaan]

This is a new thread on demand from Woody Stover...

If you want to post your swing as a clip put of a longer Youtube video, you can use this link, to cut it out, so we do not have to watch grandma sipping coffee in the background for 2 minutes

(broken link removed)

Give me a hauler PM if you have a problem retrieving a working URL


Here is my contribution. I am sorry the 15 sec short video clip could not be embedded...
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TJ14V-TECbQ?rel=0&start=32&end=47
(broken image removed)

 

[Woody Stover]

You might try posting this in the "Wood Shed" forum and deleting it here; Probably a better fit there, than here in the Gear Forum. I'll try to get some video when I get a chance but it's a sloppy mess out there right now. Wish I had my Fiskars; I might have to pick up another one. I looked in the woods where it might have fallen off the quad, but once the leaves fell I pretty much gave up hope of ever seeing it again.

 

[Corey]

I'm curious about the technique of swinging for the opposite side of the log. It seems like this opens up 4-5 possibilities and all but one are bad...

1) The wood is pine/fir/spruce and does actually split (yay, good)

2) You pinch your fingers between the handle and the log (bad) ...seems like you come within a few inches of getting pinched on every swing

3) The axe does split the wood, but the remainder of the log stays closed and you smack the handle off the log and get a 'zing' back at your hands. (bad) ...it seems this happens on a couple of swings, but with such low energy required to split fir, mostly a non-issue

4) The axe splits the wood allowing the head to sink in, and the handle gets chewed up by the remainder of the wood between the head and you staying closed (bad) ...this is a terrible issue with most other woods.

5) If the wood does split open, kick back, jump off the stump, etc, you're just that much closer...asking to bang a shin, knee, toe, or crack a metatarsal, etc (bad) ...again, not much issue with this 'cake walk' wood splitting, but if you have to put some energy into it, things can jump around a bit.

IMHO, it seems you'd be much better off to swing for the near side of the block which would eliminate points 2 and 3, severely reduce the possibility of 4 and get you 18+ inches further away in point 5.

 

[akkamaan]

I'm curious about the technique of swinging for the opposite side of the log. It seems like this opens up 4-5 possibilities and all but one are bad...

1) The wood is pine/fir/spruce and does actually split (yay, good)

2) You pinch your fingers between the handle and the log (bad) ...seems like you come within a few inches of getting pinched on every swing

3) The axe does split the wood, but the remainder of the log stays closed and you smack the handle off the log and get a 'zing' back at your hands. (bad) ...it seems this happens on a couple of swings, but with such low energy required to split fir, mostly a non-issue

4) The axe splits the wood allowing the head to sink in, and the handle gets chewed up by the remainder of the wood between the head and you staying closed (bad) ...this is a terrible issue with most other woods.

5) If the wood does split open, kick back, jump off the stump, etc, you're just that much closer...asking to bang a shin, knee, toe, or crack a metatarsal, etc (bad) ...again, not much issue with this 'cake walk' wood splitting, but if you have to put some energy into it, things can jump around a bit.

IMHO, it seems you'd be much better off to swing for the near side of the block which would eliminate points 2 and 3, severely reduce the possibility of 4 and get you 18+ inches further away in point 5.

To be honest with you, I have never experienced those problems 2 through 5 that you are "painting on the wall". You must have had a terrible experience as a log splitter, didn't even know it was possible to pinch the fingers (#2) between the shaft and the log. How do you do that?

You keep doing what you think is best. And please show us a video over your swing, that way we play on a level field...

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[4fire]

Why are you choked up on that short handle? Splitting wood is easy. Smack a round with the implement of your choice. If I spent that much time per round, I'd rely on my electric heat.

 

[akkamaan]

Why are you choked up on that short handle?

Very good question! My splitting is based on precision rather than wild "power", I do not use more power than.necessary, choking up is a way to prevent the head to bet buried in the log, #2, #4 and #5 in Corey's post!
Of course, I am here splitting a Fir log that is pretty easy to split, and I know my Douglas Fir pretty well, so I just adjust to that.
I have referred to the how to swing a golf club earlier in another post, and choking down is the way you hit the ball a little shorter distance, if there is no "shorter" club in your bag. Half swing is another technique, that improves precision, both in golfing and log splitting...

Btw, I just got ten really nice looking 28" diameter x 14" long logs from my "log provider" the other day. I asked for full-size logs, but he had to crack them into halves and quarters to be able to lift them up on his pick-up bed...

I will choke up a little less on these since it is a little longer across to the far away side...

 

[drz1050]

That drawing of the swings is not correct.. not sure about you, but my swing is definitely not a circle. It only would be if you're swinging with straight arms, legs and back throughout.. not exactly the best technique.

 

[akkamaan]

That drawing of the swings is not correct.. not sure about you, but my swing is definitely not a circle. It only would be if you're swinging with straight arms, legs and back throughout.. not exactly the best technique.

Wrist action increases head speed, and will create a swing arc. The wrists will become a partial pivot point in the swing, the same as they do in a proper golfswing.
Of course my drawing is not meant to show a perfectly accurate swing arc, just the principle. There is actually several different pivot points in a swing, and several different emerging swing arcs. Please, show/post your own swing idea with video or images, and please also back up why you think this is "not exactly the best technique".
You know, if we do not back up arguments, our discussion will become like the kids talk in the sand-box, "my dad is stronger than yours"...

 

[maple1]

Wrist action increases head speed, and will create a swing arc. The wrists will become a partial pivot point in the swing, the same as they do in a proper golfswing.
Of course my drawing is not meant to show a perfectly accurate swing arc, just the principle. There is actually several different pivot points in a swing, and several different emerging swing arcs. Please, show/post your own swing idea with video or images, and please also back up why you think this is "not exactly the best technique".
You know, if we do not back up arguments, our discussion will become like the kids talk in the sand-box, "my dad is stronger than yours"...

I don't split much with an axe, I much prefer hydro-powered.

But when I do, my swing also incorporates much more squatting action. That puts the head of the axe more in a straight-down trajectory when it hits the wood and therefore more force down through the wood. Which also reduces the chances of the axe carrying through an arc into a toe, shin, or the ground. It is also easier on my semi-wonky back since it remains upright.

One size does not fit all, usually.

 

[akkamaan]

I don't split much with an axe, I much prefer hydro-powered.

But when I do, my swing also incorporates much more squatting action. That puts the head of the axe more in a straight-down trajectory when it hits the wood and therefore more force down through the wood. Which also reduces the chances of the axe carrying through an arc into a toe, shin, or the ground. It is also easier on my semi-wonky back since it remains upright.

One size does not fit all, usually.

great point!
That's why a chopping block, will help your hands and grip be lower or at the same level as the axe head at impact. That will also make the axe edge square to the log at impact. Without any arc motion, it is very hard to generate any head speed...

 

[maple1]

There is arc motion, but it is all before the head hits the wood. I start a swing, but as the head comes about at right angles to my chest or so, I start a squat. So the arc transitions to mostly straight down by the time the head hits the wood.

Also agree on the block although lots don't bother.

 

[akkamaan]

I usually do not lift heavy logs up on a block, but this time it was possible to stack them on each other straight from the truck bed...
These are halves and quarters from 28" diameter Fir logs

 

[therdlesstravld]

You know what would be more efficient? Going and splitting those logs, not talking about it.

 

[xman23]

Head speed is the key. You need as much arm and handel extention as possible.

 

[Woody Stover]

I usually do not lift heavy logs up on a block, but this time it was possible to stack them on each other straight from the truck bed...

Yeah, I hate driving the maul down into the ground. I've got a gnarly piece of Hickory that I cut thin, for a chopping block, maybe 8 or 10". But the heavy ones are staying on the ground, and worked around the outer edges. Or rolled onto the power splitter.

Head speed is the key. You need as much arm and handel extention as possible.

Yep. I have a couple different methods. One, I hold the maul with my hands in final position and hang the maul so the handle runs parallel with my spine, behind my back. My arms are bent about 90* at the elbow to start the swing, but are pretty much straight in line with the handle by the time I get to the wood.
I'm trying to get a couple swing vids, but have been busy getting my BIL set up for next winter. He's totally out of wood so we are scrounging a bunch of little dead stuff behind his house. I'm trying to beat the bugs and poison ivy, but getting small stuff is time-consuming. As soon as I can time it to when I'm home, and my wife is around to operate the camera, I'll get a couple of vid clips...

 

[billb3]

Striking the back side of round sounds like a good way to continually crunch and break splitter handles to me.
Course, very little of the wood here is nice and easy straight grained rounds.

 

[akkamaan]

Striking the back side of round sounds like a good way to continually crunch and break splitter handles to me.

Sorry to hear that you have had such horrible splitting experiences. Wow, braking handles can't be fun...
Maybe you have to work on a change of your swing to improve your accuracy? Are you using a maul?

Course, very little of the wood here is nice and easy straight grained rounds.

This has nothing to do with straight grain or not....

 

[billb3]

Sorry to hear that you have had such horrible splitting experiences. Wow, braking handles can't be fun...
Maybe you have to work on a change of your swing to improve your accuracy? Are you using a maul?


This has nothing to do with straight grain or not....

Where did I write that I ever broke a splitter handle ?
Where did I write that I or anyone else had swing and accuracy problems ?

I don't have comprehension problems and I know how to spell brake/break and which is grammatically correct.

 

[maple1]

Most of the wood here, or at least a great deal of it, requires more than one strike to get it fully split. So even if you hit the exact same place on every strike, the handle will be a bit into the wood (or a lot on particurly bad ones) before it is fully split - if hitting the far side of the wood. So, hard on handles. Also, aiming for the far side increases the likelyhood of an overstrike on a slight miss-hit (miss-hits do happen once in a while) - which is very hard on handles.

 

[akkamaan]

Where did I write that I ever broke a splitter handle ?

Oh I'm sorry, but you were actually implying such experience in your post. Other wise how would you "know" hitting the far side would be so bad?

[/quote]Where did I write that I or anyone else had swing and accuracy problems ?[/quote]
The accuracy part of my post was related to your presumptuous comment that I would not be possible to hit in the far side without "braking" (breaking ) the handle

I don't have comprehension problems and I know how to spell brake/break and which is grammatically correct.

 

[Woody Stover]

Striking the back side of round sounds like a good way to continually crunch and break splitter handles to me. Course, very little of the wood here is nice and easy straight grained rounds.

Yeah, with the easy-splitting Doug Fir he doesn't have to swing full force so there's not much danger of breaking a handle. Besides, it's a Fiskars, it's guaranteed! On some of the stuff I hand-split, I need full force and if I'm lucky enough to get it to split, I want the handle to be able to keep moving down. Hence, I hit the half of the round that's closest to me. If I have to make too many hard swings, that stuff is going to the power splitter. I'm an old man, and I over-did it a couple of years ago and strained a tendon or something in my upper back. That thing took forever to heal. Now, I just hand-split the easier stuff, or if it's tough stuff I don't work at it a long time before taking a break. I enjoy some hand-splitting, and want to keep doing it for a while longer, so I need to work within my limits.

Where did I write that I or anyone else had swing and accuracy problems?

I'll reserve judgement of who may have swing problems until after I see the videos.

 

[akkamaan]

Yeah, with the easy-splitting Doug Fir he doesn't have to swing full force so there's not much danger of breaking a handle.

I never swing full, that's the most dangerous thing you do, because at a 100% full power swing you have a minimum of control.
If I would need a 100% swing, I rather grab a second tool. Usually I use the maul on top of the Fiskars, ie I use the Fiskars as a wedge. That way I can stay at 80% of max power and keep full control.

Of the18 smaller rounds I had there was 3-4 that was so bad, I had to use the maul on top of the Fiskars. Actually one of the logs, I just left 3/4 unsplit for camping firewood.

 

[Applesister]

I have a quick derailment question...
When would you use a double bit axe?

 

[Applesister]

Having fun reading this thread and trying figure out how it applies to this old stuff I have here. All axe handles are somewhat loose. Im just curious about this one axe.
I think its cool that the art of swinging is kept alive. And that you guys are such purists!

 

[Applesister]

Can these old axes be resurrected?