routine for splitting wood with a maul

[gyrfalcon]

Ha ha! Oh yes, she knows. Actually she watched me post it this time too. We still laugh about the fight with her hat! You should see some of the videos she takes of me, which fortunately you never will because she doesn't know how to post them!

I guess the shorter handle would depend on how heavy it is? If it's lighter you can still swing it as fast with the short handle? I don't know, but I do know that the short-handled axes I have, I do not like. But maybe if I was my wife's height it would be ok?

I'm not sure why she was bending to use my maul. I guess because she is afraid to take a full swing and is trying to 'tap' the round with it? Or simply because the six pounds out on the end of the full length handle is just too heavy for her to lift up high enough and gain the momentum. Anyway, we'll never know!

Sounds like you and your wife have a pretty nifty partnership there.

My physics is rusty, but I think the issue has to do with the length of the fulcrum (ie, from shoulder all the way to the business end) more than it does the effort put into the swing, but you may well be right. I should stop farting around trying to figure this out in the abstract and just go get one and see, but I'm not in a place these days where I can take a flyer for 40 or 50 bucks on a new toy without a lot of inner debate.

 

[pshking]

My wife tried to split some ash last year. She was not amused by my entertainment. I tried to provide support by saying how much of a workout she was getting, but she did not buy it.

I can tell you that when I was a kid, I would have probably loved one of the Fiskars SS. My dad would have liked for me to have had one also.

 

[gyrfalcon]

My wife tried to split some ash last year. She was not amused by my entertainment. I tried to provide support by saying how much of a workout she was getting, but she did not buy it.

I can tell you that when I was a kid, I would have probably loved one of the Fiskars SS. My dad would have liked for me to have had one also.

Geez, nobody likes to be laughed at when they're tentatively trying something new, y'know? Most people don't even like to be watched while they're figuring out something new. Show 'em the right stance so they won't whack their own feet, then go do something else nearby with your back turned for a while and let 'em embarrass themselves in private.

If you really want to get your ladies into this, start them off with a hatchet and a small (ie short) light-weight sledge splitting kindling. You want to start people off with something they can succeed at, and then build from there. That's how I started because it was the tools I had around. Didn't take long to get a some comfort in dealing with chunks of wood and swinging the tools, and then see I needed something sturdier. So I added a wedge. That gave me more confidence, so I took the bull by the horns finally and got a maul.

 

[quads]

Sounds like you and your wife have a pretty nifty partnership there.

My physics is rusty, but I think the issue has to do with the length of the fulcrum (ie, from shoulder all the way to the business end) more than it does the effort put into the swing, but you may well be right. I should stop farting around trying to figure this out in the abstract and just go get one and see, but I'm not in a place these days where I can take a flyer for 40 or 50 bucks on a new toy without a lot of inner debate.

Yep, we've been together for over 25 years and still enjoying every minute of it! Her and I easily laugh at each other and ourselves.

I don't know much about physics. I just go out and swing the maul and it splits the wood. My wife can't. And that's about where my knowledge of physics ends! HAHA!

 

[Jags]

My physics is rusty, but I think the issue has to do with the length of the fulcrum (ie, from shoulder all the way to the business end) more than it does the effort put into the swing, but you may well be right. I should stop farting around trying to figure this out in the abstract and just go get one and see, but I'm not in a place these days where I can take a flyer for 40 or 50 bucks on a new toy without a lot of inner debate.

I think you are doing OK with your physics, but may have forgotten a force or two. One thing you don't mention is acceleration. With the shorter handle, you will have a faster swing acceleration. That does not completely compensate for total speed or mass, but it helps.

That being said, one thing I have noticed is that back when I used to split by hand, the tool itself had an effect on "flyers". An axe would more readily send a split flying compared to a maul. I think it may have something to do with head design, but dunno for sure. Maybe a difference is speed compensation from a heavier maul to a lighter axe to gain the same energy? Just sayin'

 

[pshking]

Geez, nobody likes to be laughed at when they're tentatively trying something new, y'know? Most people don't even like to be watched while they're figuring out something new. Show 'em the right stance so they won't whack their own feet, then go do something else nearby with your back turned for a while and let 'em embarrass themselves in private.

If you really want to get your ladies into this, start them off with a hatchet and a small (ie short) light-weight sledge splitting kindling. You want to start people off with something they can succeed at, and then build from there. That's how I started because it was the tools I had around. Didn't take long to get a some comfort in dealing with chunks of wood and swinging the tools, and then see I needed something sturdier. So I added a wedge. That gave me more confidence, so I took the bull by the horns finally and got a maul.[/quote]

I was not laughing at her trying to split the wood. She was laughing at herself, and it got to be funny. I was actually moving other pieces to split.