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New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

vipukirves.fi

81–90 of 159 posts

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#81

This may be an unpopular reply, but splitting fire wood sounds like you're going to be making an open fire. Open fires are a danger to your health: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fireplace-delusion > "The unhappy truth about burning wood has been scientifically established to a moral certainty: That nice, cozy fire in your fireplace is bad for you. It is bad for your children. It is bad for your neighbors and…

The people who split a lot of wood are those who heat their house with wood. Open fire places are for ambiance. If you actually want to heat your house, you use a wood stove, which is closed.

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#82
post #76

This may be an unpopular reply, but splitting fire wood sounds like you're going to be making an open fire. Open fires are a danger to your health: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fireplace-delusion > "The unhappy truth about burning wood has been scientifically established to a moral certainty: That nice, cozy fire in your fireplace is bad for you. It is bad for your children. It is bad for your neighbors and…

I do not know if it is going to be an unpopular reply but it could be a naive reply. Firewood can also be used in wood burning stoves. Furthermore what do you and Prof. Harris recommend for camping trips?

I simply commented on the evidence of dangers from smoke on open fires. I haven't anything else to say. If the comment doesn't apply to you feel free to ignore it.

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#83
post #42
post #34

This axe looks really awesome, physics for the win. Also, instead of using an old rubber tire, I highly recommend building a variable length, tensioning chain, much like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrLiSMQGHvY Makes chopping wood so much more fun. And then, there is also the stikkan: http://www.stikkan.com/ Perfect to hang it up next to your fireplace to do some more fine grained wood chopping, cutting l…

It amazes me when someone makes improvements to a job as old as splitting wood. Millions (billions?) of people have been doing it for thousands of years, and there's still room for improvement.

you might like the history page. It's a great "man sits and thinks of how to improve simple task" story, even if a bit contrived.

http://www.vipukirves.fi/english/tale_of_vipukirves.htm

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#84
post #76

This may be an unpopular reply, but splitting fire wood sounds like you're going to be making an open fire. Open fires are a danger to your health: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fireplace-delusion > "The unhappy truth about burning wood has been scientifically established to a moral certainty: That nice, cozy fire in your fireplace is bad for you. It is bad for your children. It is bad for your neighbors and…

I do not know if it is going to be an unpopular reply but it could be a naive reply. Firewood can also be used in wood burning stoves. Furthermore what do you and Prof. Harris recommend for camping trips?

Open fires are banned in many places where people go camping. If you must cook food, you should use a gas or alcohol stove.

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#85
post #70
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also easier to spit wood when it's cold out -10C to -20C it seems to crack better. I used to hate fall as a kid when wood splitting season began. Pneumatic splitters are great but slow. You learn to hate hard wood when splitting but it's great to burn. An old joke: I was 10 years-old before I learned my name wasn't "Get wood!"

It was because of my father that from the ages of seven to fifteen, I thought that my name was Jesus Christ and my brother, Russell, thought that his name was Dammit. "Dammit, will you stop all that noise?" And, "Jesus Christ, sit down!" One day, I'm out playing in the rain, and my father yelled, "Dammit will you get back in here!" I said, "Dad, I'm Jesus Christ!" -- Bill Cosby

True story time. My oldest daughter is five and, uh, let's just say she has a lot of energy and doesn't focus very well. Sometimes we have to try really hard to get her attention.

A while back, I listened to her explaining to her younger sister how people can have different names. For example, I can be called "Bob" or "Dad". Then she said, "Like me. My name is Lily, but I have another name 'Earth to Lily'."

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#87
post #70
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also easier to spit wood when it's cold out -10C to -20C it seems to crack better. I used to hate fall as a kid when wood splitting season began. Pneumatic splitters are great but slow. You learn to hate hard wood when splitting but it's great to burn. An old joke: I was 10 years-old before I learned my name wasn't "Get wood!"

It was because of my father that from the ages of seven to fifteen, I thought that my name was Jesus Christ and my brother, Russell, thought that his name was Dammit. "Dammit, will you stop all that noise?" And, "Jesus Christ, sit down!" One day, I'm out playing in the rain, and my father yelled, "Dammit will you get back in here!" I said, "Dad, I'm Jesus Christ!" -- Bill Cosby

:)

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#89
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not know if it is going to be an unpopular reply but it could be a naive reply. Firewood can also be used in wood burning stoves. Furthermore what do you and Prof. Harris recommend for camping trips?

Open fires are banned in many places where people go camping. If you must cook food, you should use a gas or alcohol stove.

I wonder if this is a European thing? Most of the places I have hiked/camped in America allow fires. What do you do for heat and beast repellent?

There is a neat rule in some Scandinavian countries (I think it is more than one country but I forget the name of the rule so I cant look it up) that ensures people's right to hike across private property. I can imagine that a prohibition on fires would come in handy.

Re: New axe design uses lever action to make splitting wood easier

#90
post #49

I bought a Vipukirves axe early this year. I have a wood-fired pizza oven in my backyard and use small, nicely split pieces of wood in order to retain some control over the fire. Before buying the axe I used a four-sided wedge (basically an elongated pyramid) and a sledgehammer for splitting. So, how does this axe perform? Overall, I am very happy with it and proudly show it off at every opportunity. After spending s…

It also easier to spit wood when it's cold out -10C to -20C it seems to crack better. I used to hate fall as a kid when wood splitting season began. Pneumatic splitters are great but slow. You learn to hate hard wood when splitting but it's great to burn. An old joke: I was 10 years-old before I learned my name wasn't "Get wood!"

I was also the wood splitter sent outside in the winter to take care of that task. The worst part is that it was pure vanity: my dad just liked having a fire in the fireplace.

The colder it gets, the dryer the wood. This is why it splits so nicely. As soon as it heats up at all, wood gets humid and a little tougher to split.

I, personally, still just use a maul and a sledge.

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