Question about cutting wood chunks for WSM

[kevin james]

Ok, so this is probably a really dumb question, but I'm going to ask anyways. I have realized it is just going to be way cheaper to buy wood from the firewood places in my area than to buy from online sites like fruitawoodchunks.com. I can get white oak, cherry, and almond from the local firewood sellers fairly cheap, but I would need to cut it from 16" splits into chunks myself.

What I'm not sure of is what would be the easiest way to cut it down to WSM size chunks safely, or what type of saw would be best for that? Any help with this would be much appreciated, and again, sorry for the dumb question lol.

 

[pineywoods]

When I've done it I've usually used a bandsaw makes it easy. I have used a power mitre saw but that can get iffy

 

[poacherjoe]

I use a bandsaw also or take it to my Nephews cabinet shop and have them chunk it for me.

 

[flatbroke]

I used a band saw but snapped my blade, then use a sawzall, but you need a good grip for that

 

[noboundaries]

Here's a thought. I have a white oak tree in my backyard. When I cut splits nowadays for my 22" WSM, I cut them to 8-10 inches. I'll put one in the bottom of the WSM charcoal basket and cover it with cold charcoal. That one split preheats nicely when I add the hot coals, burns cleaner, and lasts for the entire load. I use a reciprocating saw with a woodcutter blade. The split is clamped in a Workmate table vice.

 

[kevin james]

When I've done it I've usually used a bandsaw makes it easy. I have used a power mitre saw but that can get iffy

Yeah... I tried a mitre saw as I've seen a couple people use them for this. I won't get into details, but lets just say it didn't exactly work out great lol.

 

[kevin james]

I used a band saw but snapped my blade, then use a sawzall, but you need a good grip for that

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of with a band saw.

Here's a thought. I have a white oak tree in my backyard. When I cut splits nowadays for my 22" WSM, I cut them to 8-10 inches. I'll put one in the bottom of the WSM charcoal basket and cover it with cold charcoal. That one split preheats nicely when I add the hot coals, burns cleaner, and lasts for the entire load. I use a reciprocating saw with a woodcutter blade. The split is clamped in a Workmate table vice.

My brother recommended a reciprocating saw as well. I might have to give that a try. Thanks, Ray!

 

[poacherjoe]

Bandsaw blades break all the time. If you position the wood in a vise it makes for an easy cut with a band saw. If you leave it unsupported the blade has more of a chance to bend or bind up and break

 

[fivetricks]

I just take a chainsaw and rough cut biscuit looking pieces that are half inch to an inch thick for my charcoal basket. They burn up just fine.

 

[anstissk]

I take my splits (2"-4" diameter) and use a miter saw every time. I personally haven't had an issue with it, but I can see how it would get sketchy. Most of my splits are really straight, so when I put my "bark" side up to the fence of my miter saw, it holds really well. I go slow through the wood, and then I have splits for my day.

 

[HowlingDog]

I have used my 12" Craftsman miter/chop saw quite a bit to cut splits into chunks for the WSM with no problem. Now, the LAST cut is always a bit nerve wracking unless you have a clamp or something holding it in place. Fingers close to the blade is a no no!!

 

[SmokinAl]

I have a Dewalt 12" chop saw. It works just fine.
Al

 

[kevin james]

I had originally bought a Metabo 10" Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Miter saw specifically to use for this purpose. After running about 8 splits through it successfully, I was running a 9th split and the whole saw bucked for some reason (felt like the kick form a shotgun). No idea why it did this and it really freaked me out. There is a cast metal backing on the fence of that saw that literally snapped. I returned it and got my money back but now I'm just a little freaked out and trying to figure out how the heck to accomplish what I'm trying to do safely and efficiently.

There has to be a way and after looking at the numbers, I just can't justify buying my wood from Fruita or the like when I can get significantly more wood for a fraction of the cost at these firewood places where I can pick out my own splits, and have access to oak, almond and cherry. I'm thinking I just need to be selective and look for splits that are on the thinner side. As to the comment about the last cut being nerve wracking... I'm thinking of taking each 16" split and cutting chunks of verying sizes until I get down to the 6-8" mark... and then keeping that last peace of each split as a mini-split. That way I'm not risking anything unsafe and I have the versatility of having chunks of different sizes from small to large and all the way up to mini splits to use depending what I'm cooking.

Even though that Metabo was highly recommended, I suspect that maybe it was defective, or it just wasn't of the quality I was told it was. Or it could be that a 10" just isn't sufficient... I don't really know.

Either way, I am thinking if I'm going to use a miter saw it should be a 12", and I should just spend the extra money and get a Dewalt that I KNOW is top quality.... buy once cry once as they say. Considering this one now:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-12-in-15-Amp-Dual-Bevel-Sliding-Compound-Miter-Saw/1000145735

This is the one that broke...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Metabo-HPT-Hitachi-Power-Tool-10-in-15-Amp-Dual-Bevel-Sliding-Compound-Miter-Saw/1001039926

 

[SmokinAl]

That DeWalt is a nice saw. Mine is 12", but it doesn't slide.
Never had a kick back like that, but I wear gloves & go slow.
Kinda let the saw do the work.

Al

 

[kevin james]

That DeWalt is a nice saw. Mine is 12", but it doesn't slide.
Never had a kick back like that, but I wear gloves & go slow.
Kinda let the saw do the work.
Al

Yeah, the Dewalt I'm looking at looks like a nice one. Aparently the only difference between it and the top of the line DWS780 is that it doesn't have the laser, which I really don't care about anyways. Other than that it's the same saw for a fraction of the price at $349 vs $599. A few places do have the 780 on sale for $499, but still too much just for the addition of the laser.

Can I ask what blade you're using, as in how many teeth? The split that caused the other saw to buck was even thinner than what you have pictured, and I was thinking something like what's in your picture was just too big... but obviously that's not the case.

 

[SmokinAl]

Yeah, the Dewalt I'm looking at looks like a nice one. Aparently the only difference between it and the top of the line DWS780 is that it doesn't have the laser, which I really don't care about anyways. Other than that it's the same saw for a fraction of the price at $349 vs $599. A few places do have the 780 on sale for $499, but still too much just for the addition of the laser.

Can I ask what blade you're using, as in how many teeth? The split that caused the other saw to buck was even thinner than what you have pictured, and I was thinking something like what's in your picture was just too big... but obviously that's not the case.

The photo has an 80 tooth blade, but I have used a 60, & even a 40 tooth blade & they all work. You just have to go slow & be careful. I also have a blade sharpener & when the blade starts to get a little dull I sharpen it right away.
Al

 

[kevin james]

The photo has an 80 tooth blade, but I have used a 60, & even a 40 tooth blade & they all work. You just have to go slow & be careful. I also have a blade sharpener & when the blade starts to get a little dull I sharpen it right away.
Al

Got it. Thanks for the info!

 

[jokensmoken]

Ok, so this is probably a really dumb question, but I'm going to ask anyways. I have realized it is just going to be way cheaper to buy wood from the firewood places in my area than to buy from online sites like fruitawoodchunks.com. I can get white oak, cherry, and almond from the local firewood sellers fairly cheap, but I would need to cut it from 16" splits into chunks myself.

What I'm not sure of is what would be the easiest way to cut it down to WSM size chunks safely, or what type of saw would be best for that? Any help with this would be much appreciated, and again, sorry for the dumb question lol.

I use my saws all with a blade called "the big nasty" it has a tooth configuration similar to a bow saw (course and aggressive) comes in 6", 8" and 12" lengths, has multiple blade locking configurations to.ensure a proper fit to.your saw and it makes short work of chunking up splits for my WSM 22.