wood splitter

[ribwizzard]

Thinking about making a small log splitter out of a 12 ton air powered floor jack. Anybody ever do anything like this? I see they sell some manual splitters using jacks, just thought an air powered one would be a little better?

 

[themule69]

I don't think they have a power down on them. That could be a problem. A spring would overcome that.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[daveomak]

RW, morning.....  I would think long and hard about that project.....   Compressed air stores energy...  A particularly tough piece of wood could finally decide to split, releasing all the stored energy instantly.....  

Dave

 

[ribwizzard]

Your right, no power down. And it would have to be mounted up right.  I was thinking an adjustable knive at the top of a small I beam, The jack sitting upright at the bottom.  I'm not looking for a high production log splitter, just something to split some 6" to 10" dia ,one ft long pieces of live oak. My 6lb splitting axe just bounces off of them. ( even though it splits twice the size in red oak in one blow).

I tought about building a hyd. splitter, but cant justify the cost or the room to store something like that . Id rather have something that could be store under the workbench on on a shelf.

 

[ribwizzard]

Hey DaveOmark,

The jack I'm looking at is still hyd. it just uses air to operate the hyd. pump.  But I know what your talking about , air cyl. can be dangerous.

It would be nice if electric  hyd. power units were not so costly. It would be nice to use a 12" hyd. cyl.

This is what I was thinking of using. 12 ton.

 

[ribwizzard]

I was thinking just something simple like this

The knife being mounted on a square bracket that would lock in place when force pressed against it. Slightly angle the tip of the knife so as it forced wood towards the beam instead of away. Jack would just sit on the base.

 

[bluffton smoker]

This set-up works VERY well...  I had a free standing hydraulic press back home on the farm. (Hydraulic cylinder on top pushing pin down towards table)(top, bottom-same difference). It had springs mounted on either side for down. We would pull the manual hydraulic jack out to use on tractors, combines, dozers, whatever. Short story long, we blew the seals out of the manual jack. A buddy brought over an air cylinder which worked very well. We built a knife that would pin in place of the ram pin. This thing would go thru red and live oak beautifully. We ran it on 120 psi. This thing was free standing about 6' tall. What I liked about it was that it had 2 vertical legs with the jack between = very strong. Bench top model could be easily built. I like the idea...

 

[ribwizzard]

I'm wondering if the 12ton jack would have enough ass. The 20 ton is only $20 more, but then your adding weight and I think it may have slower ram speed. They both have only slightly more than 6" stroke, so my knife will have to be more of a wedge head so as not to get stuck half way through the wood.

Has anyone ever used one of those cheap 8  ton electric splitters and had any problem splitting hard woods?

 

[ribwizzard]

I ended up getting the 20 ton, it was on sale for 109.00 and I had a $20 coupon if I spend $100.00 or more, so got it the same price as the 12 ton.  I hooked it up to air and It raises fairly quickly and the double springs returns it to the down position.

I also have some a400 to make a decent blade out of, I just need to sit down and draw up a design I like. Im leaning toward building it more like a press.

 

[themule69]

I'm wondering if the 12ton jack would have enough ass. The 20 ton is only $20 more, but then your adding weight and I think it may have slower ram speed. They both have only slightly more than 6" stroke, so my knife will have to be more of a wedge head so as not to get stuck half way through the wood.

Has anyone ever used one of those cheap 8  ton electric splitters and had any problem splitting hard woods?

I have one of the 7 ton electric. I does good on most hard woods with out knots. Like oak it will split like butter.

I got it in a truck load of store returns that I bought.

I see you already got a 12 ton jack. Looking forward to your build.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[daveomak]

RW, morning.....  My buddy built a splitter.... Ended up it wouldn't split some tough wood....    he ended up grinding the wedge to reduce the penetration force required at the start of the split...  Once the split started to open, the rest of the wedge finished the job....  worked well....  He said it took most of the morning to get it ground out.....   I can't figure out how to draw the hollowed out grinds...   the three points were original material to the back of the block.... the valleys were tapered up to to meet the points original material...   When he was done, the machine would split anything....     

splitting wedge.jpg

• daveomak
• Aug 8, 2013

 

[ribwizzard]

That Makes sense to me DameOmark, I may use that ideal.

David, Ive been looking at the electric models for a couple years now but have gotten such mixed reviews on them, One will say that theirs works like a champ, and the next will say it aint worth a darn. If I could have found a good deal like you did, I might have taken the chance to try it out, but to pay $300 to $500 for somthing that would be very hard to return kept me from ever getting one.

Glad to hear you found a decent one, do you know what brand it is?

 

[ribwizzard]

Im thinking something more like this now. I have some 1/2" x 2" flat bar for the uprights.  This way , I could make different inserts and use it as a press, bearing splitter, brake for small stuff ect.

Pros..? cons..?

 

[themule69]

That Makes sense to me DameOmark, I may use that ideal.

David, Ive been looking at the electric models for a couple years now but have gotten such mixed reviews on them, One will say that theirs works like a champ, and the next will say it aint worth a darn. If I could have found a good deal like you did, I might have taken the chance to try it out, but to pay $300 to $500 for somthing that would be very hard to return kept me from ever getting one.

Glad to hear you found a decent one, do you know what brand it is?

Mine is a 7 ton Pow R Kraft. It will by no means split the big stuff. It does well for 15" long x 12" oak

David

 

[themule69]

Im thinking something more like this now. I have some 1/2" x 2" flat bar for the uprights.  This way , I could make different inserts and use it as a press, bearing splitter, brake for small stuff ect.

Pros..? cons..?

The  cons I can see is you are limited to the size between your uprights. as the log splits it will try to push  out into the upright

The pros are a multi funcution machine.

David

 

[foamheart]

If you make it a multi-tasker, someone will borrow it and tear it up trying to make it do something it wasn't built for. That's been my experience. AND then blame you for poor design!

I have a neighbor who ruined my large table vice with a rubber mallet! He was using a pipe cheater on the screw handle and beating it with a hammer. The round pipe kept slipping in the square jaws. Go figure.....

 

[oldschoolbbq]

A splitting Axe works great and a bit safer...

.

You're thinking too hard again, Wiz.

 

[daveomak]

RW, evening.....  If your device does one thing great, sit down and be happy.....  Holey Kr@p.... why does everything have to do two things....  This ain't Alton Brown kitchen....   If you want the best smoker, build a smoker and who care if you want to char a steak also.....  stupid, stupid, stupid....  buy a $5 gas grill to char a steak and build the best darn smoker the world has seen....... OK    OK    OK     

 RW, build a wood splitter and make it a darn good one.....    or the splitter police will come for you, in the middle of the night...  and you will never, ever be heard from again....  I hear they feed their captives to the Burmese pythons in the swamps....  Yeah, really ....  I heard that....

Dave

 

[ribwizzard]

A splitting Axe works great and a bit safer...

I bought the best splitting axe I could find, 6lb w/ 36" handle

. and it just bounces off of the live Oak. It split the red in a single stroke, but I have to hit the live oak with everything I have just to get it to stick into it.

The cons I can see is you are limited to the size between your uprights. as the log splits it will try to push out into the upright

Im thinking the cross member at the top would be the knife, and the jack pushing up against it. If the log didnt completely split, the jack could be lowered and the knife set at a lower position to finish split.

This ain't Alton Brown kitchen....  

That show rocks!!!!

 

[buttburner]

I use an 8 lb sledge wit ha long handle and a splitting wedge

the wedge is kind of cone shaped, I think the called it a Tornado Splitter or something like that

It works fantastic, I have had it for years. I cannot believe what it will split

this is the splitting wedge

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ludell-4-lb-Log-Splitter-with-34-in-Wedge-Kit-12304-K/204199678