Human powered log splitter.......not an axe!

[2LaneCruzer]

The "safety police" would have a field day with that unit. First guy needs more practice keeping his hand off the chunk being split. However - you would, most likely, only make a mistake once. Certainly works good though.

One of my Mom's older sisters had a forefinger that looked like it had been twisted about 1/4 revolution at the first joint. I asked Mom about it, and she said that when they were kids, her older brother asked her to hold a piece of firewood so he could split it. Any way, as dumb as that sounds, she apparently did it with the anticipated result. Mom said it was almost completely severed, and Grandmother made a poultice of turpentine and sugar; wrapped it up and when they took the bandage of a couple weeks later, it had healed completely (appearance wise), but a bit crooked.

The turpentine and sugar acted as an antibiotic and it never got infected.

 

[4get gto]

The turpentine and sugar acted as an antibiotic and it ver got infected.

OMG....! Almost as bad as an old guy I knew once that gargled with Clorox..!

 

[4570Man]

Put the compression spring above the lever (or use a tension spring below it).

The spring is to reduce the effort required to move the arm. If you changed it like you’re suggesting not only would you have to lift the arm but also the spring.

 

[CMV]

That doesn't look like it should work...but obviously does very well.

Nicest thing is he has 3/4 of a trebuchet already built for year-round fun

 

[2LaneCruzer]

OMG....! Almost as bad as an old guy I knew once that gargled with Clorox..!

Now that's a bit extreme, and dangerous. However, when I was growing up, it would have been difficult without turpentine and kerosene. Step on a nail? Soak your foot in kerosene. Sugar, in the form of honey was used as an antiseptic as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

 

[joecoin]

The spring is to reduce the effort required to move the arm. If you changed it like you’re suggesting not only would you have to lift the arm but also the spring.

Well, I don't think you'd be lifting the spring, you'd be compressing it.

I'm saying, if you had to energize the spring first, you'd have a lot more energy striking the log.

Yeah, it would be hard work.

 

[4570Man]

Well, I don't think you'd be lifting the spring, you'd be compressing it.

I'm saying, if you had to energize the spring first, you'd have a lot more energy striking the log.

Yeah, it would be hard work.

This is a momentum based tool. Compressing the spring wouldn’t make much difference and would make your work way harder and more dangerous. The easiest way to gain more power with this tool is to add more weight to the splitting end. Then you’d want use a bigger spring or counter balance the other side so it’s still easy to move. Think about it in terms of hammers. You can never swing a 16 oz hammer hard enough to do the work of a 20 pound sledgehammer. Then take it up a notch and look at post pounders and piling drivers. Unless you resorted to ridiculous stuff like firing the 16 oz hammer out of a cannon you simply can’t get the energy from a lighter tool.

 

[JPRambo]

When my wife had surgery on her ankle. With pins though foot and leg to hold them together. The doctor suggested to put honey around the pins every day after cleaning. Today it is difficult to tell where the pin holes were.