The only unsplittable wood in my area is big, old poplar. The cut up rounds are about a meter/ yard in diameter but that's not the problem. The wood isn't very hard either, in fact it's rather soft, which actually makes is worse. The issue is that the grain weaves and twists together so there's no plane of cleavage. The softness means that it will let the maul dig in a bit and then the twisted grain stops it splitting, so you hit it again and again and you end up turning the top few inches into a spongy mass that absorbs all the force of your maul. The final insult is that if you finally manage to get the stuff knocked into pieces small enough for your stove, it doesn't even give off much heat. As a younger man I foolishly took a load of "free" firewood offered by an acquaintance in the form of unsplit rounds and spent two days stubbornly trying to prove there was no log I could not split before I gave up and left it out in the woods to rot.
Put the round on the ground. You get to accelerate the axe head for another half meter, that stump is way too high. Most of our eucalypts are harder to split than hickory.
Sometimes you need to forego some wedging action and ease the entry. Fiskars splitting axes have a good geometry compromise in that regard. The wedge you bought was also ground very blunt, it looked awful really. Often the twisted wedges have a sleeker entry.
@@majorbelov Kinda reminds me of the coal Ive been using, it seems to need charcoal or wood to help it keep going ( I may be doing something wrong to where I cause it to need that help). Interesting.
@@nisamvise1724 Coal needs a good air supply , this is provided by having the coal sit on a grate to raise it off the base of whatever it is burning in. You can get coal grates to put inside wood burner fire boxes. The grate also lets the ash fall away and not choke the air supply to the coal.
Ok where to start. All this is IMHO A Stump while could be a chopping block isn't. Yours is TO TALL. The right height should have the normal length of wood (16" for me) be at the point where your AXE (a splitting AXE) is traveling straight down. To high and you have less head speed. To low has safety issues, being the AXE yes AXE can be deflected towards your foot. You don't swing at the peice willy nilly. The log will tell you where it is wanting to split NATURALLY. Aim counts. If possible to tell the peice should be split from the bottom. (So bottom up) This means you are not splitting INTO a notch. A splitting axe is not a chopping axe. Mauls suck. Mauls suck Did I mention Mauls suck They suck. If you have a big peice that is just below the size that would absolutely require a wedge this is the MOVE. Using a splitting AXE, you aim for the weak point (cracks radiating from the centre) BURY THE AXE, now it's stuck. Then you pick up the axe AND LOG,.lift it as high as you can, invert it, and bring the assembly down on the axe head o the chopping block. The weight of the log being heavier than the AXE will split it. When splitting smaller peices, an experienced splitter will not be wasting energy by swinging TO HARD. The perfect swing should have the peices FLY apart and leave the AXE hovering in the air. Not following through to to chopping block and sticking in. When using wedges, which I recommend, you will need two. Sometimes one gets stuck, really stuck. NEVER, LIKE NEVER use the head of a proper splitting AXE to hammer a wedge with. Pro tip. Wrap the first 6-8 inches of the handle below the head with wire. It protects the handle. And as a huge bonus can add a pound. Have fun, and be safe.
