Anyone made a kindling splitter?

[ArcTan]

Looking for some design ideas for a kindling splitter. Want to be able to put a normal size piece of firewood in, whack it with a hammer, and get some nice small kindling pieces out. Any ideas?

[SweetMK]

Toss the hammer on the scrap pile, and build a spring wood splitter.
It will work 5X faster, and 10X easier than a hammer separate splitter.

Here is a 1 minute video, see how much splitting occurs in one minute

[SweetMK]

Here is another video,,
This one operates MUCH slower,, I think it is slower, because the guy is older,,,

[shortfuse]

I've made 5 kindling splitters like these. Stole the idea off the entrynet, LOL.

Frame is all 1/4" mild steel bar stock, blade is leaf spring, not heat treated (the spring steel is hard enough to split without heat treating). I bent the circles with forge and bending jig and welded closed. If you have any scrap oxy cylinders laying around, just cut slices from them. I made the first three from cylinder cuts, the last ones by bending the 1/4" bar. I posted pics somewhere here on the forum, just too lazy to look for the post.



Measurements

[ArcTan]

That is a cool setup SweetMK, but doesn't look practical (or safe) for making small kindling pieces.

Shortfuse, that's the type of thing I was looking for! Thanks for the details. Have you experimented with multiple blades at all? Just thinking it would be convenient to make say 6 pieces at a time instead of two.

I did a search for kindling splitter on this forum but didn't chase it far enough I guess...

[MinnesotaDave]

Following this design should be easy

https://www.kindlingcracker.com/

[mla2ofus]

Whatever you use NEVER,EVER hold the wood with thumb, fingers or hand on top! Too much room for error.

[shortfuse]

Following this design should be easy

https://www.kindlingcracker.com/

Those are cast iron. Not too easy to follow. Mine and the one I copied from are simpler to duplicate. One change could be to make mine with 3/4" to 1" rod instead of bar stock similar to the Aussie splitter. One would still need to use a high carbon steel bar, leaf springs, etc. for the blade.

[shortfuse]

Have you experimented with multiple blades at all? Just thinking it would be convenient to make say 6 pieces at a time instead of two.

What do you mean by multiple blades? Interchangable or just when fabricating more than one splitter? Not clear on what you are asking.

[rexcormack]

What do you mean by multiple blades? Interchangable or just when fabricating more than one splitter? Not clear on what you are asking.

I think he means three blades instead of one so that you get 6 pieces of wood instead of 2.

Kinda like this at 16:29!

[shortfuse]

No, I have not explored multiple splits/blades. That's a good idea, though. Now that he has a model to go by, I'm sure he could come up with a design that could spin off of mine and mount more than one blade. I think I'll also look into how to do that.

ArcTan, you may have planted a seed idea!!

[John T]

Geeze,
You city slickers sure are fancy…

I don’t use much kindling wood since the stove is going pretty much 24/7 during the winter months.

But on the occasion that I need some,
This little bugger does a fine job.

.

[John T]

I made the hammer a couple years ago when I was giving Moto welding lessons.

.

[daddy]

I gots some hammers like that.

[Willie B]

Looking for some design ideas for a kindling splitter. Want to be able to put a normal size piece of firewood in, whack it with a hammer, and get some nice small kindling pieces out. Any ideas?

Mrs B gave me one last Christmas. I haven't found the perfect block to burn it into. I can't send pictures to E mail, but I can text pictures.

[timrb]

Whatever you use NEVER,EVER hold the wood with thumb, fingers or hand on top!

Hah! I know someone who did exactly that while splitting kindling with a hatchet. Guess what happened.

TIm

[John T]

I gots some hammers like that.

Guess I’m not the only one tired of broken handles.

[John T]

Speaking of hammers

Here’s another one I have for special occasions.

One shiny penny if you guess what it’s for.

[ArcTan]

What do you mean by multiple blades? Interchangable or just when fabricating more than one splitter? Not clear on what you are asking.

Rexcormack is correct, the idea is to split the piece of wood more than just once, similar to a 4 way wedge on a hydraulic splitter.

I think he means three blades instead of one so that you get 6 pieces of wood instead of 2.

Kinda like this at 16:29!

That's a cool video! Europeans are way ahead of North American technology. Though I must say I don't approve of the unsafe practices they used cutting the tree down at the beginning of the video. But they were quite efficient none the less.

No, I have not explored multiple splits/blades. That's a good idea, though. Now that he has a model to go by, I'm sure he could come up with a design that could spin off of mine and mount more than one blade. I think I'll also look into how to do that.

ArcTan, you may have planted a seed idea!!

Just like Johnny Appleseed haha

Geeze,
You city slickers sure are fancy…

I don’t use much kindling wood since the stove is going pretty much 24/7 during the winter months.

But on the occasion that I need some,
This little bugger does a fine job.

.

No cities here but it does get slick when they start melting all the nice snow with nasty salt.

I don't use kindling either. I start my fire once a year, usually late October. Doesn't go out until April sometime. This project is a gift for my dad. He has a masonry heater. It gets fired once or at most twice a day. Fill the firebox, light it, and it burns hot until it's out. No damper, and you can't stoke it. All that heat goes into a dozen tons of stone. The heat radiates out into the house long after the fire is out. It's very efficient, but requires kindling each time it's fired.

Mrs B gave me one last Christmas. I haven't found the perfect block to burn it into. I can't send pictures to E mail, but I can text pictures.

I'll send you a PM.

[MinnesotaDave]

Those are cast iron. Not too easy to follow. Mine and the one I copied from are simpler to duplicate. One change could be to make mine with 3/4" to 1" rod instead of bar stock similar to the Aussie splitter. One would still need to use a high carbon steel bar, leaf springs, etc. for the blade.

I only meant the overall design/size/etc.

[smithdoor]

I like using a cutting torch and skipping kindling

Dave

[Willie B]

Speaking of hammers

Here’s another one I have for special occasions.

One shiny penny if you guess what it’s for.

Ice fishing?

[John T]

Ice fishing?

No

Something more sinister

[psacustomcreations]

No

Something more sinister

Putting holes in tires
Edit:
Putting holes in animal skulls
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[milomilo]

killing flies.