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Splitting of bigger rounds |
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 Fasten
one wedge on one side. Pound the wedge with the poll of the heavy
maul so that you get a crack. Pound the other wedge further in
the wood until the crack is widened. Move the first wedge and
so on, until the round is split. Do not use an axe, felling axe, forest axe or a splitting axe, for driving in a steel wedge, or as a wedge, when splitting. The poll of these axes is not designed for heavy pounding on a wedge or to be beaten on. That is one of the things which makes an axe different from a maul. The maul’s poll is designed and forged to withstand beating on a steel wedge. But constantly check the edges of the poll. Do not let a poll get like a mushroom! Always keep the ground edges of the poll of a maul and a wedge in good shape. Use a file. The ground edges of the poll will reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of flying fragments of the poll. |
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Try to
place the axe head through the center of a round. Also try to
place the axe head straight through the limb, if there is one.
Big rounds will of course be split in several steps.
When the
rounds are really big, gnarled and cross-grained, or have been
stored too long and dried which make them hard to split, you
might need to use a splitting maul or a splitting maul and wedges.
When working with wedges, use two. Wedge number two will help
to knock the first wedge out if stuck.