I absolutely agree. After all, the choice is all yours. Sitting on ones can, enjoying the fruits of ingenuity--what could be sweeter. But answering the call of a woodsman meeting the grocery bill-- well, ahem-two sides yes indeed.
I thought I had seen this before but finally realized who mad it. You did GOOD, Ben, again! Any easier would have someone sitting beside you feeding and slinging and nodding! A-PLUS!
well, i dont really have time for that, but will give a brief explanation of the parts and how i built it here. i already had the big worm drive gearbox and bought the small gearbox on ebay for a reasonable price. the small box is a morse bevel-type gear with a 5:1 ratio and the big box is an old w.a. jones traction winch used in mining elevators years ago. it is 69:1 ratio. the v belt pulleys on the electric motor and the input of the morse are both 8" so there is no reduction there. the chain drive is about a 2:1 reduction since the sprocket on the output of the small gearbox is about half the diameter of the sprocket on the input of the big gearbox. the electric motor is a huge 220v. single phase, de-rated by marathon motors to 2 hp but is probably 3 hp according to the amp draw. typical military quality motor, but i got it for 50oo. when i saw SF 1.2 on the data plate i knew it was a good motor. (1.0 is continuous duty and 1.15 is industrial duty) i mounted a nice panic switch within reach in case the splitter ever jammed, but i doubt the motor would care if it took a few seconds to shut it down. if i remember, the chain and sprockets are size 100. there is also a 26" heavy spur gear that i left on the input shaft of the big gearbox, to provide inertia for the output shaft, which already had a traction winch drum about 10" dia. (7 cable strands of about 5/8 dia) i welded two splitting wedges to the drum because the speed was just too slow for a single wedge. the actual output shaft inside the drum is 3" diameter. the drum was some sort of cast steel, but pretty good quality material. a flat file would bite into it so i knew it would weld, and it did fine. i dont remember if i preheated & postheated, but usually do with something unfamiliar like that, anyway it came out fine using 7018 electrode and so far nothing has cracked. i wasnt too worried because it was made about a century ago by w.a. jones and was built with some pride. i peeked in the upper vent hole and could see a massive brass gear gleaming at me, so its definitely a worm drive. with more than 1 gearbox, the reductions multiply so it would be 5:1 x 2:1 x 69:1 = 690:1 total reduction. considering that we start out with a 4 pole motor (1750 rpm) divided by lets say 700 for easy math, we have a final speed of about 2.5 rpm. i feel it is as safe as it needs to be, and have never felt uncomfortable with the speed. even a hydraulic splitter can be dangerous and requires paying attention. hope this helps.
Hey Ben, greeting from Manitoba, Canada. I like what you do with your ideas and inventions. I too made a snow plow from a propane tank and I use it in the back with my 2000 Suzuki Vitara. A cheap ATV winch provides the lift.
thank you. great to hear from the north country! its been awhile since we've been up that way. yep, the propane tanks make a good sturdy plow. the head thickness is always a bit heavier than the wall thickness, but both are plenty strong. not that hard to cut through either, even with a good sawzall blade. a torch isn't needed for this malleable tank steel, especially if you do it on a hot summer day, or you can also preheat the metal and a 14t sawzall blade will cut it like cheeze. i have a huge torch on a nice 4 wheel cart i built, but i run oxy and propane, not acetylene, so it blows an awfully rugged trail through everything. its my scrap iron torch so i usually dont care about a smooth cut, but for something like this, a sawzall works better, or i might use my gas powered concrete saw(modified with a 14" abrasive blade). with a sawzall of course, you will go through a handful of blades lol.
lol, yep its actually quite a safe and relaxing way to split wood. never had a piece of wood jump out at me yet, and i must say its quite fun to run. i look forward to each time i fire it up.
john Wow I know it seems like that but in this case I can't really make a parts list. to begin with my gear reducer is over a hundred years old so no one is going to find one like this, and most of the frame work is scrap material so how can anyone really copy my design?
i really dont know, but it will split just about anything. when i finished building it and first tested it, i found the most gnarled, tough pieces i could find, but it split them all. i use it alot, not only for our own wood, but we also give some wood to my mother and daughter.
I think it was originally called an elevator winch. It weighs about 800-1000 lbs and is over 100 years old. The name of the company that built it was W.A. Jones Foundry and Machine, and they sold out to another company in 1915 or 1916 so its a very old reducer. The data plate calls for steam oil with 10 % lard lol so thats an idea of the vintage. I couldn't find any such oil to refill it with, so I used mineral oil and so far it has worked fine. the input shaft is 1-1/2" and the output is at least 3" dia. The worm reduction is 69:1
No. I think you will need something with at least a 3" output shaft and that is rated in foot lbs instead of inch lbs. The size of the gearbox (reducer) output shaft usually indicates or gives you an idea of the torque or torsional force capability of the reducer. It will have to be able to exert a torque that would equate to a linear force of many tons in order to split wood effectively.
I love it Ben, but then I'm even older than you, I'm 78. Pardon me, but it occurs to me that welding a hook to the end of each blade, a sharpened down-point, extending the blade a few inches further out, it's sharp inside edge curving upward to plane-in with the existing cutting edge. This would enter the log further out, useful on larger logs and would provide an easier insertion into the wood. It would pull the log against the drum, the logs bottom tightening against an angle iron welded to the base, keeping it from pulling it under the drum, while being clamped in place between the drum and the angle iron, always with a downward pressure against the base, virtually insuring that it couldn't get away. With the extended point being first all the way through, little of the cutting action would be left to the original perpendicular edge, easing the entire cut, even though the blade would be engaged over a greater length of the log and be deeper into the log. Some might get the mistaken notion that the hook would be more dangerous but at the speed It runs, slight contact of the point to a hand, would cause anyone to instantly rip their hand out with little more than a deep scratch, rather than clamping your hand to the log and cutting through bone and all, as would be the case now, if one were dumb enough to put their hand on top of the log. Either way, your splitter is as safe for your hand as waiting for the speeding car to pass before crossing the street is for your entire body. This would speed up production considerably, as splitting the log the first time through would be the norm, and would take only a minor upgrade effort. Just a thought, certainly not a criticism of your great machine. Bob
Bob, I really like your suggestions for upgrading Ben's great wood splitter, especially the slightly longer hooked blade to grab and secure the log from sliding away from the angled blade. I hope Ben will consider making these changes.
probably about the same percentage of lost time as an average hydraulic splitter. with wood splitters, there is a balance between speed and safety. the reason this machine isn't faster is because i didn't want it to be faster.
yes, i love big 220v electric motors. most people who don't have access to 3 phase power don't seem to think they can ever use a 3 or 5 hp 220v motor, but actually they can. even if they don't have a special outlet in their garage set up for 220v for welding or a table saw, they could do it with a bit of (safe) creativity from the dryer outlet. oops, did i really say that... all you electricians, forgive me i didnt mean this, ok? everyone listen, if you want to run a serious motor, please call your local electrician and pay him a fortune to set up a 220 outlet in the garage...dont use that big beautiful 30 amp 220volt circuit for anything but drying the clothes!! lol.
First thought was that's really relaxing... Sit back, fingers and feet well clear like watching a waterwheel turn.. For those who would want higher productivity, just add another splitting blade or 2 (though by the time you have 4 blades on it, the safety will start going out the door.. as there will be another blade starting a cut at about the same time as you are trying to clear the split wood out of the way) BTW, if one were using this and walking to fetch a new piece to split every time, it wouldn't seem so slow. I always hate the wastfulness of low-end hydraulic splitters, all that time waiting for the darn thing to retract (flywheel mechanical splitters have always seemed a much better concept)...... Low speed can still be deceptively dangerous.. Any inattention, or placing any body part between the tool and workpiece can result in injury (a slow pinching action bites real quick) .. hence why production machines of all types, have interlocks and guards in every conceivable place (yep engineers and designers have to try to think how any user could possibly misuse their tool.).
if i wanted to speed it up, all id have to do would be to either increase the pulley diameter on the motor or the decrease the pulley on the input of the small gearbox. it would be that simple. some of the previous comments put the blame on the machine itself for being too slow, but it has nothing to do with the machine. i built it and could modify it in a heartbeat if i wanted.
Yep.. cheers. Of course.. If we design something one time, it can always be designed differently or modified whenever we choose... The good thing about using belt drives, simple and easy to make another set of pulleys (of any possible ratio) at any stage. It is satisfying to see things working exactly as their creator intended.
Ciao Ben,s sei un grande detto in italiano io sto x costruire una spaccalegna come la tua sono fiero di te ti farò sapere se riuscirò . Io ho costruito una piccola centrale idroelettrica spero che tu leggi in italiano ,il mio video lo vedi su minicentrale Michele Di Gioia ciao
hydraulic splitters are painfully slow too, except the hi-production ones which are very expensive. i will make one exception: kinetic flywheel splitters
Wow! Lots of "cutting air". Tends to interfere with profit margins. To old farts like me though, fewer and fewer objections as the final curtain beckons.
Never before have I seen a wood splitter you can operate while sipping a drink and smoking a cigar.
You did a good job. This is very sane compared to the other homemade units!
thanks
Just the thing for my retirement ,with the installation of a bell to notify the approaching blade I can still operate it blind
That my friend, is the most relaxing wood splitter, I have ever seen.
thanks for your kind remark
thank you, i will continue inventing. ive been getting some new ideas lately.
Great job Ben slow means safe.
All the best from Australia.
jeff baker true, I agree. But I'd be here for years to get enough wood to be heating and cooking with.
I absolutely agree. After all, the choice is all yours. Sitting on ones can, enjoying the fruits of ingenuity--what could be sweeter. But answering the call of a woodsman meeting the grocery bill-- well, ahem-two sides yes indeed.
I like the man's style. Relaxed
I thought I had seen this before but finally realized who mad it. You did GOOD, Ben, again! Any easier would have someone sitting beside you feeding and slinging and nodding! A-PLUS!
Love it Ben! Nice machine. A very useful tool.
That baby has a serious reduction. Seems very powerful
this is awesome, are you going to do a walk around video telling how your built this and what parts you used?
well, i dont really have time for that, but will give a brief explanation of the parts and how i built it here. i already had the big worm drive gearbox and bought the small gearbox on ebay for a reasonable price. the small box is a morse bevel-type gear with a 5:1 ratio and the big box is an old w.a. jones traction winch used in mining elevators years ago. it is 69:1 ratio. the v belt pulleys on the electric motor and the input of the morse are both 8" so there is no reduction there. the chain drive is about a 2:1 reduction since the sprocket on the output of the small gearbox is about half the diameter of the sprocket on the input of the big gearbox. the electric motor is a huge 220v. single phase, de-rated by marathon motors to 2 hp but is probably 3 hp according to the amp draw. typical military quality motor, but i got it for 50oo. when i saw SF 1.2 on the data plate i knew it was a good motor. (1.0 is continuous duty and 1.15 is industrial duty) i mounted a nice panic switch within reach in case the splitter ever jammed, but i doubt the motor would care if it took a few seconds to shut it down. if i remember, the chain and sprockets are size 100. there is also a 26" heavy spur gear that i left on the input shaft of the big gearbox, to provide inertia for the output shaft, which already had a traction winch drum about 10" dia. (7 cable strands of about 5/8 dia) i welded two splitting wedges to the drum because the speed was just too slow for a single wedge. the actual output shaft inside the drum is 3" diameter. the drum was some sort of cast steel, but pretty good quality material. a flat file would bite into it so i knew it would weld, and it did fine. i dont remember if i preheated & postheated, but usually do with something unfamiliar like that, anyway it came out fine using 7018 electrode and so far nothing has cracked. i wasnt too worried because it was made about a century ago by w.a. jones and was built with some pride. i peeked in the upper vent hole and could see a massive brass gear gleaming at me, so its definitely a worm drive. with more than 1 gearbox, the reductions multiply so it would be 5:1 x 2:1 x 69:1 = 690:1 total reduction. considering that we start out with a 4 pole motor (1750 rpm) divided by lets say 700 for easy math, we have a final speed of about 2.5 rpm. i feel it is as safe as it needs to be, and have never felt uncomfortable with the speed. even a hydraulic splitter can be dangerous and requires paying attention. hope this helps.
I like 7011 works almost on everything. Nice bead clean welds.
È possibile realizzarne uno con un motore elettrico 230V da 3 Hp???
Timing is everything!
Hey Ben, greeting from Manitoba, Canada. I like what you do with your ideas and inventions. I too made a snow plow from a propane tank and I use it in the back with my 2000 Suzuki Vitara. A cheap ATV winch provides the lift.
thank you. great to hear from the north country! its been awhile since we've been up that way. yep, the propane tanks make a good sturdy plow. the head thickness is always a bit heavier than the wall thickness, but both are plenty strong. not that hard to cut through either, even with a good sawzall blade. a torch isn't needed for this malleable tank steel, especially if you do it on a hot summer day, or you can also preheat the metal and a 14t sawzall blade will cut it like cheeze. i have a huge torch on a nice 4 wheel cart i built, but i run oxy and propane, not acetylene, so it blows an awfully rugged trail through everything. its my scrap iron torch so i usually dont care about a smooth cut, but for something like this, a sawzall works better, or i might use my gas powered concrete saw(modified with a 14" abrasive blade). with a sawzall of course, you will go through a handful of blades lol.
Is all the gearing necessary? Probably not… but so much fun!!
That's nice. It looks safe too, not like the ones that spin around super fast.
I wonder how hard it would be to do steam power and run it for free?
thanks. im not sure on the steam power, ive never experimented with steam.
+jimmi i: --It isn't free. Just slower.
it might be a bit slow but it beats the heck out of a splittin maul..
I like it but where's the cooler of beer?
Great idea splitting wood and sitting down
Oh yeah sit right in front of it so there is no way to get out of the way of this thing. (sarcasm)
This makes my groin hurt just watching.
lol, yep its actually quite a safe and relaxing way to split wood. never had a piece of wood jump out at me yet, and i must say its quite fun to run. i look forward to each time i fire it up.
DAS ist ein richtig guter Holzspalter!
Nice job. Thanks for sharing.
con molta ma molta calma si spacca una montagna di legna!!!!
So many videos on wood splitters but so many never explain how they did it or what parts to buy or where to buy them.
john Wow I know it seems like that but in this case I can't really make a parts list. to begin with my gear reducer is over a hundred years old so no one is going to find one like this, and most of the frame work is scrap material so how can anyone really copy my design?
looks amazing. why nobody makes these commercially?
Прекрасный колун! В процессе колки дров можно хорошо выспаться :)
How many tons?
i really dont know, but it will split just about anything. when i finished building it and first tested it, i found the most gnarled, tough pieces i could find, but it split them all. i use it alot, not only for our own wood, but we also give some wood to my mother and daughter.
I could never own a log splitter like that, I would die from boredom !!!!!!!
What did you make it out of?
I think it was originally called an elevator winch. It weighs about 800-1000 lbs and is over 100 years old. The name of the company that built it was W.A. Jones Foundry and Machine, and they sold out to another company in 1915 or 1916 so its a very old reducer. The data plate calls for steam oil with 10 % lard lol so thats an idea of the vintage. I couldn't find any such oil to refill it with, so I used mineral oil and so far it has worked fine. the input shaft is 1-1/2" and the output is at least 3" dia. The worm reduction is 69:1
I found a gear with 1432 inch lbs of output force. Do you think that would be strong enough to build something like this?
No. I think you will need something with at least a 3" output shaft and that is rated in foot lbs instead of inch lbs. The size of the gearbox (reducer) output shaft usually indicates or gives you an idea of the torque or torsional force capability of the reducer. It will have to be able to exert a torque that would equate to a linear force of many tons in order to split wood effectively.
I love it Ben, but then I'm even older than you, I'm 78.
Pardon me, but it occurs to me that welding a hook to the end of each blade, a sharpened down-point, extending the blade a few inches further out, it's sharp inside edge curving upward to plane-in with the existing cutting edge. This would enter the log further out, useful on larger logs and would provide an easier insertion into the wood. It would pull the log against the drum, the logs bottom tightening against an angle iron welded to the base, keeping it from pulling it under the drum, while being clamped in place between the drum and the angle iron, always with a downward pressure against the base, virtually insuring that it couldn't get away. With the extended point being first all the way through, little of the cutting action would be left to the original perpendicular edge, easing the entire cut, even though the blade would be engaged over a greater length of the log and be deeper into the log.
Some might get the mistaken notion that the hook would be more dangerous but at the speed It runs, slight contact of the point to a hand, would cause anyone to instantly rip their hand out with little more than a deep scratch, rather than clamping your hand to the log and cutting through bone and all, as would be the case now, if one were dumb enough to put their hand on top of the log. Either way, your splitter is as safe for your hand as waiting for the speeding car to pass before crossing the street is for your entire body.
This would speed up production considerably, as splitting the log the first time through would be the norm, and would take only a minor upgrade effort. Just a thought, certainly not a criticism of your great machine. Bob
thank you for the ideas. One of these days I'm going to make several modifications to this machine, and the speed will be increased as well
Bob, I really like your suggestions for upgrading Ben's great wood splitter, especially the slightly longer hooked blade to grab and secure the log from sliding away from the angled blade. I hope Ben will consider making these changes.
was it cat powered?
lol, i guess you could say that
VERY NICE
Ever calculate the percentage of time lost forever just"cutting air"??
probably about the same percentage of lost time as an average hydraulic splitter. with wood splitters, there is a balance between speed and safety. the reason this machine isn't faster is because i didn't want it to be faster.
Better 'cutting air' than cutting fingers! :-)
Hours of fun splitting one piece...
I give high points to anyone who uses an electric motor over gas. Other than that, there's nothing like nearly 1,000 : 1 reduction for SERIOUS torque!
yes, i love big 220v electric motors. most people who don't have access to 3 phase power don't seem to think they can ever use a 3 or 5 hp 220v motor, but actually they can. even if they don't have a special outlet in their garage set up for 220v for welding or a table saw, they could do it with a bit of (safe) creativity from the dryer outlet. oops, did i really say that... all you electricians, forgive me i didnt mean this, ok? everyone listen, if you want to run a serious motor, please call your local electrician and pay him a fortune to set up a 220 outlet in the garage...dont use that big beautiful 30 amp 220volt circuit for anything but drying the clothes!! lol.
Make the Blades LONGER...other then that, it's cool
NICE idea :-)
With that much reduction you could use a small 110volt motor and be fine
I prefer more HP than less when using electric power, because an induction motor will not lug like a gas engine.
It's only a 12 second cycle time. Not sure why everyone is complaining about it being slow
Jarrett Williams well, I have it all torn apart right now and am making several major modifications including speeding it up considerably
Wood always splits easier from the top down.
It's like watching pain t dry!
First thought was that's really relaxing...
Sit back, fingers and feet well clear like watching a waterwheel turn..
For those who would want higher productivity, just add another splitting blade or 2 (though by the time you have 4 blades on it, the safety will start going out the door.. as there will be another blade starting a cut at about the same time as you are trying to clear the split wood out of the way)
BTW, if one were using this and walking to fetch a new piece to split every time, it wouldn't seem so slow. I always hate the wastfulness of low-end hydraulic splitters, all that time waiting for the darn thing to retract (flywheel mechanical splitters have always seemed a much better concept)......
Low speed can still be deceptively dangerous.. Any inattention, or placing any body part between the tool and workpiece can result in injury (a slow pinching action bites real quick) .. hence why production machines of all types, have interlocks and guards in every conceivable place (yep engineers and designers have to try to think how any user could possibly misuse their tool.).
if i wanted to speed it up, all id have to do would be to either increase the pulley diameter on the motor or the decrease the pulley on the input of the small gearbox. it would be that simple. some of the previous comments put the blame on the machine itself for being too slow, but it has nothing to do with the machine. i built it and could modify it in a heartbeat if i wanted.
i also wanted to say thank you, i enjoyed reading your post
Yep.. cheers.
Of course.. If we design something one time, it can always be designed differently or modified whenever we choose...
The good thing about using belt drives, simple and easy to make another set of pulleys (of any possible ratio) at any stage.
It is satisfying to see things working exactly as their creator intended.
thank you sir, your comments are thoughtful.
Ciao Ben,s sei un grande detto in italiano io sto x costruire una spaccalegna come la tua sono fiero di te ti farò sapere se riuscirò . Io ho costruito una piccola centrale idroelettrica spero che tu leggi in italiano ,il mio video lo vedi su minicentrale Michele Di Gioia ciao
nice invention ...how bout a chain roller from a dirtbike? gwallnut666 i subscribed & liked
Thanks. Not sure how it would work using a dirt bike chain roller.
well made but painfully slow
hydraulic splitters are painfully slow too, except the hi-production ones which are very expensive. i will make one exception: kinetic flywheel splitters
I fell asleep half way through the video
Slow motion video, ? hurry up the house is getting cold.
Wow! Lots of "cutting air". Tends to interfere with profit margins. To old farts like me though, fewer and fewer objections as the final curtain beckons.
The paint is drying.lol
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Awesome but waste of time .
you better slow it down safety first your moving toooo fast man