How to make a wood splitter

Harvesting firewood requires significant effort: they need to be sawn, chopped, folded into woodcutter to dry. Most of the energy is spent on chopping firewood. A wood splitter can facilitate and speed up the process. They are presented in sufficient quantities, but they cost a lot of money. At the same time, you can make the simplest wood splitter with your own hands from scrap metal - pipes, corners, etc. Everything will take literally several thousand - if there is no metal, you will have to buy it.

Mechanical wood splitters

If the volumes of firewood are small, a mechanical wood splitter can easily handle them. They differ in simplicity of design, the minimum number of complex units, and also in that the costs are minimal, even if there are no suitable pieces of iron on the farm.

The easiest and safest option. The only pity is the low performance. But safe

Simple do-it-yourself wood splitter: mechanics

The simplest mechanical wood splitter resembles a well crane. The design is one to one, only a cutter and handles are fixed instead of a bucket. The connection of the rack (racks) and the crossbeam can be made the simplest - articulated. Only good lubrication is required.

The principle of operation is probably clear to everyone. The block is placed on a support, the lever is pulled down sharply, due to the force of inertia, the chisel gains significant force and splits the block. The process is repeated until logs of the required thickness are obtained.

The simplest wood splitter can be assembled with your own hands from several pipes

It's easy to assemble such a mechanical wood splitter with your own hands, and, literally, from what is - pipes, a corner of any size, you can even use an ax as a cutter. In addition, such a structure can be made collapsible so that it can be carried.

There are a lot of cons. Chopping wood requires considerable effort. Moreover, more efforts are made to stop the cleaver's course after the log has fallen apart. The second minus - such a log splitter occupies a solid area, because the longer the lever, the less effort you need to apply. Nevertheless, even such a primitive mechanical device greatly reduces the complexity of the process.

One of the options - the cleaver is welded to a square pipe filled with concrete

In this design, the cleaver must be heavy. Therefore, the blade itself is welded to an all-metal blank. A more affordable option is to weld it to a pipe (round or square) and fill it with concrete. Agree, making such a wood splitter with your own hands is within the power of anyone who knows how to handle welding machine.

Spring log splitter

There is a modified design of a manual mechanical wood splitter, which, with a smaller size, splits firewood better, requires less effort. In this model, the main working unit is a spring, which is fixed on the bed, and its upper part rests against a stationary crossbar, on which the cleaver is fixed.

Spring log splitter design

In this design, the main effort - to hold the cleaver after the log has split - is taken over by the spring. Accordingly, the main thing is to choose a spring and an emphasis so that minimal efforts are applied, but they were sufficient to split even complex, knotty block of wood. The spring support can be made movable. Then you can adjust the parameters for specific conditions. In reality, "readjustment" is required for a specific person. If one person will work with the tool, then everything can be done stationary, choosing the height empirically.

It is equally important to make a movable joint between the frame and the lever, on which the cleaver is fixed. The best option is bearings. They must be of high quality, preferably self-leveling.

Ready-made homemade spring log splitter

The minimum height of a homemade wood splitter is about 800 mm. But then you either have to work by bending over, or install the machine on the table / bed. A more comfortable option that requires minimal effort is made to fit your height. Determine at what height it is convenient for you to stand the log, to this figure you add the height of the block itself, you get the height of the bed. In this case, you will also have to bend over, but only when you set the chock on the stand, and not every time the cleaver is lowered.

To add mobility structures, the frame is welded, on one side of which the wheels are fixed, on the second, stops are welded. Making such a wood splitter with your own hands is somewhat more difficult, but if there is a spring and bearings, this is such a difficult task.

Inertial vertical log splitter

Another simple option for self-production. To make such a wood splitter with your own hands, you need two pipes of a larger and smaller diameter. You will also need a heavy plate - a base, and, in fact, the piercing part - a cutter / cleaver.

The design is one of the simplest, little effort is required. A thick-walled pipe is fixed on a massive platform, or better - a pin. Height - about a meter. This is the leading pipe. A cleaver moves freely along it, which is welded to the rings of a pipe with a slightly larger diameter than the leading pipe. He chops wood in the following way: lift up the cleaver and release it. You can accelerate down a little. Due to the force of gravity, the log splits.

But this mechanical wood splitter does not immediately split all block of wood. To increase its effectiveness, a weighting agent can be made on the cleaver. It can be "added" as needed. The second option is to hit the column with a hammer a couple of times. This method is good if the cutter is stuck in the wood. An alternative is to raise it together with the block up and sharply lower it. But it's easier to swing a hammer.

Electric wood splitters

A manual wood splitter, of course, makes it easier to harvest firewood, but it still requires solid physical effort. Not so much as they are spent waving with an ordinary cleaver, but still ... The electric motor helps to make the efforts even less. On its basis, wood splitters of various designs are made. But making such a wood splitter with your own hands is more difficult. Here, the device is more complex, and at least minimal knowledge of electricians is required - desirable connect the motor through the starter, and with the buttons "start" and "start".

Screw (conical)

One of the most common models is a cone or screw log splitter. The only difference between them is the absence / presence of threads on the piercing element, which in this model is made in the form of a cone.

The cone splitter speeds up the harvesting of firewood

Churbaks split due to the fact that the cone rotated by the motor cuts into the wood, gradually tearing it apart. In large logs, the edges are first chipped off, then the middle is torn apart.

Taper and thread options

First, the cutting part was turned into a smooth cone. If you use a smooth cone, you have to lean on the block quite hard during work so that the cylinder "bites" into the wood. The process is much easier if a thread is cut on its surface. In this case, the block is somehow screwed onto the screw, and then cracks.

Dimensional drawing of threaded cone for screw wood splitter

The main thing is to correctly make a threaded cone. If you have a lathe and work experience, you can try to do it yourself. If not, you will have to order. The thread is made different, but the following parameters are recognized as optimal: a step of 7 mm, a depth of 3 mm (minimum - 2 mm). Another important point is that the depth of the seat on the motor gearbox is at least 70 mm.

Wood splitter screw

If there is a threaded cone, making this wood splitter with your own hands will not be difficult.

Electric motor and gearbox

You need an electric motor powerful enough (2 kW or more or 5-9 l / s), but with a low speed: 250-600 rpm. At 250 rpm and below, it splits very slowly, and if the rpm is more than 500, it is dangerous to work, as it can pull the log out of the hands.

Wood splitter with a screw fitted directly to the crankshaft

If you manage to find an engine with such parameters, you can put the made lance (screw) directly on the crankshaft (pictured above). If there are more revolutions, it is necessary to install a reduction gear or make a chain or belt drive to reduce the speed.

The ratio is calculated depending on the engine speed. For example, there is a 900 rpm engine. Having made a 1: 2 gearbox, we get 450 rpm. Just the best option.

Reducing gear for screw wood splitter

Transmissions can be belt or chain. Chains work many times louder, require constant strokes, and it is usually more expensive to carve sprockets with the necessary parameters. Double belt drive is desirable (as in the photo above). In this case, there will be less slippage.

Where to place the motor

If the design provides for the presence of a transmission, it is better to put the motor below, and fix the screw itself on the working surface. Choose the height of the working surface for your height so that you do not have to work in an incline.

A safer model. Making such a wood splitter with your own hands will make your life much easier

There is also such a parameter as the height of the screw above the working surface. The gap from the table to the cylinder should be in the region of 8-20 cm. It should not be placed higher - it can turn small-diameter blocks of wood. The optimal distance is 8-12 cm. Even small blocks of wood do not turn.

Hydraulic wood splitter

The hydraulic log splitter is the most powerful, but also the most difficult and expensive to manufacture. In addition to the bed, engine and cutting knives, a hydraulic cylinder with sufficient power is required. They are not cheap. In addition, an oil tank and a pump are needed.

Hydraulic splitting device

A hydraulic splitter for firewood develops solid efforts, therefore, in its manufacture, metal of considerable thickness is used - 6-10 mm, depending on the drive power. The developed effort is quite enough to break the chock into 6-8 logs at a time. Therefore, knives are made in the form of an "asterisk".

A hydraulically driven cleaver is equipped with a complex cutter, which breaks the block into several logs at once

When knives are made, they are spaced a few centimeters apart. So that there is only one in the work.For example, first - horizontal, then - vertical, then - right and finally - left. In this case, reinforce each of the knives by welding reinforcing plates on the back. It is advisable to use hard steel, having previously sharpened it according to the same principle as on cleavers.

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