I've got a shitload of firewood, one of these, and no idea

>>873285

It's not hard. place dominant hand close to head, non-dominant hand near base, lift over shoulder, tighten your non-dominant hand, and swing, sliding your dominant hand down the shaft. Contrary to popular belief, you don't want your maul stupidly dull as you do want it to be able to go into the grain from above, sharpen it until it has a burr or just before, but not much further.

10 seconds of google gave me this video, and this is pretty much how you do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soOJDRlRUQM

Quiet audio. Just remember as with all long handled bladed tools such as axes and mauls and whatnot, accuracy is a million times more important than speed and power, so don't swing hard, swing well.

To process logs into firewood, you have to cut the logs into stove-length "rounds". Your actual desired stove-length will vary according to the stove it is to be used in. I find 18" a good size for my little wood stove. Outdoor wood furnaces will take much larger sizes. Then you take a "round" and stand it on end and split it with the splitting maul. Knot holes will be hard to split through, so try to avoid those.

Some of the tough pieces I "baton" by placing a single-bitted axe on it and striking the back of the axehead with a 2.5lb sledgehammer. Crude, but it gets the job done.

>>873285
If the wood requires a decent amount of force I like to start with the head hanging completely behind my back, arms bent overhead but tense. Then dip into a quarter squat, and quickly straighten again, bringing the maul overhead. Finally complete the swing with a little arm involvement, letting gravity do the work, ending in a quarter/half squat depending on how much force is required. This is what let's me go on the longest because it saves the back while letting the legs do most of the work gravity doesn't do.

>>873285
Firewood noobs sometimes need to be told to set the round on end and split it from the end. The cut end. Not the side; not the part of the log that had bark on it. Much harder to split it from the side.

File: slide maul.jpg (7KB, 145x461px) Image search: [Google]

7KB, 145x461px

Also, if you see one of these at a yard sale, snag it. It's called a slide maul. If I can alternate between my splitting maul and the slide maul, I can work longer.

set the log on a hard surface so it's standing upright and hit it with the sharp end of the maul

Also if it's fresh cut wood it will be very difficult if not impossible to split by hand

If so cut it into about 18-20" logs, stack it up neatly and wait 6 months

Hold your splitting maul in front of you so it's horizontal, should end up being about waist high.

Set up a stump, and your piece of firewood or round. Your axe should rest on top of this the handle being horizontal.

Lift your axe above your head and bring it down, bending at the knee as you do so. Do not aim for the middle of your firewood/round unless it is "small" aim about 3-4 inches from the edge. That should be sufficient to split it.

When you bring it down and it does not split, or it split and leaves a large piece that needs to be split again, set it up and going around the edges breaking it to the size you want or need.

If you axe gets fetched up in the wood, raise your axe turning it so that when you bring your axe down you are hitting the hammer side. Gravity should either split the piece of wood stuck to it, or dislodge it.

Splitting axes and mauls do not need to be shaving sharp, but filing it occasionally to maintain some semblance of an edge is helpful.

>>873341
These work like shit.

>>873341
>slide maul

Sounds like your weak ass needs to spend some time on /fit/

File: IMG_0350.jpg (18KB, 281x281px) Image search: [Google]

18KB, 281x281px

>>873285
You don't got a spike?

That think you have is nice if the axe works worth a damn. Once you have your ~18" sections of tree cut up with a chainsaw, use the axe for anything smaller (maybe like <10") and for large sections, sick the spike in the center and whack it with the hammer part and it will split it into manageable pieces.

Otherwise if you have a second sledgehammer, looks like you could probably stick the axe part into larger logs and hit the back of it with the second hammer.

>>873285
have you let the wood cure?

>>873482
Come back and talk to me when the woodstove is your only source of heat and you harvest all your wood on your own property and are too poor to buy a hydraulic splitter. Having more than one method of splitting helps prevent long-term repetitive strain injuries. Slide maul works great for those small rounds that you only need to halve or quarter. Precise.

>>873478
Alder and fir are the two species I harvest off my place. Got some horse chestnut from a friend when one came down. The small alder and the horse chestnut split well when fresh. Fir split better when cured. So, I think the species has a lot to do with it.

File: electric+log+splitters.jpg.cf.jpg (24KB, 506x400px) Image search: [Google]

24KB, 506x400px

>Wasting time with an axe.
Life's short. If you're cutting firewood, there's 5 million mother things you could be doing.
Pic related, the proper tool for the job.

>>873661
That's hardly faster if you're even remotely /fit/.

like one of those splitting axe heads dude. you know like with the wings that flare out like a wedge on both side of the axe blade. get one of those it makes life easier. get that badboy sharp then warm up with some low squats, wear gloves and eye-protection and setup on a good stump. you'll be filling up ford truck beds faster than paul bunion and his blue oxe babe

File: IMG_1474.jpg (4MB, 4032x3024px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 4032x3024px

>>873664
This, now if you had one of these...you would be done in no time

File: s-l300.jpg (15KB, 300x194px) Image search: [Google]

15KB, 300x194px

>>873341
Not really useful unless you have 30"+ logs to split.

>>873550
this

>>873664
Confirmed never used a splitter hooked up to the PTO on your tractor.

>>873823
On the contrary. I like it for the small stuff because I can split it very precisely with the slide maul. Many years of splitting firewood and I still don't have the best aim.