by ToneWood » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:49 pm
I split smaller size willow and a similar sized piece of oak with wedges recently, for bowl blanks. I use 2 or 3 v. old metal wedges in various states of decay (I've tidied them up and sharpened them) but I reckon two decent metal wedges and perhaps a home-made wooden wedge (or just a piece of log/limb - for when the crack opens wide) would be enough. I used to use sledge hammers (6-10lb) but it seemed like overkill, so I recently bought a 4lb Spear & Jackson Lump hammer specifically for this task, and it has worked well for me so far, giving me more control (not an issue for firewood but it is for bowl blanks). Safety glasses are a good idea. Maybe an smallish sharp axe, to cut any cross-fibres that might remain.
For shorter lengths of firewood, a splitting maul (like a cross between a sledge hammer & an axe) can be handy/faster.