Making a wood splitter with your own hands. Screw wood splitter: types, pros and cons, making your own hands How to make a wood splitter yourself

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

Mechanical wood splitters

If the volumes of firewood harvesting are small, a mechanical wood splitter can easily handle them. They are distinguished by their simplicity of design, the minimum number of complex nodes, and the fact that the costs are minimal, even if there are no suitable pieces of iron on the farm.

Do-it-yourself simple wood splitter: mechanics

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

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

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

There are many cons. Chopping firewood requires a lot of effort. Moreover, more effort is applied to stop the course of the cleaver after the log has fallen apart. The second minus is that such a wood splitter occupies a solid area, because the longer the lever, the less effort must be applied. However, even such a primitive mechanical device greatly reduces the complexity of the process.

One option - 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. More affordable option- weld to a pipe (round or square) and pour it with concrete. Agree, to make such a wood splitter with your own hands is within the power of anyone who knows how to handle

Spring splitter

There is a modified design of a manual mechanical wood splitter, which, with smaller sizes, 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 the stationary crossbar, on which the cleaver is fixed.

In this design, the main force - to hold the cleaver after the log has split - is assumed by the spring. Accordingly, the main thing is to choose a spring and an emphasis so that minimal efforts are applied, but they are sufficient to split even complex, knotty logs. The stop under the spring can be made movable. Then you can adjust the parameters for specific conditions. In reality, "reconfiguration" is required for a specific person. If one person will work with the tool, then you can do everything stationary, choosing the height empirically.

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

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

You can work with one hand or come up with a clamp for installing logs (more safe)

To add mobility designs, a frame is welded, on one side of which wheels are fixed, and stops are welded on the second. 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.

Wood splitter inertial vertical

Another easy option for self-manufacturing. 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 - the base, and, in fact, the piercing part - the cutter / splitter.

The design is one of the simplest, little effort is required. A thick-walled pipe, or better, a pin, is fixed on a massive platform. The height is about a meter. This is the lead pipe. A cleaver moves freely along it, which is welded to the rings of a pipe of a slightly larger diameter than the leading pipe. He splits firewood as follows: lift up the cleaver and release it. You can give a little acceleration down. Due to the force of gravity, the log splits.

A heavy cleaver is the key to success in this model

But this mechanical wood splitter does not immediately split all logs. 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 lift the block together up and down sharply. But it's easier to swing a hammer.

Wood splitters with electric drive

Manual wood splitter, of course, facilitates the preparation of firewood, but still requires solid physical effort. Not as much as they are spent waving an ordinary cleaver, but still ... An electric motor helps to make efforts even smaller. Based on it, wood splitters are made various designs. 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, preferably.

Screw (conical)

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

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

Cone and Thread Options

First, the cutting part was turned into a smooth cone. If you use a smooth cone, when working, you have to lean quite heavily on the block of wood 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 log is, as it were, screwed onto the screw, and then splits.

The main thing is to correctly make a cone with a thread. If there's lathe and work experience you can try to do on your own. If not, you will have to order. The thread is made different, but the following parameters are recognized as optimal: pitch 7 mm, depth 3 mm (minimum - 2 mm). More important point- the depth of the seat on the motor gearbox - at least 70 mm.

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

Electric motor and gearbox

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

If you managed to find an engine with such parameters, you can put the spike (screw) made 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.

Gears can be belt or chain. Chains work many times louder, require constant strokes, and it usually costs more to grind sprockets with the required parameters. The belt drive is desirable double (as in the photo above). In this case, there will be less slippage.

Chain drive is noisier but more reliable "Extension" for the screw - to keep the workspace away from the motor or belts / chains

Where to place the motor

If the design provides for a gear, it is better to put the motor at the bottom, and fix the screw itself on the work surface. Choose the height of the work surface according to your height so that you do not have to work on an incline.

More secure 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 work surface. The gap from the table to the cylinder should be in the region of 8-20 cm. You should not place it higher - it can turn blocks of small diameter. The optimal distance is 8-12 cm. Even small logs do not turn.

Hydraulic wood splitter

The hydraulic wood splitter is the most powerful, but also the most complex and expensive to manufacture. In addition to the bed, motor and cutting knives, you need a hydraulic cylinder of sufficient power. They are not cheap. In addition, an oil tank and a pump are also needed.

Hydraulic splitter for firewood it 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 up the chock into 6-8 logs at a time. Because knives are made in the form of an "asterisk".

In the manufacture of knives, they are separated from each other by several centimeters. So that there is only one in operation. For example, first - horizontal, then - vertical, then - right and at the end - left. At the same time, reinforce each of the knives by welding reinforcing plates on the back. Steel is desirable to use hard, after sharpening it according to the same principle as on cleavers.

A simple do-it-yourself wood splitter

The easiest system for self-manufacturing devices for chopping firewood are cone wood splitters. They are based on a threaded steel cone, which is driven in rotation by an electric motor. The difficulty in creating such a wood splitter can only be created by a cone, since it will need to be machined on a turning unit.

Before you make a wood splitter with your own hands, you need to purchase the following tools and materials:

power unit - electric motor or gasoline engine;
reducer;
bearings;
frame (preferably metal);
working cone - gimlet.

All these tools and materials for the wood splitter are selected individually, there is no specific scheme. In this case, the device for chopping firewood will meet all conditions with the utmost precision and provide the required working performance.

A home-made wood splitter, based on a threaded cone, is machined on a lathe, then with the help of a grinder, a spiral thread is made on it. Next, the cone is mounted on a shaft with bearings, where it is fixed with a pin for further removal from the shaft and replacement of the gimlet.

During chopping firewood, the cone can jam in the log, so the ability to remove it from the shaft is necessary.

Next, a gearbox or spacer made of pipes and nuts is mounted between the motor and the shaft. The gearbox is necessary in order to increase torque, reduce speed, and also ensure stable air pressure before each blow. The spacer of pipes and nuts is designed to tension the chain.

Homemade wood splitter is ready, you just need to turn on the mechanism and set the cone in motion. When it starts to rotate, a log is aimed at it with the help of a stop. Thus, the working cone, screwing into the wood, will split it in half.

DIY hydraulic wood splitter

To process a large number of logs for firewood, it is recommended to make or buy a hydraulic model of a wood splitter. In such a device, the main power component is a cylinder, the rod of which extends under the action of fluid pressure inside. For this purpose, a pump and an electric motor are provided in the design.

To make a wood splitter with your own hands, it would be logically correct to use drawings with diagrams. The hydraulic cleaver can be made on a stem or in a stop design. This device is static, which increases the strength of the entire structure.

The lightest model is assembled as follows: a car jack is mounted on the platform at the bottom of the vertical frame. Then, instead of the cutting element, the knife, a conical wedge is installed. The upper part of the frame is detachable, for easy adjustment to the size and length of the split log. The wedge is brought to the wood with the help of a central screw, then the jack enters the splitting process. However, a do-it-yourself hydraulic wood splitter, mounted on a fixed frame, requires some knowledge and skill, so it is not recommended to make such an apparatus without experience.

Orienting when choosing a specific modification, you need to take into account the following characteristics of the wood splitter:

Splitting force, depending on the dimensions of the cylinder and the power of the electric motor. It ranges from 4-10 tons.
The maximum size of the workpiece is 0.5-2.0 m.
The location of the wood is vertical or recumbent.
Motor power depending on the type of engine - from 1.2-2 kW.

The hydraulic wood splitter has a large throughput, in this regard, it is often used for commercial purposes. However, it can also be installed at home, such a device contributes to a convenient and high-quality splitting of firewood for heating a house, a bathhouse and other subsidiary farms. Having built it with your own hands, you can save a considerable amount, but it is important to take into account the maximum diameter of the workpiece and the speed of its processing.

Chopping firewood is an extremely tedious process, associated with a certain danger and taking a lot of time and effort. That is why many people who have to do this work regularly try to purchase a special wood splitter or even make it themselves. Of course, in order to assemble a wood splitter with your own hands, drawings, photos, instructions are needed. But in addition, you need to know which model to give preference to.

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What are wood splitters

So, before answering the question of how to make a wood splitter with your own hands, you need to decide which model is the best solution for a particular user. To date, the most common three options:

hydraulic;
electric;
manual (inertial).

Now let's consider each of these options in more detail, so that the potential user can choose the most suitable mechanism for chopping firewood.

Hydraulic

Perhaps it is the hydraulic wood splitter that is most in demand. The fact is that it is he who has the greatest performance.

When working with such equipment, you can easily and quickly cut almost any wood, including wet and most durable.

The main element of this log splitter is a hydraulic cylinder. A log is laid on it, after which the cylinder, under fluid pressure, pushes a sharpened blade.

Due to the significant pressure, the work is done in a second. High performance allows you to chop a large amount of firewood in the shortest possible time.

Important! When choosing the material from which the blade will be made on a hand-assembled wood splitter, give preference to the hardest possible steel grades so that you do not have to sharpen it often.

Alas, it is this type of equipment that is the most difficult to manufacture. Therefore, in order to design a hydraulic wood splitter with your own hands, the drawings will not be enough - you also need to have considerable experience working with such mechanisms.

Electric wood splitter

A more budget option, which also does not require special forces - observing certain safety precautions, even a ten-year-old child can successfully work with him. The principle of operation is similar to hydraulic. However, here the blade does not split the log under the action of a hydraulic mechanism. Here is the main active force is an electric motor.

Thanks to a simpler device, it costs much less. And it will be much easier to assemble it yourself (if you have the appropriate components).

Important! When installing an electric log splitter, choose a slightly elevated location and be sure to place a rubber mat under it to avoid short circuits if the ground is wet after rain.

However, there are certain limitations here. First, you need to have a source of electricity nearby. However, in most dachas and private houses there are no problems with this. Second, make sure the wiring can handle the extra load. A wood splitter with a gearbox, both made by hand and factory, is equipped with a fairly powerful engine, and if the wiring is too weak, this can lead to knocking out traffic jams.

Manual (inertial) wood splitter

The scheme of this type of wood splitter is simple, which provides it with a certain popularity. No engine is needed for manufacturing, and even a person who is not too accustomed to working with his hands can cope with the assembly.

A blade is installed on a long, about one and a half meters, metal pipe. A chock is fixed under it, on which a log is installed. After that, the user simply lowers the main working part down with a swing.

Muscular strength combined with inertia easily splits most logs, which will be quite difficult to handle manually.

In some cases, the wood splitter is being finalized. For example, the working part is equipped with a spring from below, the other end of which is fixed near the chock. The user lifts the part with the blade manually, unbending the spring, and then abruptly releases it - under its weight and the tension of the spring, the blade delivers a strong blow, cutting even a problematic log with knots.

Also, a small load can be hung on the opposite end of the pipe - this will greatly facilitate the lifting process, although it will slightly reduce the impact power.

Finally, on metal pipe, in the area of the blade, you can hang an additional load. Raising the blade will be harder, but the blow will be much stronger.

The advantage of a manual or inertial wood splitter is simplicity, unpretentiousness and the ability to assemble from improvised means. But there is also a minus. You need to have a certain physical strength to successfully chop enough wood. And it will take much more time than when working with a hydraulic or electric device.

Which wood splitter to choose

The most common types of wood splitters are described above. They can be made by hand - some of them are easier, others are more difficult. But having a drawing homemade wood splitter everyone can install in their country house.

It is very important to decide which device will be a good choice for you. After all, the production will take a lot of effort, time, and money. Therefore, the possibility of error should be excluded.

Let's start with hydraulic. Its main advantage is high performance and ease of operation. But there is also a minus - it is complex, to create it you will need special equipment and certain skills that not every person has. Such equipment should be preferred in cases where the user will regularly work with a large amount of firewood.

The advantage of an electric wood splitter is its great simplicity and power, which is not inferior to a hydraulic one. A very good solution for an ordinary summer resident - you can easily prepare several cubic meters of firewood with such an assistant. And in order to heat the bath for the whole summer season, and during frosts to heat the main living space a little, this will be quite enough.

Finally, a manual wood splitter. As already mentioned, it is simple. Almost everything you need can be found at the ferrous metal collection point, paying no more than a few hundred rubles for the necessary components, and sometimes much less. But in order to work productively with him, you need to have good physical fitness.

Although it is easier to chop wood with an inertial wood splitter than with an ordinary cleaver, it is still quite difficult. Therefore, it is worth choosing it only for people who have remarkable strength, but at the same time do not want or are not able to work as a cleaver. However, if you need to split only a few chocks into logs, without risking your health (inept handling of an ax often leads to serious danger) and without getting too tired, this decision will be successful.

Wood splitter classification

In addition to those models that were described earlier, there are others. For example, with a cone-shaped cleaver. Very convenient solution, most often created on the basis of electrical equipment. Using any sufficiently powerful engine (suitable for a pump, motorcycle or even washing machine), you can easily produce high-quality equipment. The cone rotates at high speed - it is enough to bring a log to it and slightly push it to split along the fibers. There is no need to swing an ax - it will take a few seconds even for an inexperienced user to turn a heavy chock into a pile of logs suitable for burning in an oven.

Drawing wood splitter rack.

Drawings of a rack-and-pinion wood splitter are also popular - many users want to make it with their own hands. Why is he interesting? In general, it is similar to a conventional hydraulic one. There is only one difference here. If in most wood splitters a blade is driven into a log, then on a rack and pinion, on the contrary, the log splits against the blade. To do this, a blade is installed on a suitable platform (usually made of thick tin). A chock is placed in front of it, on which the movable part of the wood splitter presses. In a second, a thick, weighty log splits in half, then into four parts, and so on.

A simple mechanism for chopping firewood from improvised materials

Our people are distinguished by ingenuity and love for non-standard solutions. Therefore, many craftsmen make a mechanical wood splitter with their own hands. It is a frame, on one side of which a knife is fixed, and on the other, a tight spring. A chock is laid on the frame (most often not very large in order to easily split it at once), after which the spring is tightened. This is done both manually and with the help of a special gate. The spring is then abruptly released. She delivers a strong blow to the log, which splits on the knife. The mechanism is simple, but at the same time reliable, efficient and does not require much physical strength.

How to make a manual wood splitter with your own hands

Let's start from the very simple option- we will tell you how to make a manual wood splitter at home. In fact, this is not even a wood splitter, but a simple device that simplifies the process of chopping firewood and makes it safer.

For this you will need:

a thick metal sheet (7-10 mm thick) 150x600 mm in size - the future blade;
metal plate 5 mm thick and 300x300 mm in size - base;
metal rod (section can be either round or square, but not less than 20 mm) - about 3 meters.

Now let's start assembling. The scheme of a homemade wood splitter is as simple as possible. A thick sheet is cut into pieces: one 150x300 and two 150x150 millimeters. They are sharpened on one side and welded to a metal base in the shape of a cross.

The rod is cut into two parts: 1 and 2 meters. The first is welded to the base from the side, strictly perpendicular. The second is bent into a circle and welded to the first at a height of 30 cm.

That's all, the design is ready. Now insert a log into the ring formed by the rod, resting it against the sharpened cross, and strike from above with a sledgehammer - it will split into four neat parts.

How to make a spring wood splitter step by step

If you want to make a spring cleaver with your own hands, no drawings are needed - the diagram here is as simple as possible. You only need a few details:

metal corners;
two pieces of channel;
powerful spring (you can spring from a car);
a plate that acts as a knife (you can use an old cleaver);
hinge assembly;
a piece of pipe, the diameter of which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the spring;
weighting agent.

Once you have everything you need, you can start building:

Using one channel as a base, weld the second one perpendicular to it.
Prepare a platform for installing the spring.
Weld the pipe and spacers (corners) onto the base.
Make a cutout on the beam with a grinder through which the structure will be attached to the base.
Weld the beam.
Hang the beam with the articulated joint on the support.
Install the spring.
Fix the boulder on the movable beam.
Weld the weight on top of the boulder.

The design is ready - you can paint it to protect it from rust.

Wood splitter-carrot

That is what the people called the wood splitter, which uses a screw to split firewood. Here the design is more complicated - to assemble a screw wood splitter with your own hands, drawings, photos, instructions will be required. Before you get started, prepare:

the engine is powerful enough and provides a rotation speed of 200-250 rpm;
a cone with a screw thread with a diameter of 5-6 cm and a length of 20-22 cm;
two rotation supports;
chain;
shaft 30 cm long and 3 cm thick.

Drawing wood splitter carrot.

Problems usually arise when looking for a cone - it is easiest to order it from turners or buy it in a store, it is not too expensive. Now get to work:

Install the shaft on the bearing, weld the flange on the back.
Put the cone on the shaft, fix it.
Weld supports to the bearing to secure the structure to the table.
Make a spacer between the engine and the shaft - use it to tension the chain.
Install the structure on the table, fix and tension the chain between the flange and the motor.

If you use an electric motor, do not forget to protect the structure from moisture, and if possible, ground it.

How to make a hydraulic splitter

The hydraulic wood splitter is the most difficult. Typically, a gasoline engine from a car or motorcycle acts as a motor. It’s worth warning right away - its creation will cost a lot. But the comfort of work and productivity fully compensate for the costs. So, what is needed to assemble a do-it-yourself gasoline wood splitter , and how much will it cost?

Engine for 12-14 horsepower - 14,000.
Hydrodistributor - 3500.
Hydraulic cylinder 100x40x61 - 10500.
NSh32 - 1500.
Drive NSh - 4000.
Hubs from a VAZ-1500 car.
Pulley for the engine - 1000.
V-belts - 900.
40 liters hydraulic oil – 2500.
Couplings and high pressure hoses - 2500.
Flanges for NSh - 400.
Metal plate - 1000.
Metal profile - 4000.
Mounting material - 700.
Engine oil - 400.
Rubber hose and clamps - 300.
Paint - 600.
2 kg of electrodes f4mm and 5 kg f3mm - 1000.
Discs for a grinder (regular and cleanup) - 700.
Paint brush - 100.

In total, you will have to pay about 51 thousand rubles, and maybe more. If you have purchased all the necessary elements, you can get to work.

Assembling the frame

The assembly goes like this:

Weld a 30x30 mm corner to the 50 mm pipe - the hubs. You should get two triangles.
On the front axle, made from an angle of 60x60 mm, weld spacers from an angle of 30x30 mm.
Attach the wheels to the axle.
On the rear axle, weld the base on which you will lay the engine.
Weld a solid frame from the channel.
Assemble the movable structure from an 80 mm channel.
Weld a triangular platform from the channel, pushing the log onto the knife.
To prevent the log from falling, secure stops on both sides of the platform.

How to make a splitting knife

A good cleaver is the basis for comfortable and safe work. A piece of Kamaz spring will do. Fortunately, its manufacture is a relatively simple procedure - to make a cleaver for firewood with your own hands, drawings are not needed. But you can’t do without tools - you need a sharpening machine.

Sharpen the metal - the angle should be 60-70 degrees. Weld the knife onto the bed.

How to assemble the motor and oil tank

An empty propane tank can be used as an oil tank. The work is as follows:

Fill the balloon with water.
Without pouring out the water, cut the valve with a grinder.
Create a sump - separate a quarter of the volume of the cylinder by installing a steel partition at least 10 cm high.
Install the filter mesh equipped with a magnet 5 cm from the bottom. The filter will retain chips, increasing engine life.
Weld the pipe - oil will flow into the pump through it. The fence should not reach the very bottom so that the pump does not suck up debris.
Set the tank just above the pump using a level

How to make a wood splitter mobile

Do you want to be able to easily and quickly move a do-it-yourself wood splitter that weighs a centner or even more?

Equip it with small wheels, for example, from a garden wheelbarrow.

The most cautious users also install brakes on the wheels.

But you can use several bricks so that the structure stands securely in place.

What is the difference between a homemade wood splitter and a factory model

The main difference is cost. Even if you decide to make a hydraulic wood splitter, for which you will pay about 50 thousand rubles for components, you will still save a lot. After all, the cost of the factory starts at 100 thousand. You can’t even talk about a screw or manual one - they will cost several hundred or thousand rubles, because many households have everything you need or can be bought quite inexpensively.

Now you are well versed in the types of wood splitters and can easily make the right one.

There are several types of wood splitter designs. The differences between them are significant. They differ in the complexity of manufacturing the structure, in the degree of safety when working with them, in the convenience and speed of work. Consider in detail each type of wood splitter separately.

Manual wood splitter crowbar

This wood splitter is the easiest to manufacture. The principle of its operation is based on the energy of hitting the cleaver with a heavy object. The effect is almost the same as if you put an ax on a log and hit the butt of the ax with a sledgehammer. But this crowbar is more convenient to work with and the speed of work is higher.

Its advantage is that it is safe to use, easy to manufacture, and takes up little space. Does not require the delivery of each log to it. With it it will be convenient to move from one log to another. While working with it, the back remains straight, which is important when chopping large volume firewood. No need to bend over each log to split it.

But it requires the use of human physical strength and during operation it makes a loud metallic sound. To protect against sound, you will have to work with headphones.

Scrap-cleaver consists of only two parts. The first part is directly a cleaver with a guide tube, and the second part is shock. The shock part can be external, that is, wrap around the guide pipe, or internal - enter the inside of the guide pipe. For this cleaver to be effective, one rule must be observed in its manufacture. The part of the cleaver with the guide and the blade should be as light as possible, and the impact part as heavy as possible, but within reasonable limits, since the impact part will have to be raised manually. The greater the difference in mass between these two parts, the higher the efficiency of the cleaver.

In the manufacture of a scrap splitter, the main thing is to observe the rule of a large difference in the masses of the parts of the splitter and maintain a sufficient stroke length of the shock part to create a strong blow. This length should be approximately 50-60cm.

To make the first part of the cleaver as light as possible, you need to use a thin-walled pipe as a guide and make the cleaver blade narrow.

If during the impact the vibration is transmitted to the hands, then it can be significantly reduced if the handles are made of wood. If the handles are made of metal, then they need to be welded onto the heaviest and most massive impact part, this will also help reduce vibration.

To smooth the stroke of the shock part and reduce the sound of metal parts rubbing against each other, you should use polypropylene pipe between these parts.

To avoid rapid riveting of the metal at the point of impact of the two parts of the crowbar, the contact patch between them should not be too small.

For convenience, work with a scrap-cleaver of logs should be placed inside the old automobile wheel. This will prevent the split pieces from flying off the logs and they will always be in the same position.

Mechanical wood splitter on a spring.

This wood splitter, like the crowbar, uses the physical strength of a person. But physical strength is needed a little, only to unbalance the balancer with the cleaver. This wood splitter is a little more difficult to manufacture than a crowbar, but more effective.

The force that needs to be applied to split the logs is directed downwards, so there is practically no load on the back. Compared to a crowbar, it requires significantly less physical effort. The impact power depends not only on the physical strength of a person, but also on the mass of the cleaver. With this wood splitter, you can make a fairly powerful blow that will split almost any log. Pretty high performance.

But this wood splitter has large dimensions and weight. Traumatic, but no more than an ordinary ax. Requires the delivery of each log to it. A little more difficult to make than a crowbar.

The principle of operation of this wood splitter is based on the impact of a cleaver blade with a large mass. The task of a person is to bring the wood splitter's shoulder out of balance, that is, by moving down, you need to move the blade of the cleaver, and because of its large mass, it will go further by inertia. The return of the wood splitter arm to its original position occurs automatically by a spring.

Construction drawings of a wood splitter. Important points.

The drawings below show a wood splitter on a spring. In its manufacture, all pipes can be replaced with any others, the main thing is that there is enough structural rigidity. Instead of one thick-walled pipe with a section of 40x60x6 mm, two pipes welded together with a smaller wall thickness and a different section can be used.

The impact force of a given cleaver depends on the mass of its moving part. The greater the mass of the cleaver with the load, the greater the impact energy. The load can be collected from any heavy metal parts, for example, two pieces of rails can be welded. The main thing is that the load is as large as possible, ideally, it is necessary that the cleaver with the load weigh 50-55 kg.

The spring must be strong enough to keep the shoulder of the cleaver in a horizontal position. That is, there must be a balance between the mass of the cleaver with the load and the compression force of the spring. If there is not enough spring force, then you can add a second spring of smaller diameter by simply inserting it inside the first spring. The spring can be taken from the car, the approximate diameter of the spring is 110mm and the height is 450-500mm. In the compressed state, when the splitter arm is horizontal, the spring will be 300mm long.

An adjustable console will help to find a balance between the weight of the cleaver with a load and the force of the spring, the closer the cleaver is to the spring, the higher the console will rise.

Wood splitter drawing.

Frame drawing.

Cleaver drawing.

Console drawing.

Bracket drawing.

Electric screw wood splitter

This wood splitter is the simplest among electric wood splitters. Because of this, he acquired Lately popularity.

The principle of operation is based on splitting a log with a conical screw with a large thrust thread. This screw, screwing into the tree, splits it.

The screw wood splitter has significant drawbacks. It is energy intensive. Requires electricity. Compared to a crowbar and a wood splitter on a spring, it is difficult to manufacture. To make it, you need a conical screw with a thread, an electric motor, a gearbox, a chain with sprockets or belts with pulleys. Very traumatic. If handled carelessly, it can cause severe injury. There is a possibility of the propeller jamming in the log due to lack of torque.

We select the engine and increase the torque.

This type of wood splitter can be made with several constructive solutions. The most important thing is to achieve a large torque on the screw. This can be done in several ways:

put a powerful electric motor 5-7kw.

Use a heavy flywheel. The flywheel will make it difficult to start the engine, but with it there is less chance that the helical cone will jam in the tree. Since when spinning the flywheel, it gains a lot of kinetic energy, and in order to stop it, you need to create a lot of effort. Paired with a flywheel, you can use electric motors of small power 2-3 kW. The flywheel must be mounted on the motor shaft, and not on the intermediate shafts of the chain or belt drive. Only on the electric motor, the revolutions will be maximum, which means that the accumulated kinetic energy of the flywheel will also be maximum.

Use a gearbox, belt or chain drive to reduce the speed on the cone screw and increase the torque. A chain drive is preferable to a belt drive, as it eliminates slipping of the chain and sprocket. In this case, you can use electric motors of low power, but with high revolutions of about 3000. By reducing the revolutions using a gearbox or chain drive by 5 times, we increase the torque on the screw cone by the same amount.

The chain or belt drive must be selected in such a way that the number of revolutions on the cone screw is approximately 500-700 rpm. On too high speed the log can be snatched out of hand.

The height from the tip of the cone to the table should be 7-10 cm. If you make it higher or lower, then the logs will be hard to chop.

A plate must be welded under the cone, it will prevent the log from turning.

Safety precautions when working with an electric screw splitter.

It is necessary to work with a screw wood splitter without gloves. You can’t work in them, as the screw can catch a glove and tighten your hand. No belts or laces should hang from clothing that could get caught on the screw.

For an emergency stop of the screw splitter, an emergency stop pedal or a large emergency button must be provided. Moreover, it is not enough to turn off the power from the electric motor, since the shaft will still spin by inertia after the power is turned off. This is especially noticeable on machines with a flywheel. Therefore, for a quick emergency stop of the motor shaft, it is necessary to install an electromagnetic brake in a normally closed state on the machine. That is, without power supply, the brake is in a compressed state, when power is applied, the brake releases the shaft. Therefore, if the power is turned off, the brake will work and stop the motor shaft.

Logs to the cone wedge should only be fed vertically.

Electromechanical wood splitter with pusher and reducer.

This type of wood splitter is quite massive and energy-consuming. The cost of its manufacture is high, as it implies the presence of a powerful gearbox, but its performance is greater than that of a screw wood splitter.

The principle of operation of the wood splitter is based on a connecting rod mechanism. The gearbox turns the connecting rod, which slides along its guide towards the knife. The gearbox creates a fairly large force that can split almost any log.

Choice gearbox, motor and pulley diameters.

The gearbox can be used with a gear ratio of at least 1:20, but a gearbox with a ratio of 1:40 or higher is best suited. But not every gearbox with such a gear ratio is suitable. You need a gearbox that can withstand a lot of torque and not break. Therefore, when choosing a gearbox, you should pay attention to the diameter of the output shaft. It must be at least 40mm.

The number of revolutions on the output shaft of the gearbox should be within 11-14 rpm. To get such speed, you need an engine with a speed of 950 rpm and a gearbox with a gear ratio of 1:70. We get the speed of the output shaft of the gearbox 950 \\ 70 \u003d 13.5 rpm. If the engine and gearbox have different parameters, then to reduce the speed, it will be necessary to make an additional belt drive between the engine and the gearbox.

For example, a 1500 rpm motor and a gearbox with a gear ratio of 1:30. Calculate the diameters of the belt pulleys.

We consider to what speed the gearbox lowers. To do this, we divide the engine speed by the gear ratio of the gearbox. 1500 \ 30 \u003d 50 rpm. And we need speed in the range of 11-14 rpm. Therefore, it is necessary to additionally install a belt drive. Let's calculate what gear ratio should be on the pulleys to get 11-14 rpm. To do this, divide 50 revolutions by 14, we get 3.57. This gear ratio is a bit large for a belt drive. For one belt, the gear ratio should be no more than 1:3, otherwise the belt may slip when the log splitter comes across especially hard and knotty logs. Therefore, either a slower engine is needed or two pulleys are made and two belts are installed. Since this ratio is not much more than 1:3, it can be left as is.

Calculate the diameters of the pulleys. We will take a small diameter pulley ourselves for 150mm. Then the pulley of a larger diameter should be larger by the gear ratio we need. That is 150x3.57=535mm. Also, to reduce the likelihood of belt slippage on a small pulley, its diameter should be taken as large as possible. That is, a pulley with a diameter of 100mm has a greater chance of belt slippage than a pulley with a diameter of 150mm. On larger diameters, the belts will wear out more slowly.

Let's check the calculations. 1500 rpm divided by gear ratio 3.57 we get 420 rpm on a small pulley. Now we divide 420 rpm by the gear ratio of the gearbox 30 and get 14 rpm.

It is desirable to choose an engine with a power of 3 kW or more. If the engine is weak, then you can put a flywheel on its shaft, with it a low-power engine will stop much less from lack of torque at the moment of splitting knotty logs.

For this type of wood splitter metal carcass must be powerful enough, otherwise there is a possibility of the gearbox breaking off from the frame or deformation of the frame itself at the time of heavy load. The frame is best made from channels No. 12 or similar rolled metal.

It is advisable to make a wood splitter knife from hard hardened steel; spring steel 65G is well suited for these purposes. Flat springs are made from this steel. So, if the farm has a piece of such a spring, then it is ideal as a knife.

V crank length selection

The length of the crank, and, consequently, the length of the stroke of the pusher must be selected depending on the size of the logs. For example, logs about 40 cm long. We choose the same pusher stroke, that is, 40 cm. Since the pusher will not reach the knife a little by about 5 cm, the maximum distance between the pusher and the knife will be 5 + 40 = 45 cm. We take the length of the crank 2 times less than the stroke of the pusher, that is, 20 cm. This will be the distance along the centers of the shafts. The length of the crank is very important, because the shorter the length of the crank, the greater the force on the pusher.

Safety precautions when working with a wood splitter.

This wood splitter is quite traumatic. To make it less traumatic, an emergency shutdown button should be installed. It is desirable that this button be quite large and in the form of a mushroom. It is always easy to press such a button by simply hitting it with your hand. If you are right-handed, then the off button should be done under the left hand, since the right will be occupied by the log. Instead of an emergency button, you can install a pedal, then for the operation of the wood splitter, the foot must always keep the pedal depressed, and if the foot is removed, the wood splitter turns off.

When assembling a wood splitter on a connecting rod, some craftsmen make a gross mistake. They make sure that the connecting rod fits close to the knife with almost no play. You can't do that. Be sure to leave a gap of at least 5 cm. The log will split in any case, even if the connecting rod does not reach the knife a little, but in this case the hand will remain intact if it falls between the connecting rod and the knife.

Watch the video: electromechanical wood splitter with pusher and gearbox.

Electromechanical lath splitter.

This wood splitter can be called one of the most productive. Its movable knife is mounted on a gear rack, which is driven by a gear. In manufacturing, it is quite complicated, as it requires such parts as a gear rack, gear, flywheel, but the speed of its work covers all the disadvantages of manufacturing. I recommend watching a video about the work of a rack wood splitter and an overview of its design.

Waving an ax over a huge pile of firewood, you involuntarily think about how to ease this hard labor.

A chainsaw is not an assistant here, since it is designed for cross-cutting wood. Only in a hopeless situation with its help you can dissolve a board or beam. A thick wedge and a heavy hammer will help to split a particularly hard and thick log, but this work cannot be called productive.

To combine the high speed of chopping firewood with minimal physical effort, a screw wood splitter will help - a simple and reliable device. Its principle of operation is based on the ingeniously simple combination of a screw and a wedge.

An ordinary screw is easily screwed into wood, but at the same time it can only slightly push its fibers apart. But when a two-start thrust thread is applied to the steel cone, the desired result is achieved.

Expert advice! It is important to pay attention precisely to the type of thread: it is precisely the persistent two-thread that is needed, if you use a single-thread, you will have to force the block of wood onto the carrot cone. Ask your dealer for a two-start thrust thread. Otherwise, when using a single-start thread, you will have to push the logs onto the screw cone with great effort!

Only a two-way cone is easily screwed into a log, due to its wedge-shaped shape and persistent thread, it splits it into two parts.

There are two main design schemes for cone wood splitters. In the first, the screw cone is installed directly on the shaft of a low-speed electric motor with a power of 3-5 kW (the number of revolutions is not more than 500).

Another option is realized through the use of two-strand pulleys of different diameters and flexible drive belts. A small pulley is placed on the motor shaft, and a large pulley is placed on the shaft of the wood splitter screw.

The ratio of their diameters is selected so as to reduce the rotational speed of the screw compared to the engine speed by 2.5 - 4 times to 300-400 rpm.

It is possible to reduce the speed of rotation of the conical screw using a gear motor - a single unit in which the electric motor is structurally connected to the reduction gear. However, such models are not widely used in the market of screw splitters.

Those who want to make such a machine with their own hands should remember that the high speed of rotation of the screw cone (more than 500 rpm) increases the risk of injury, since in this case the log is difficult to hold in hands.

In order to reduce the risk of injury to the machine, a fixed steel wedge is placed under the screw cone, which prevents the log from jumping off.

The main types of screw wood splitters

Household cone wood splitter manufacturers produce both stationary and mobile versions. In the latter case, the frame is equipped with an axle with two wheels, thanks to which the machine can be freely moved to the place of chopping firewood.

According to the type of drive, screw cleavers are divided into electric and gasoline. In addition, there are models industrial type driven by the tractor power take-off shaft (PTO).

Electric wood splitters can work both from a single-phase network, and from a three-phase one. However, bringing three phases to your site is a rather expensive undertaking, so the owners country houses choose less powerful, but more practical single-phase models.

When choosing a wood splitter screw, pay attention to the type of cone thread. The metric thread is erased faster and when working with such a cone, there is a high probability of the log jumping off. The best option is a persistent thread, which fits better into the chock and lasts longer.

Estimated prices for wood splitters of screw type range from 16,000 to 38,000 rubles. The type of engine (220 V, 380 V, gasoline) has a significant impact on the price. A fully autonomous machine equipped with an internal combustion engine costs an average of 10-15% more than an electric one.

We make a wood splitter-screw on our own

The simplicity of design and impressive performance are strong arguments in order to make such a machine with your own hands.

The most important part - the screw cone for the wood splitter can be purchased at a specialized tool store or ordered from a turning shop. The cost of screws depends on the diameter (80-100 mm) and ranges from 1500 to 5000 rubles.

If you don’t want to search for pulleys and make the shaft yourself, then buy a ready-made wood splitter unit. It consists of a screw cone (carrot), a shaft with bearings and a two-strand pulley with a diameter of 200 mm. The estimated price of such a kit is from 3200 to 5600 rubles.

This solution will make it much easier and faster to make a screw wood splitter with your own hands. You will only have to draw a drawing of the machine, indicate the dimensions of the desktop, the design of the frame, the attachment points for the engine and the wood splitter.

From exotic options for homemade wood splitters should be called the installation of a small screw cone with a diameter of 30 mm on the shaft of a puncher or a powerful low-speed drill (1.5 kW, at 500-600 rpm).

However, this simple homemade wood splitter cannot be called universal and very effective in work. The maximum thickness of the split log at the perforator-wood splitter does not exceed 10-12 cm.

When the screw is deepened into the chock, it has a powerful torque, so it is quite difficult to keep it from turning with your hands. This problem can be eliminated by permanently fixing the hammer drill on a workbench.

Considering the possibility of self-manufacturing a screw screw for a wood splitter, it should be said that only experienced turners can do this work. There are stories on the net that it is powerful to carve a cone with the help of a grinder, but they cannot be classified as serious advice.

The accuracy of the manufacture of the thrust thread must be high, so not a single grinder can replace a good lathe and a high-quality cutter.

When ordering a conical screw for a wood splitter, leave the turner not only a detailed sketch, but also the parameters tested by the craftsmen in practice: taper 1: 2, two-start thread, pitch 5-6mm. The profile of the thread tooth should be the same as that of a wood screw.

Craftsmen who worked on home-made screw wood splitters write in their reviews that this process requires great care. Firewood should only be served with bare hands. The glove can easily be screwed onto the screw, which can seriously injure your fingers.

When splitting logs with large knots and chocks from the butt of the log, you need to be especially careful, since the screw often gets stuck in them and is difficult to remove if the engine does not have a reverse.

Useful video