permaculture

[Misha Gale-Sinex <mgs2369@attbi.com>]

Howdy, all--

Here's a gadgetry question for you.

I have periodic bouts with painful (chemical-toxin-related) swelling 
in my joints. This makes one of my favorite tasks--splitting 
kindling--impossible. Well, not impossible, but the impact of even a 
low velocity wack generates more torture than I care to experience. 
And if I don't shove my body during these bouts of pain, it passes a 
lot faster than if I add impact trauma to it.

The woodstove has to be fed regardless. The routine here is to start 
with 14" or 16" split logs, mostly Doug-fir, and use an axe or 
similar tool to take off corners and poinks, simultaneously making 
kindling and carving the log into a more compact, slower-burning 
shape.

I have been researching various body-friendly gadgets for this 
second-tier splitting that don't use fossil fuels. One that I'm 
considering is an American-made version of a European tool, called 
here the Wood Wiz:
http://www.woodwiz.com/

Basically a four-pound weight that one throws down a shaft, attached 
to a splitting head, whose cutting edge gets planted in a seasoning 
crack to start. This way the impact is fully transferred to the log, 
and recoil of the sliding weight, rather than the tool-user's joints.

Has anyone used one of these things?

What's been your experience with it?

Any other tools that folks recommend?

I've also seen a foot-pump powered hydraulic splitter, the Mini Splitter.
http://www.minisplitter.com/

It's considerably more complex and expensive than the Wood Wiz. 
Anybody used one of those?


peace
mish






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michele Gale-Sinex

Home office:            360-459-5683
Home office fax:                Same as above, phone first for enabling
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Sometimes a man's gotta do what a woman wouldn't even consider.
--Red Green