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.
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