Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Black powder log splitter

That’s about $5,000 of black powder per cord….I’ll continue to do it by hand. I find it therapeutic while splitting especially when I have some stress to relieve. A week or 2 back I must’ve had a lot of stress because I cut and split 3 cords by hand in about 6 hours of time (including breaks). The pile looks burly but it was alder and not madrone (Arbutus) so it was actually fun. 😉

It would be cheaper and easier to hire a couple Mexicans for an afternoon and get it stacked too.

Back in the old days, they generally didn’t do things the way that cost more and took longer.

Splitting rounds is a lot easier at 20 degrees or colder. Really pops apart at 20 below. Usually.

Did I miss something or was they beating on that thing with the charge already in it ?
Seems with an open top a bit of powder could bounce out onto top plate and get smacked , may get into charge , may not .
Kenneth

I was thinking the same thing. There's no way I'm beating on a charge of powder like that.

What could go wrong with filling a steel container with black powder and hitting it with a steel maul??

I remember a friend of Dad’s using one. I was probably 8 or 10 years old at the time, so I don’t remember how much powder or anything. I just remember the bang and gathering up the split wood and loading it on a truck.
He’d pound it into a chunk and then place another chunk over the wedge, or turn it upside down so the wedge wouldn’t go flying off.
That guy also had a homemade black powder cannon. About 3 feet long and the bore was suited to fire a pop can full of sand or cement. IIRC, this thing took an 8 ounce charge of 2f.
I remember we put a popcan through a ‘65 Chevy Caprice longways! Through the trunk, both seats, dash, firewall and out through the grill! Never did find the can!
7mm

Coulda saved him alot of money by cutting it closer to the ground, duh.