Aluminum felling wedges

[davidwyby]

I have some ideas, gonna make some. How bad do they mess up a chain if you hit them? Any other input? Thanks

 

[farminkarman]

I have some ideas, gonna make some. How bad do they mess up a chain if you hit them? Any other input? Thanks

View attachment 344312

Not sure what aluminum will do to a chain if you hit it...I would guess it will take the corner off, but I doubt it will rip chunks off the cutters. I would think the heads of the wedges will get pretty beat up if you drive them with a regular axe.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

Metal is metal when you hit it with a chain , Bad idea imo.

 

[Stevetheboatguy]

I have some ideas, gonna make some. How bad do they mess up a chain if you hit them? Any other input? Thanks

View attachment 344312

I wanted to make a few but not having access to material put it out of my reach. Was going to make them with a steel cap pinned through to limit the mushroom effect. Ended up just buying some 10-12in steel splitting wedges and using them. Heavy as chit, but they work great. Will ruin a chain in a heartbeat unfortunately. I'm sure the alloy wedges will be much more forgiving on a chain.


Steven

 

[davidwyby]

Apparently magnesium makes a real good wedge but I have alum, not mag.

 

[Philbert]

I hate to keep referring to threads in the “other forum “, but too much to re-type.

There are links to guys casting their own, and more importantly, to companies selling them today, at reasonable prices.

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/wedge-renewal.299485/page-3#post-7442654

Posts around #57 - #75

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Google ‘aluminum chainsaw wedges’, or something similar



These were some of what I found. Did not buy any.

Philbert

 

[JimBear]

Apparently magnesium makes a real good wedge but I have alum, not mag.

By the time you figure in your saw & machining time you would probably be ahead to buy plastic wedges. A wire edm would probably be the best for making them, less waste material & no babysitting while the machine is running.

 

[Philbert]

This video will get @davidwyby ‘s attention!

Philbert

 

[davidwyby]

By the time you figure in your saw & machining time you would probably be ahead to buy plastic wedges. A wire edm would probably be the best for making them, less waste material & no babysitting while the machine is running.

I have something up my sleeve for the aluminum ;-). I wasn’t going to bother but I have a bunch of these chunks as remnants.

 

[JimBear]

@davidwyby
What type of aluminum are you using ?

 

[davidwyby]

This video will get @davidwyby ‘s attention!
https://youtu.be/rA5RjxopyFI

Philbert

I also have plenty of scrap aluminum….

 

[davidwyby]

@davidwyby
What type of aluminum are you using ?

Eh…std normal, 6061?

 

[Philbert]

I also have plenty of scrap aluminum….

I thought about making one of those backyard casting furnitures (like I need another hobby), until I saw that the wedges were commercially available.


Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Lots of videos like this one too!

Philbert

 

[JimBear]

Eh…std normal, 6061?

6061 is pretty common, if it was heat treatable alum alloy maybe it would be the cats meow for a wedge.

We used several different types when I worked at the machine shop.

 

[Philbert]

Would you want it heat treated? I thought the whole point was to keep it ‘soft’ in case of chain contact.

Philbert

 

[Woodpecker]

I used to really dig aluminum wedges until a really smart person came up with the hard head wedges

https://www.gaparboristsupply.com/Hardhead-Wedges

I’ve got multiple sizes but probably beat hundreds of trees over with this wedge.

The plastic does zero damage to chain. It’s cool if your looking to repurpose scrap, but my experience has been that the hard heads have been superior to all aluminum wedges.

 

[JimBear]

Would you want it heat treated? I Thoth’s whole point was to keep it ‘soft’ in cas of chain contact.

Philbert

I was thinking of just heat treating the head & leaving about the other 2/3 - 3/4. A person would have to check the material characteristics to see if would stay together & take the punishment.

 

[davidwyby]

What I want to do is prevent wedges popping back out, can’t do it with plastic.