Black Powder Wedge

[toolmaker]

Anyone ever split a tree with Black powder?
Sounds like fun...........

 

[Duce]

Sounds like you are trying to make a bomb!

 

[5155]

After the war Dad shot limestone.
He wouldn't teach us anything.
Later I became stone mason and cutter.
He still wouldn't lol.
The elder masons were also tight lipped.

 

[Thumper88]

I’ve seen trees shot off the stump with dynamite by my pops. I’ve never done it but I can ask him about the method.

 

[broadwayline]

Wut.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

Wut.

 

[Ryan Browne]

I remember seeing a YouTube video (I think it was YouTube) where they used dynamite or some old school explosive for splitting monster logs for the firewood to feed big fireplaces. Might have been for the Biltmore estate or a similar place. 65 fireplaces at Biltmore so I imagine they used a BUNCH of wood!

 

[Junkyard]

Never used it for felling but have use similar devices to pop a core loose down in a drilled shaft. That stuff went away post 9-11. Didn’t take much to break it loose so we could pull it. Too much and you’d have pieces to auger out instead lol.

 

[OldJack]

Search YouTube for "Linda's sawmill cinema black powder"

 

[Kerfed]

Reg Coates posted a couple videos using charges for hazard trees a while back.

 

[Ford3000]

I’ve seen trees shot off the stump with dynamite by my pops. I’ve never done it but I can ask him about the method.

Yep, a shovel and a stick of dynamite, no oil, fuel, saw trouble, hard to beat.

 

[Swanman62]

These are exactly what my wife’s grandpa described using with his dad in the 1940s. They used to cut pulpwood logs at 6’ lengths and sometimes were required to split them. If they couldn’t beat them apart with traditional wedges, they would use a powder wedge. He thought he might still have one around if he can find it.

 

[blacksmith]

That tool is pretty cool! A buddy of mine worked at a mill and they did it a little different. He said that he would do a plunge cut in the middle of the log and make the plunge cut 3/4's of the way through, then he would pack it with black powder (the amount depended on the diameter of the log, he never told me the formula), then insert a cannon fuse and pack the rest very tightly with saw chips (using wedges and a hammer to pack the chips), light the fuse and run!

He said that it always worked like a charm as long as there was no knots in the log.

 

[Swanman62]

That tool is pretty cool! A buddy of mine worked at a mill and they did it a little different. He said that he would do a plunge cut in the middle of the log and make the plunge cut 3/4's of the way through, then he would pack it with black powder (the amount depended on the diameter of the log, he never rold me the formula), then insert a cannon fuse and pack the rest very tightly with saw chips (using wedges and a hammer to pack the chips), light the fuse and run!

He said that it always worked like a charm as long as there was no knots in the log.

It makes sense. I wonder why they don’t sell these at the hardware store next to the axes and mauls? Before I went hydraulic, I could have saved a lot of time and energy busting apart stringy, knotty rounds. I suppose a guy could build his own...

 

[Hinerman]

I wonder why they don’t sell these at the hardware store next to the axes and mauls?

I can't imagine why....LOL

 

[justoldsaws]

From Australia

 

[Swanman62]

From Australia
View attachment 288784

That is a great old ad! Do you have any idea what the approximate date of the ad is? A carpenter friend of mine always tells of being able to buy blasting caps and explosives at the lumber yard in the 70s and maybe even early 80s. The good old days when a person could blow stuff up without a license or fear of imprisonment...

 

[justoldsaws]

That is a great old ad! Do you have any idea what the approximate date of the ad is? A carpenter friend of mine always tells of being able to buy blasting caps and explosives at the lumber yard in the 70s and maybe even early 80s. The good old days when a person could blow stuff up without a license or fear of imprisonment...

At the bottom left of thr page its dated 11 1934.

 

[justoldsaws]

Thought you all would like this as well

 

[Swanman62]

At the bottom left of thr page its dated 11 1934.

Good catch. I often miss the obvious! That is around the era that I have heard the old timers talk about using these.