Splitter wedge. Hard face or no?

[Stevetheboatguy]

Might be starting on my long awaited splitter build. Starting to gather materials and supplies again.

Was getting a list of wire to order and I thought maybe I should get some hard facing wire or rod for the pusher and wedge.

Any input?


Steven

 

[Scotts_4x]

I built one from scratch about 4 years ago, and everyone I know and myself have been using it constantly. I did not face any of it but did pit teeth on the plate. I would say hardfacing is money that does not need to be spent.

-Scott

 

[blades]

Save the cash on the hard face rod not needed. you could get a better grade of tool steel for the wedge vs hot or cold rolled 10 or 12 series. maybe 4140 or 8620 which does well with heat treat. in all reality it doesn't make that much difference.

 

[Al Smith]

Just regular mild steel is good enough.

 

[Timjus]

i made my wedges from ar400 plate.

 

[Johnmn]

i made my wedges from ar400 plate.

Mine too

 

[blades]

my own wedge is just a chunk of hot rolled plate I think a36- but that was made some 10 years ago no problems with it. My unit is a wedge on beam the wedge itself is only 1" wide followed up by a 2.5" 1/4" piece of square tube, that acts as a spreader . the wedge is narrow to slice through difficult knots and such - works very well for me. I never cared for those massive wide ones.

 

[Al Smith]

I've got a "knife edge " also made of 3/4" plate steel with spreaders made of 3 by 4 angle iron ,The spreaders are about 4 inches back from the knife .With a 5" cylinder it will cut anything . 16 GPM pump driven by an 11 HP electric start Briggs .With that set up it's very seldom the pump shifts into high pressure .Which being a Prince valve is factory set at 2750 PSI .

 

[Stevetheboatguy]

Thanks for the input. The chunk of steel I have for the wedge is 2x6 36in long. Believe it is cold rolled but will confirm later.

I plan on keeping the wedge on the tall side around 20-24 above the I beam. The main wedge is just going to be a single knife edge. And I will have a couple different drop on's for straight grained knot free stuff.

I'll start a new thread when I lay everything out and show you guys what I've been able to collect for this long awaited build.




Steven

 

[Firewood Bandit]

Another vote for AR-400

 

[isaaccarlson]

I used mild steel for mine. It holds up well, but the 1/2" wings will bend if you try to twist a piece through it. The tougher twisty pieces get the single wedge.

 

[Stump Shot]

An old worn cutting edge from heavy equipment and snow plows etc. makes for a good tough log splitter point. Good part is, some can generally be had for free from places that change such things out on a somewhat regular basis. Bad part is grinding it to shape can be a bit of a chore, however once accomplished, it will last.

 

[blades]

The good snow plow edges are abrasive resistant steel. the cheap ones are hot rolled 12L