Frank Fusco
05-08-2006, 6:17 PM
Joe Tonich posted the link below on the Turners Forum. But, I find it so interesting, I'm borrowing (plagarizing? ;) ) to post here.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/mag.html
Below is a response and pictures I posted there also.
You may or may not be able to tell from my nickname and photo, but I am a fan of history and old type muzzle loading rifles. Knowing this, a friend once boasted that he had a muzzle loading black powder log splitter. Of course I didn't believe him. So he brought it and showed it to me. He had gotten it from his grandfather and, together, they had split many large logs. Pictured is a copy I made after seeing his. The original was much larger than mine. It was about 18" long and had a 1" bore. Mine is one foot long with a .50 cal. bore. I made it from a hunk of left over muzzle loading rifle barrel from a gun building project. The rear (breech) has a heavy steel section threaded in. The barrel is drilled to accept cannon fuse. In use the ground down knife edge of the muzzle is driven into the end of the log to be split. The original had a chain welded to it which had a rag tied to that for a flag to assist in finding the whole thing after a shot. I didn't use that but just backed it up to a stump or another hunk of log. The splitting action did not come from driving the barrel into the wood, it all came just from the force of the blast. I poured a measured amount of black powder down the bore, tamped that in with paper or dry leaves and inserted the fuse, no projectile. I split many large logs with this and can testify that it is very effective. One would get about 50 blasts with a $15.00 can of black powder using this. Compared to the cost of a hydraulic splitter, this is a cheap way to go. And the whole works can be carried in one hand. There are other versions of the antique ones but the principal is the same. Other than the original, mine and one picture I located on the internet, I have never seen these anywhere else.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/mag.html
Below is a response and pictures I posted there also.
You may or may not be able to tell from my nickname and photo, but I am a fan of history and old type muzzle loading rifles. Knowing this, a friend once boasted that he had a muzzle loading black powder log splitter. Of course I didn't believe him. So he brought it and showed it to me. He had gotten it from his grandfather and, together, they had split many large logs. Pictured is a copy I made after seeing his. The original was much larger than mine. It was about 18" long and had a 1" bore. Mine is one foot long with a .50 cal. bore. I made it from a hunk of left over muzzle loading rifle barrel from a gun building project. The rear (breech) has a heavy steel section threaded in. The barrel is drilled to accept cannon fuse. In use the ground down knife edge of the muzzle is driven into the end of the log to be split. The original had a chain welded to it which had a rag tied to that for a flag to assist in finding the whole thing after a shot. I didn't use that but just backed it up to a stump or another hunk of log. The splitting action did not come from driving the barrel into the wood, it all came just from the force of the blast. I poured a measured amount of black powder down the bore, tamped that in with paper or dry leaves and inserted the fuse, no projectile. I split many large logs with this and can testify that it is very effective. One would get about 50 blasts with a $15.00 can of black powder using this. Compared to the cost of a hydraulic splitter, this is a cheap way to go. And the whole works can be carried in one hand. There are other versions of the antique ones but the principal is the same. Other than the original, mine and one picture I located on the internet, I have never seen these anywhere else.