I just came in from chopping would and would like to share the following thoughts.

I've been using a really old "go-devil" to split logs. A go-devil is a hand-held log splitter much like an ax. Actually it more like a sledge hammer that has been shaped into an ax-like blade on end. Well, I must have had my go-devil for decades. I have probably put about 5 or 6 new handles on it over the years. It has been an extremely loyal tool. I often called it, "Mr. Onewhack" because it will usually at least crack a log with the first blow if not completely split it.

Ok, so recently I lost Mr. Onewhack. I know he's around here somewhere but I can't find him. So I had no choice but to purchase a new go-devil. I went out shopping for one and everywhere I went they had the same thing. None of which had the sensuously curved head that Mr. Onewhack has. They just didn't look inviting.

So fine, this is what everyone has on their shelves in every store I went in so this must be the in thing right? Maybe an improvement in the design?

I bought one to the tune of almost 30 bucks. I brought it home and tried to split logs with it. What a pain in the butt! This thing didn't want to split a log to save its soul. I started calling it Mr. Nosplit. It took at least 3 or 4 really hard blows just to get the log to start to crack. This was absurd. I don't have that kind of energy to waste. I could have split three or four logs with the old go-devil with less energy than it takes to split just one long with this new one.

I was distraught with disgust. What's wrong with people? They had a great design and now they manufacture this crap?

Then I remember the sensuous curves of my old go-devil and I grabbed the new go-devil and headed off to the grinder. I ground down the head to look like the old go-devil and then when back out to spilt logs. Sure enough those logs just popped apart like there was nothing to it.

So WHY is this?

What's wrong with our modern society that they don't even know what they are doing? Who designed and manufactured these modern log splitters? Clearly it was someone who never had to split a log in their life.

Then I got to thinking. This is much like religion. People just preach religion when in truth they have absolutely no experience with the spirit at all. They claim to know the spirit, blah, blah, blah, but in truth they don't live their lives like as if they do. Just like the log splitter couldn't split logs.

The moral of the story is that thinking that we know something isn't nearly the same thing as actually knowing it.

Sometimes it takes someone else to grind off the edges....

I just dropped a log about 10 minutes ago. Man it hit the water ..floated for a minute and then sank like it had led in it. I have to eat less roughage I think. It was like given birth to a piece of wicker furniture. I don’t know about split'en logs but I think I might have busted a few capillaries in my eye balls when I was doing the old Thrust and Release routine with terd-zilla in there.

Oh, and as far as all that spirit stuff goes….. well I felt 10 pound lighter and almost floated of the crapper when I was done.

Maybe that's what's wrong with the go-devil designers. They had a totally wrong picture of what a log should be.

yES SIR!!!

Wood splitting maul heads are supposed to be thick and wedge shaped. They are designed that way so that you can split thick wood without the head getting stuck in the wood. They have been designed that way for hundreds of years. They are intentionally blunt, as that prevents them from sticking in the wood.

What size wood are you chopping with your thin axe? What type of wood?

I'm splitting mostly oak, cherry, maple and beech.

Here, I drew up a drawing of what I did just for you Spider.

http://www.csonline.net/designer/ideas/go-devil.gif

That little bit of difference makes all the difference in the world.

It couldn't get a "bite" before. It was too blunt. Just giving it that little bit of "bite" makes a huge difference.

If you ever have to chop wood and your stuck with one of those store bought ones and you have a grinder handy. Just reshape the head like in the picture and it will making splitting logs so much easier.

Trust me. I know what I'm talking about on this one. It makes a world of difference.

Two beautiful examples. One pratical and one metaphoric, but both very significant.