Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Y2K (Year 2000) Personal Contingency Planning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J.L. Turner who wrote (657)	12/28/1998 11:07:00 AM
From: Lynn	Respond to of 888

Very useful article, thanks for sharing it. I would like to comment on this section: [quote begin] WEDGES AND A MAUL This are the true wood splitting tools. You can buy steel wedges in most good hardware stores. Buy at least three and preferably four. Select a maul (they come in different weights and handle lengths) that you can control. This is far more important that size and brute power. My youngest daughter at the age of 8 used to spend hours engaged in what she was convinced was one of life's true pleasures - splitting wood using steel wedges and a small hand maul. (pity she had to grow up). She was successful because she knew technique and she had learned to read the wood. [quote end] In this zone of New England, where all of us burn wood [even if only during power failures], people do not use mauls on wedges, they use sledge hammers [long handled ones]. Using one's maul on a wedge is considered asking for trouble because if the handle splits, one is really stuck if wood is needed immediately. It comes down to sledge hammers on wedges, mauls to split smaller pieces of wood. I think my sledge hammer is 8 lbs. but I've had it so long I honestly forget. In terms of wedges, try to find some older ones at yard sales. I looked at the wedges being sold at Home Depot and a few hardware stores early fall and the ones today are smaller (thickness and width) than the older ones. One or two of these modern sized one is fine, but for difficult to split wood or really large pieces, the bigger ones are _MUCH_ better. Not sure if it was in the article, for really large pieces of wood, I start off trying to split-off a slice _parallel_ to the bark, about 3" to 4" from the bark maximum. Usually this takes three wedges. Then, before the slice is completely severed, I take another wedge and split off a few pieces. Gradually I work around the piece of wood until I am left with a core that can be spit into 4 pieces. Before I started doing it this way I had an awful lot of wedges stuck in the wood [which trying to split it in half]. P.S. For the future, never grow those fast growing poplars advertised in some catalogues. They do indeed grow fast--unbelievably fast--but the root structure is just under the soil. In about seven years, the roots start growing _above_ the surface and you lawn, with the soil leached of nutrients [the tree is sapping everything], is in terrible shape and probably growing moss. When the trees get cut for firewood the error of one's ways becomes obvious: the wood is very light (weight) when dried and burns faster than any other wood I have experienced in my life! Basically, you will put in a lot of work cutting and splitting and stacking the wood only to have it burn in the snap of a finger. The next spring [and years after that] you will struggle to get the soil where the trees grew healthy. Lynn