How to make a mechanized cleaver for chopping firewood

Comfort and wellbeing during the winter months depend on keeping your house warm. A reliable supply of firewood is necessary for creating a comfortable ambiance with an effective wood-burning stove or fireplace. Using a mechanized cleaver can help you expedite and increase the efficiency of the time-consuming and physically taxing process of splitting firewood. To make sure your home has a reliable and accessible source of heat, we’ll look at how to build your own automated cleaver in this guide.

In addition to being labor-intensive, hand-chopping firewood can be risky if done incorrectly. The procedure is automated by a mechanized cleaver, sometimes referred to as a log splitter, which increases efficiency and safety. With a mechanized cleaver, you can ensure that you have enough firewood to heat your house all winter long while also saving time and effort.

Although creating your own mechanized cleaver may seem difficult, it can be a rewarding project if you have the right resources and advice. Building it yourself will not only save you money, but you’ll also feel good about yourself because you made a tool that will simplify your life going forward. We’ll take you step-by-step through the process in this article so you can construct your own mechanized cleaver and eliminate the headache of cutting firewood.

It’s crucial to comprehend the fundamental parts of a mechanized cleaver before beginning construction. A strong frame, a sharp blade, and a hydraulic system are the usual components of a mechanized cleaver. The frame gives stability and support, and the hydraulic system produces the force required to push the blade through the wood. Gaining knowledge about the interplay between these parts will help you construct a mechanized cleaver that meets your demands.

Materials Needed	Tools Needed
Steel Plate	Welding Machine
Hydraulic Cylinder	Angle Grinder
Hydraulic Pump	Drill
Hydraulic Hoses	Wrench Set
Electric Motor	Measuring Tape
Control Valve
Wooden Frame

We’ll walk you through building a mechanized cleaver in this article so you can cut firewood more quickly and easily while also saving time and effort. You can simplify your firewood cutting by building an economical and effective tool by following these steps. We’ll guide you through every step, from obtaining the required supplies to putting the cleaver together. This guide will help you build a mechanized firewood cutter that suits your needs and budget, whether you’re a novice or an experienced do-it-yourselfer. This will make the process of cutting wood much more manageable.

Choosing the design of a firewood chopper

Let us first explain what a firewood cleaver is. This is a modified axe with a long (0.8 m) handle and a heavy blade that is sharpened at a 30- to 35-degree angle, which is relatively blunt. This tool is not appropriate for ordinary chopping and hewing wood; its design is for splitting wood along its fibers.

Aid. A traditional hand cleaver with a long axe weighs between two and three kilograms in its "head."

Some of the aforementioned traits are also present in mechanical wood chippers, which we will discuss later. Currently, three different types of factory-made and homemade analogs are used in households:

• Spring-loaded with manual drive;
• electric – screw and rack and pinion;
• hydraulic.

We propose analyzing mechanical cleaver designs to determine the optimal device design in terms of cutting volume and component cost. It is preferable to build a wood chipper, another device, if a large number of small branches need to be chopped.

Spring attachment with a lever

The woodchopper variations depicted in the image include the following components:

• a frame made of metal profiles or pipes with horizontal supports;
• Long boom – a lever attached to a pivot;
• On the hinge side, the boom rests on a spring inserted between two cups;
• at the end of the lever a weight and a cleaver blade are fixed, plus a handle for comfortable grip.

Note: The frame’s design is at random. Preventing the mechanism from toppling over while cutting stakes is the primary objective. The end of the boom is occasionally fastened to different outbuildings or embedded in a wall.

The firewood chopper’s mechanism relies on the elasticity of the spring that is stretched by hand to strengthen the blow. The sawed stakes are positioned on a stand beneath the blade at a comfortable height. Using one hand, the operator swings the lever like a pendulum, while the other manipulates the tree with an improvised axe.

Benefits of the spring cleaver made of metal by hand:

• simplicity and minimum price of materials for the manufacture of the device;
• the operation of the mechanism does not depend on electricity;
• thanks to frequent oscillations of the lever, the deck can be easily chopped into firewood of any size – from sticks to logs, the main thing is skill.

The primary drawback of the wood cutter is the potential for fingers to get caught between the deck and the oscillating blade while it is being repositioned. And the second thing is that the mechanism does not spare the homeowner from labor-intensive physical work; instead, you still need to swing the boom, move the deck quickly, and remove the wood.

Note: Cutting knotted cuttings and "slingshots" is much harder and requires multiple blows to a single point.

Electric models

Electric motor-driven screw and rack and pinion mechanized cleavers significantly ease the cutter’s job. However, the use of motors, drive components, and specialized splitting tools drives up the cost of these wood chippers:

1. The main chopping element of the screw model is a metal cone with a coarse thread, cut in the direction opposite to the rotation of the shaft. The rotating "carrot" itself grips the deck with its point, plunges into the wood and breaks it into 2 pieces.
2. The rack and pinion transmission is the main element of the second electrically driven design. The principle of operation is similar to a car steering rack – the block is pushed onto the fixed blade of the cleaver by a pusher attached to a toothed steel rack.

Citation. A 30° sharpened blade is the only component of the traditional cleaver that is used in the rack-and-pinion model. By the way, you can connect the PTO shaft of an agricultural motorcycle block or use a suitable single-cylinder gasoline motor in place of an electric motor.

The threaded "carrot" or rack and pinion gear are two essential parts that must be manufactured in order to assemble an electric wood splitter. If the household has an electric motor, drive pulleys, and rolled metal, then a turner will need to order the cone element, and a milling machine operator will need to order the toothed rack.

The rack-and-pinion machine is better from a labor safety perspective because it only requires you to keep your hands safe because the rotating parts are located beneath the frame. Problems arise when using a screw woodchopper because the cone readily grasps and rapidly coils the fabric components. When using the device, care and caution must be taken.

Hydraulic cleaver

This design is thought to be costly for independent production. Apart from the structural framework, the woodchopper comprises the following useful components:

• an electric motor rotating an oil pump;
• Hydraulic cylinder with high-pressure hoses;
• force distributor with manual override;
• oil tank and filter;
• An iron pusher screwed to the cylinder rod;
• The blade of the cleaver is usually cross-shaped.

The machine operates using a force of 4–10 tons that is generated by hydraulics, enabling you to split the cutting block into 4 logs at once (or more). The actuator’s operating algorithm looks like this:

1. After the electric motor starts, the pump raises the pressure in the system to the required value. Excess oil is discharged by the distributor through the return line into the tank.
2. When the operator presses the control knob of the distributor, the liquid is fed into the cylinder and presses on the piston. The latter moves the pusher together with the stake to the blade.
3. After splitting, the operator switches the machine to another mode and the oil starts to press the piston from the other side through a second hose. The rod and pusher are pushed backwards.

The hydraulic cleaver requires very little physical labor to operate; all the chopper needs to do is set the wood on the bed and turn on the actuator. Because the operator’s hands and clothes are kept well away from the machine’s moving parts, there is very little chance of injury.

Selection recommendations

The assembly of the rack and pinion mechanism is the most challenging since it requires you to locate or grind a gear and guides that the pusher will move on. Furthermore, precise selection of the gear ratios and rotational speed is required. Some chopping device versions are made a little bit simpler.

The cleaver’s design should be determined by the working conditions, the materials the farm has on hand, and the money set aside for component purchases. Our suggestions:

1. At the dacha, where electricity is absent or supplied intermittently, it is better to make a simple lever woodchopper. Financial costs are minimal.
2. The second place in terms of simplicity is occupied by the screw machine. You want small mechanization with a small investment – order a cone element and look for an electric motor with a power of 1.5-3 kW.
3. The apparatus with a hydraulic drive will be very helpful to homeowners of old and retirement age. The difficulty lies in the purchase of a set of hydraulics – pump, cylinder and distributor.

Note: We did not mention the oil tank specifically because it is easy to find a ready-made metal tank with the necessary volume or to weld one yourself.

How to make a wood splitter on a spring

As previously mentioned, the primary concern should be stability rather than design choice for the frame. However, you must first determine the fundamental parameters of the force distribution plan before you can construct a lever. Finding the ideal balance between the boom’s length, the weight at its end, and the distance between the pivot and the spring is the difficult part. An equation can be used to describe the mechanics of this system:

• M – mass of counterweight at the end of the beam, kg;
• F is the elastic force of the spring;
• l – distance from the hinge to the spring, m;
• L – total length of the lever, m.

If you disregard the computation, two things could happen: either the cleaver will strike with extreme weakness or you will need to exert a lot of force to swing the boom. In practical terms, this means that a longer lever and more load weight will be needed the further the spring is from the pivot and the stiffer it is.

An illustration of figuring out the beam’s fundamental measurements. We remove a spring from the "Zhiguli" car and compress it with a force of roughly 200 kg (the car weighs 0.5 kg). 8 tons), and move it 30 centimeters away from the post. Additional indicators are determined through the selection process. Assuming a 2 m boom length, the load weighs 30 kg, which includes the weight of the lever and cleaver. Verify: 0.3 / 2 = 0.15 is 30 / 200.

Use basic tools to assemble a lever woodchopper:

• Spring from a small passenger car (VAZ, "Tavria" and similar);
• a ready-made blade from a hand cleaver or a 20 mm thick mild steel billet;
• pipe with the diameter of the spring – for making the cups;
• various rolled metal for the frame – angles, round and profile pipes with a wall thickness of 3 mm.

Advice: Using a shaft on bearings as a hinge is superfluous and not required. Due to the somewhat rough nature of the mechanism, a straightforward hinged shaft and bushing pair—as shown in the photo—will work. Awnings and similar components are installed on garage doors.

There’s nothing complicated about the assembly process, so a detailed explanation is not necessary. Weld a sturdy frame, create the cups, and attach the spring and lever in accordance with the drawing. A weight and a splitting blade should be fastened to the beam at the end.

To stabilize the structure, just place more pipes on the horizontal supports if necessary. View the video for a summary of the completed cleaver’s dimensions:

Assembling the screw and hydraulic apparatus

A 1.5–2 kW engine running at 500 rpm can greatly simplify the construction of the cleaver. Such an electric motor does not require a belt transmission because it is connected directly to the cone. In the event that the unit with these features is not available, get ready the supplies listed below:

• 2 single-arm pulleys of the designed diameter, reducing the shaft speed to 500 rpm;
• V-belt;
• bearing blocks and drive shaft;
• Screw splitting cone, made according to the drawing;
• profile pipes or other rolled steel for the manufacture of the table;
• electric motor mounting plate made of 8-10 mm thick sheet metal;
• Metal 2-3 mm on the table top;
• mounting bolts and nuts.

Suggestion made. Before placing an order for a screw "carrot" from a turner, find out the diameter of the motor’s main shaft or drive shaft. The working cone’s thread is made of two passes of high-carbon steel grade St35–St45.

A table must be welded from metal profiles, and a metal sheet must be fixed to the top. The secondary shaft with the cone is on top of the motor, which is mounted on the plate beneath the worktop. Locking screws are used to secure the pulleys. Ensure that the machine is earthed before connecting the power supply cable.

Important point. It’s important to move the block to the tool in a strictly vertical position when using a screw device to cut firewood. One log will become lodged between the cone and the table top if it is laid sideways.

The equipment assembly and the hydraulic boiler assembly are not the same. A blade, a pusher plate, and a functional cylinder must be installed in place of the electric motor and "carrot." The remaining parts, which connect the hydraulic station’s pump to the cylinder high-pressure hoses, can be assembled individually.

The video demonstrates the process of creating a hydraulic unit in great detail and clarity:

One last thing about hand axes

You will need to chop wood the old-fashioned way if you are unable to construct your own automated wood splitter. Selecting a useful tool that will simplify the task is crucial in this situation.

How to select an axe for splitting firewood:

1. Stores sell cleavers with different handle length and blade weight (2-5 kg). Buy a tool that suits your physical condition, because you need to swing the axe often and for a long time. Do not immediately take the heaviest specimens.
2. The wooden axe of quality products is carved from elm, maple or birch. Specified species do not crumble into chips and do not splinter.
3. Do not buy an axe with a too short handle, which reduces the force of strikes. Overly long axe can be easily cut to the required size.
4. Make sure that the "head" sits tightly on the handle.

If finances permit, it is worthwhile to consider more sensible foreign cleavers with different high-quality steel blade profiles and a sturdy plastic handle. Popular choices include the Fiskars brand’s straight axes and the Vipukirves brand’s offset center of gravity cleavers for cutting firewood.

The process of preparing firewood for your home’s heating needs can be greatly streamlined by building a mechanized cleaver. Long-term time and effort savings can be achieved by creating a highly efficient tool by following the instructions provided in this guide.

Prioritizing safety above all else is crucial when working on any project, particularly one that involves large machinery. When building and using your mechanized cleaver, make sure that all safety measures are taken. It’s crucial to have the right safety gear, keep work areas tidy, and know how to operate the equipment.

The materials you plan to use should be carefully considered when designing your mechanized cleaver. Choosing strong, premium materials will guarantee your tool’s longevity and efficacy. Additionally, be sure the blade is strong and sharp enough to handle the workload by paying close attention to its design.

Maintaining your mechanized cleaver on a regular basis is essential to keeping it operating at its best after it is constructed. Your cleaver will last longer and continue to function well if you regularly sharpen the blade, check for any loose parts, and lubricate moving parts.

Your mechanized cleaver makes it much easier to handle the task of cutting firewood. It guarantees that you have a consistent supply of firewood to keep your house warm and comfortable throughout the winter months in addition to saving you time and effort. This guide will walk you through the process of making a dependable and effective tool that will last you for many years.

Video on the topic

how to make log splitter with your own hands how to make log splitter

Mechanical spring wood chopper for chopping firewood

No. 1 Gear-driven wood splitter 220 volts.Wood splitter. Homemade Wood Splitter

Manual wood splitter Chekan Rex

🪓 A reliable helper at the cottage – manual wood splitter "KOLUNDROV".

wood chopper

Wood chopper Borislav