From two corners and a flywheel I made a useful device for chopping wood

To light wood or coals, you must first chop wood chips. Using only an axe, this takes quite a lot of time each time. In addition, it is difficult to aim evenly with an ax at such small pieces of firewood, which is why the wood chips often split not along the entire length, but splinter to the side. If you need crushed kindling every day, then it’s worth making a simple machine for splitting it, with which work will take 4 times less time. Having welding skills, it will take no more than an hour to make it.

Materials:

steel corner 50x50 mm;
thick steel plate, large flywheel or gear;
wooden beam.

Manufacturing process of a chip splitting machine

The working part of the machine will be a cross-shaped knife that can chop wood into 4 parts at a time. To make it, you need to prepare 2 pieces of corner 50x50 mm, 30 cm long. The corners must be joined with edges and welded securely together. The most convenient way is to fix them first using magnetic welding angles.Perfect symmetry is not so important, but it is still advisable to weld the parts as evenly as possible.

After welding, the crosspiece from the corners should be sharpened from the end. To do this, the machine is clamped in a vice and sharpened with a grinder. Sharpening is done on both sides. There is no need to create a razor-sharp cutting edge with long slopes; the sharpening should be similar to that of an ax for chopping wood.

Next, the welded corners need to be welded vertically onto a heavy sole. It can be used as a large flywheel, gear, or simply a steel plate.

You will need to make a convenient mallet from any available wooden beam. It should be a comfortable length and moderately heavy. It is optimal to use timber made of hard wood.
To split wood chips, you need to place the firewood on the sharpened cross-shaped knife of the machine and hit it from above with a mallet. As a result of this, they will split into 4 parts. If necessary, small firewood can be crushed again until the chips are thin enough to be lit with paper or just a match.

If you drill a couple of holes in the base of the machine, you can screw it with self-tapping screws to a wooden block. This will give the necessary stability. This type of wood chip splitter will come in handy in every home that has a wood stove. The device will also allow you to quickly prepare kindling for a barbecue or smokehouse.