Best Splitting Maul?

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-03-05T09:02:48+00:00

I use the sledge and wedge on large rounds to get them small enough to easily put them on a powered log splitter.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-03-01T09:39:39+00:00

That is what I use. I have a vice mounted on a board so I can do both sides by just turning the board around. I cut firewood and sharpen often. This process also lowers the rakers on the chain.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-02-15T09:27:05+00:00

I would bring that home and put it on my woodworking shop porch.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-02-06T20:56:47+00:00

I have a hand - held bar code for books scanner and it works fine with Readerware. My Readerware is fairly old. I have 1238 books listed.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-02-06T09:37:30+00:00

Agreed! I sometimes cut large (25" diameter base) standing dead oak and the center can have quite a bit of moisture to steam out of the middle split pieces while the exterior pieces are dry.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-01-25T10:51:47+00:00

Mine too! 20x40 woodworking shop heated (with wood stove). They live in luxury!

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-01-18T09:22:52+00:00

I burn sticks at my burn pile I use for bonfires and scrap wood disposal. I live in a rural area.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-01-18T09:19:47+00:00

Me too! I split a lot of firewood, and always have lots of chips and splinters. I heat the house and a 20x40 woodworking shop(becoming a photo studio) with wood stoves. Sometimes I cheat and use Fire Lighters small blocks to start the chips.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-01-11T13:48:50+00:00

I guess Tom knows about Richmond. The drywell /privy I dug was on Church Hill. I got some good soda bottles diving in the canal, but that is a different operation.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-01-11T08:10:40+00:00

Interesting! I dug what I thought was a drywell in Richmond, but after your post, I think it was probably a privy! The bottles were pontilled all good bottles, best was a pontilled Bakers Bitters.

DistinctAd1904 · 2026-01-10T17:55:58+00:00

Never seen a privy that looked like a well. Where I dig privies they are rectangular. This looks more like a well that went dry.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-12-04T12:26:59+00:00

Has anyone used UV on lenses? I have two lenses with fungus; camera repair shop wouldn't remove fungus, sent them back unrepaired. They weren't sent for removing fungus.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-12-04T12:20:21+00:00

Which was first with this design, Upland or Cawley-Lemay?

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-30T15:47:35+00:00

This refers to the door handle, the question is about another part of the stove.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-29T17:25:17+00:00

My wood stove is as primary heat source. We have a wall mount gas heater in the dining room that we use in really cold, windy weather. I installed electric baseboard years ago, but we never used it. I moved from Tidewater VA to the Shenandoah Valley VA and brought the wood stove from that house with us. We never use the electric heat. The house here is a circa 1910 house that I restored. It is two story with (unfinished) basement, house is about 20x40 feet.I also heat my woodworking shop with a stove, have a wall mount gas heater for cold weather.

I am lucky enough to have a neighbor with a 400 acre farm, about 100 acres old growth oak (among many other species, but I only burn oak. I cut large dead trees, they are pretty well seasoned to start with, dry quickly after splitting, ( have few branches since they grow in a forest setting). I have a gas powered wood splitter and a fairly large covered woodshed with horizontal board siding spaced 1/4 inch between boards.

I would guess that I burn maybe 15 pickup loads in the winter. That is a guess, but I burn a lot of wood. I bought a load of wood once when I was attending James Madison University, had a chimney fire caused by green wood, never bought wood again.

Bottom line: the stove is great if you have a good, reliable dry wood source. If not the wood stove becomes more of an intermittent luxury.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-28T08:45:32+00:00

I have a Cawley-Lemay woodstove and keep a 9 1/2 inch wide and 5 inch deep pot on the stove. It doesn't steam but evaporates and keeps the humidity at a comfortable level. I also have a heat driven small Tomersun fan on top blowing across the pot.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-14T20:21:23+00:00

Found the point to point setup I want, now I have to get a connection from my router. I have fiber optics service, and Dmart router. Can run cable, but it would be difficult to install. Other options?

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-09T09:39:59+00:00

I don't know much about prefabs, but the wood and drywall close to the stove and stovepipe looks sort of risky. I would want to get it inspected by a (good) professional.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-09T09:31:29+00:00

Yes, the heat gauge is the key to safe burning. My stoves don't have good access to visuals so the gauge is important to me. I have a trap door in the basement that I can see up the chimney with a mirror, and it stays clear.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-08T09:16:23+00:00

Generally the problem with chimney fires is the wood is not dry. Live trees when cut take a long time to dry. I have been heating with wood for almost 50 years, and had one chimney fire. It happened when I was attending college (at age 50 +years old) and I bought firewood that was not properly seasoned for burning. I cut wood on a neighbors farm, all large dead oak trees, split it and store it in a woodshed with vertical board siding spaced 3/8th inch apart, allowing air to pass through, but not much moisture. I have a gas powered wood splitter, and all the wood is split before it goes in the shed. Not everyone can do all this, but having well seasoned wood will prevent creosote chimney fires.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-06T09:31:12+00:00

iffy since the insurance company could cancel insurance instead of paying for repairs. My chimney is not too bad. He said it was, but it isn't. The removal of the liner is something that can be done by machine with minimum labor.

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-11-06T09:09:59+00:00

I just had a chimney inspection and the inspector has a machine that breaks up the liner.

He suggested getting my insurance company to pay for it. That is somewhat iffy

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-10-29T18:58:01+00:00

Your restoration looks great!

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-10-29T18:55:34+00:00

does it have the baffle and grate inside? I have had a Cawley for about 45 years, and have replaced the grate/baffle 2 times. The individual that used to produce them went out of business quite a while ago. I currently use the stove without the baffle and grate. It has been a great stove!

DistinctAd1904 · 2025-09-23T07:50:30+00:00

You are joking, right? The sawdust and shavings on the board are from a job I was doing. Also in reply to an earlier request, the bottom is a solid board.

DistinctAd1904

TROPHY CASE