Ooh great project. Cheers Stuart! Can’t beat CAD: Cardboard aided design…..

Yours is what DIY vids should be like: fantastically helpful, detailed enough, and not too long. Bravo.

As a kid in the 1960's, I used to go to my grandparents house on Fridays from Junior school and chop a weeks worth of kindling for them, using a small, very sharp axe, whilst sitting on the backdoor step. My grandfather had shown me how to do it safely and then left me to it- never had a single mishap , and I did it every week until I left school to join the Royal Navy. Happy Days !

I don’t even have a fireplace and I watched this whole thing! Great as always Stuart

I have to say this video was really satisfying to my male creative frequency. Thank you for making us feel like we were building it with you. Awesome.

Stuart......4 words for you mate. You are a GENIUS !!!!! So thorough, so practical, so precise. You really do have a 'mechanical brain' and i just love to watch and learn and see the end result. You also never cut corners and have pride in what you do which i respect totally. Well done and thanks for another great and inspiring video 👍

A great idea! A quick note about using an axe. When the wood gets too small to balance (or your aim isn't good enough) lay the wood flat on the cutting block, then strike the axe into one end. That will often split the wood, but if it doesn't, now the axe is stuck in, simply stand it up and tap it a couple of times. It is a great way of chopping kindling down to match size!

Brilliant! Back in the 70's my uncle had me chopping wood for "sticks" down his allotment when I was about 7 or 8. We used to then give them to the "poor people" in his words, in the village along with veg from his allotment. Much better than a sissy stick.

Back in the 50’s we had a gas poker which did away with the need for kindling. It also helped to refresh the fire when it had burnt down too far. Oh, I also remember the coal hammer, some of the delivered lumps were huge. The “slack” was put into the brown paper bags, that the shopping came in, to bank up the fire over night so the room was warmish in the morning. I grew up with one side toasty warm and the other freezing cold.

Get your self an old tyre and put the log in the middle then split it with the axe. The tyre stops the Half's/quarters from falling off the stump

Looks like a great bit of kit. I notice you have a great deal less bending down to pick up and replace the logs on the chopping block. Excellent idea, well made and well explained . Thank you .

Superb video Stuart, i have to say I'm often playing chicken with my fingers when chopping kindling with my bill hook 😂

I love the use of good old C.A.D. to design (cardboard added design)

Nice work. You could add two more bits of steel, laminating the original bar in between them to triple the width at the cutting field. Half the width and ground with a similar angle to creat a wider wedge, thus forcing the split wood further apart and carrying through, might reduce the number of bites required..... little bit of welding required.

Had a hatchet accident 4 years ago, splitting kindling. Piece of the wood jumped up and hit just below my eye. Went to clean myself up from the blood and found some "facial fat" under me eye. Incredibly painful to touch and it refused to go back into the bleeding hole . Went to A and E where they found it was actually a small section of wood that I was trying to push back in. DOH!

I'd love to see that for log cutter with simple hydraulic press action - just pop it on cutter press the button and the logs split - great for those with log burners who are disabled yet still enjoy getting the firewood cut up.

Seriously neat and professional build!!

Made the same splitter using 40x40x6mm steel 90° angle bar for the teeth which also screwed to the wall plus 6mm steel flat bar for the blade. These splitters cost about £75+ to buy but only £12 to make.

Thank you Stuart, this is such a useful idea. I have a spare length of 4x4 and some aluminium so definitely going to have a go at making it. For a blade I am going to try using a spare hatchet as the blade, pivoting through the handle but with an extension arm added for leverage.

I can’t believe how Coo-el I think this is. that’s proper diy that is and I will be making one this weekend. Thank you.

Did up one of these using a cheap machete as the split bar. Saved that assembly. Just notched the 4x4, the machete already had a handle and a hanginghole at the perfect spot on the tip. Goes a lot faster than a woodwrights splitter and mallet. Nobody should split kindling with an axe unless you have a holding hole cut into your splitting log.

i've been looking for a no-weld version of this for a while! thanks so much!

Talking of eliminating risks when cutting wood, I noticed you used gloves when on the bandsaw. I learnt the hard way that gloves and bandsaws are not a good mix - one gloved hand got a little too close one day, snagged and I almost lost the top of my thumb!

I’m 💯 getting a log burner this year, free wood everywhere, no need to pay rip off gas prices, been making kindle with the axe, this great idea, definitely going to make this speed up kindle making, nice one

I like the way you did this one. I recall seeing a few other designs of a similar splitter many years ago. I've been thinking about building one ever since a friend of mine gashed his thumb open really badly while swinging a hatchet to make kindling. I will probably make mine entirely of steel and use an old axe head for the cutting edge.

THAT IS A SUPER HANDY TOOL I MUST MAKE ONE I HAVE 2 LOG BURNERS AND IT'S A BALL ACHE USING AN AXE TO DO THIS CHORE THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO

fantastic idea and lovely execution, only thing i'd add is maybe a spot of sandpaper onto each of the aluminium strips where the wood touches them for a little added purchase.

Your thinking and planning on this is so good! Kudos to you🙌

i was looking at the store bought ones but they are over $200 and then i saw your video thank you so much

Drill a hole at the back of each step, where you have 90-ish degree angles, to eliminate those sharp angles, which are going to act as stress risers, to further help eliminate the possibility of the wood splitting as you mentioned.

Fabulously thought out and constructed.

Your channel gets more interesting with every new video. You explain complex things simply by breaking them down into small pieces It reminds me of how I solve computer programming problems at work

Check out the Stock Knife which are used in green woodworking and clog making. They're a very similar tool.

definately earned my like and this comment

What a brilliant project Stuart. Just in time for Winter too!

Excellent idea and desing! Thank you for this! burn wood is getting may more expensive and less broken down on our side of the Atlantic. I was looking for such a lever-based splitting device. Have a good day!

Congrats P-DIY on building that awesome Log Splitter. engineer at it's finest.

very nice and I'll add this to my list for retirement projects. I had seen something very similar sold by Lee Valley tools - for $289 (Canadian). Same saw tooth design, but made out of cast-iron so much slimmer. You have clearly illustrated a slightly different and much more economical way of producing the same result.

I made my “knife” 80cm and it works effortlessly 👍 Thanks for the idea! 💡

What a brilliant idea Stuart and really well executed.

Excellent project! That paddock purchase has proved a terrific investment Stuart 👍🏻

Ingenious idea Stuart. Great video.

That is an ingenious design.

Great project - a lot of result for not that much work, nice one.

Brilliant solution, Stuart!

brilliant, I have heated with wood before, and kindling is the key to good fire building. I enjoy your tips and videos.

Very nice project. Like the cover on the steps to ensure its lasts longer. Well thought of.

Great thing, thanks for sharing with us. Best wishes from Germany and stay healthy. Peter

Interesting video. I'll try to make one next autumn.

Exelent solution .thanx Mike scotland

Great video, great project. I'm now thinking of doing something similar, but glancing at an old trolley jack in the garage and wondering if it could be mounted to work as a hydraulic press for some extra oomph. Scope creep! 😆

looks good, seems to work good too. I like to split my wood when it's frozen. best time is at around -30 C. splits a lot easier

This is brilliant. I need plans!

You can never have enough kindling....It helps your stove burn much better, less pollution and smoke and keeps the flue a bit clearer too. So every time I put a couple of new logs on the log burner, I also put on 3 to 5 pieces of kindling first.

A well thought out and made solution to what can be a dangerous job.

I just got a demolition saw and wedged the wood in a large building block. Birdy

Very nice. Currently I'm making kindling by fixing a hatchet into vice, pointing upwards, holding log on the hatchet with my left hand and smashing on it with hammer. I can really precisely cut it to wanted width and it's much safer than splitting the log with the hatchet from above. But this is even faster and safer.

Brilliant idea n execution

That is a brilliant device.

That's a great idea making out of wood. Good job!

Love the ‘shatters at 9000rpm tends to educate’ euphemism 😂

Great vid inspired me into making my own .

Great Stuff , I need this badly. Don't have a band saw and no success with mallet and chisel. so i have got this onto Vectric aspire etc using a 2 rail sweep. i should have it on the machine in the morning so i will post my results. angles are the tough spot here and i wish i had a bandsaw...

Dry firewood do not splitt as easy as a newly cutdown trees and if its frosen even better. Nice vid. Greetings from Finland

Excellent idea mate!

Great presentation and description.. if you could add a wedge device to the cutting edge, the sticks might snap off on the first slice. Some have put a nail or a screw in the end of a piece of kindling to hold the board upright for the hatchet, keeping the off hand safely away. It also looks like a curved "scimitar-like" blade would be another useful improvement.

I like the fact that you make a mock up in cardboard and really think of the design before you make the prototype , I cut almost all of my kindling with a battery jigsaw . My multi fuel stove is rated at 5kw maximum log length of 30 cm and recommended diameter of 15 cm have you a similar simple design for an actual log cutter as at present I use various hand saws or a chainsaw all of which can be slow noisy and dangerous (I don’t like the chainsaw).

You could use some 'fluted' or grip patterned stair edging, just for a little more grip on the bottom of the wood

Hi, look's good might give it a go, would definitely be very useful.many thanks 👍

Great video ill have to make one of these thanks

Brilliant video thanks for sharing

Brilliant Stuart, you should patent that design idea.

Wow! just love this. Always SO much to learn in these videos, I love your thought process and meticulousness.

Why is your voice so soothing?

What a good idea Stuart.👍👍

Lovely idea and good to see in action at the end..I'm probably Britain's worst DIY'er.. but your videos certainly give me confidence!

This is yet another fantastic video of making your life easier and safer! What a great project to do! Old pallets will be brilliant for this once they're dismantled. I know these log splitters can be purchased but great to see how you diy one yourself!

Very clever , well done.

Nice job

very nice, works a treat. I am tempted to make my own. A few changes however, a magnet in the top of the handle and a plate against the post perhaps. no fuss with the lanyard then, and perhaps a little longer handle for some more leverage. so less effort is required.

Bloody. Brilliant!

Nice neat job.

Very nice cutting device necessity is the mother of invention

Excellent video, I have been waiting over 6 weeks now for one I ordered from Knacks in Austria (lost in post)! Had I seen your video first I would have made my own. The blade was my concern but the mild steel bar seems to work well. The only suggestion that I have is to put a metal sleeve in each half of the slot for the guillotine handle bolt to rotate in so that wear on the handle lever action via the pivot bolt would not transfer to the wood. Is there more physics on the notch geometry lurking out there in the ether 🤓Thanks for the video.

great video as usual

That is brilliant! While not everyone has access to a bandsaw it really does make me think about how I can achieve something similar 🙂

Excellent Stewart 👍

Nice and practical

Super. Nice project.

Well done!

Innovation at it's best and made in the UK ..! lol thks

Well done, great video.

Well that was a really useful project, well done to you. It makes your life easier….take care as always

I love it, I have been "educated" in the past.

Awesome work again mate.

cracking idea

Been looking for something like this, great design

Looks good. But I reckon you could do something similar to a compound bow to make it easier to cut thicker wood

Very nice tool!!!

Brilliant.