Cutting firewood down into WSM sized chunks

need to go slow, make sure you can cut the logs in one pass and most important, don't cut thru knots. with knots, too much an unknown on how the blade will react. 10 inch blade is the minimum I would recommend because of typical log sizes.....

next thing ya know, you'll be picking fireplace wood by what type of bbq smoke you need.......lol

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I also tried using a miter saw to cut up some wood... I was throwing chunks all over my garage and was lucky to escape with all my appendages.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I think a small electric chainsaw plus a hatchet is the way I'm going to go. I guess I'll just have to find something to hold the firewood still while I cut it. Something that will hopefully be elevated off the ground and be able to hold the wood still.

Posey - what's that first picture and where did you get it?
 
colonel00 said:
I use a reciprocating saw usually. Granted, most of the splits or limbs are small enough for a long, rough wood blade to cut. I just clamp the wood in my bench vise and start cutting off chunks.
Click to expand...

This is what I do. I use a hydraulic splitter to make smaller splits then clamp em in the vice and go to work with the sawsall. Get one of the real aggressive wood cutting blades. Goes through it like buttah!


OR the large discs then whack em with an axe or hatchet.

I also have a table saw, 10" miter saw and 10" slide miter saw, but I'm not taking a chance on farking up my woodworking tools or my hands and fingers if the blade gets in a bind. Fark that.
 
If you have longer longs I have found it easier to cut them into 3-4 inch pieces with a chainsaw and split them down with a hatchet but if the wood is already cut into 16 inch pieces it would make it dangerous to cut with a chainsaw. It would be easier to split them up and use a miter saw to cut them shorter
 
I took the opposite approach - I split logs with a hatchet first, then cut the pieces with a miter saw. Works very well for logs that may be too big for the miter saw and you can work around knots much easier.
 
I finally just decided to buy a sawz-all with a rough cut blade. That way I can put the piece in a vice to secure it really well and keep my hands completely away from the blade. I used to use a miter saw and nearly lost a finger a couple of times when the blade would bite and kick. Decided macho wasn't the way to go. Now my fingers are well away from the action.

Russ
 
Riskyguy said:
Unless your wood is pretty straight and flat, using a tablesaw to cut logs is really dangerous! The logs can twist so easily causing a kickback. Painful - trust me on this.

I use a sawsall-type reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight to cut the logs into chunks. I clamp the logs into a bench vice.
Click to expand...

Happened to me a couple of years ago with my 12" Hitachi Double Bevel Miter Saw. It kicked back HARD and broke the fence on both side of the blade and thought my hand was broken as well but it ended up just feeling sore for a few days. I like the B&D alligator lookin thing and also the bench vise/saws-all idea sounds very safe.
 
The guy I buy it off of craigslist cuts it somehow. He is missing a few fingers and an arm, but no complaints on the wood :razz:
 
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