[Farmwelding]

I built two wedges at school made of aluminum on the mill. I was making one for my brother for the fire department to knock down doors. To not waste material I made a second one for myself to try splitting wood. Surprisingly it worked quite well other than the obvious shrinkage from the pounding of the maul. I was wondering if there was anything I could put on there to resist this shrinkage. Any type of brazing rod that can be used. The aluminum is about 1.5"x2" and about 6" long at a 15 degree angle. I just want something to absorb the blow better if possible. I have a tig welder available up to 180 amps and a oxy torch. Thanks in advance.

[exnailpounder]

I built two wedges at school made of aluminum on the mill. I was making one for my brother for the fire department to knock down doors. To not waste material I made a second one for myself to try splitting wood. Surprisingly it worked quite well other than the obvious shrinkage from the pounding of the maul. I was wondering if there was anything I could put on there to resist this shrinkage. Any type of brazing rod that can be used. The aluminum is about 1.5"x2" and about 6" long at a 15 degree angle. I just want something to absorb the blow better if possible. I have a tig welder available up to 180 amps and a oxy torch. Thanks in advance.

I don't think welding would work as the melting points of Al and brazing material are so different but you could maybe get a strip of brass or whatever and drill and tap it to the end where the hammer strikes. Al may hold up for awhile but I don't think it will in the long run. Splitting wedges are made of steel because the weight helps to bury the wedge into the log and obviously for the toughness. Al is too soft to hold up for long but I bet it looks cool.

[Farmwelding]

That is my brothers wedge. Mine is pretty much the same.

[noddybrian]

I never heard of anything that could be welded to it to make it harder or easy way to heat treat - but you could make a close fitting cap in steel or even stainless say an inch deep - 2 sides would need to be welded in situ & the taper would prevent it coming off - you don't generally use aluminum wedges under much load - really only seen them for felling & you don't need to hit those that hard unless the tree has significant back weight & that's time to tie it to a skidder / tractor or whatever you have.

[AndersK]

The toughest surface treatment I know about for aluminum is Tufram and Keronite.
Still, the base material is to soft to handle the impact energy from a sledge or heavy axe so cladding with steel as suggested by Noddy sounds as a better option.

[weldin mike 27]

Points for effort, but I would say give the aluminium the flick.

For the doors, there are commercially available tools that will do a much better job,
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/1823777 ... 107&chn=ps

and for chopping down trees, By the time you account for a chainsaw and an axe as well as any other tools, you are not gaining anything by attempting to save a few KGs.

Aluminium is great for many things, but Impact is not one.

Mick

[Farmwelding]

The wedges I made are commercially available but they are expensive and free material for me is really easy. It was easier to make two wedges any way. The wedges for knocking doors down don't do the work. They only open the door a little to get a halogen tool to pry. It prevents strain on the firefighters.

[dirtmidget33]

That chunk of aluminium before it's cut down would make great heat sink/chill blocks.