Improving wear of wood splitter slides

   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #1  

skylarkguy

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So I have been watching several threads of wood splitter and processors. Some day I hope to build my own but in the mean time I have been wondering why I haven't seen an application of using ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, between the beam and the slider. I have seen it on boat trailers and on the bottom of airboats. It is more slippery than carbon steel....Just wondering. Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #2  
I'm pretty sure Split Fire uses some sort of poly to reduce wear and friction on their splitters. Seems like it would work well to me
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #3  
:)
Modified the table on my super split kinetic splitter to use UHMWPE a few years ago. Wouldn't go back to a steel table surface.
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #4  
:) Modified the table on my super split kinetic splitter to use UHMWPE a few years ago. Wouldn't go back to a steel table surface.

I hope to get a SS in the next year and I think I'll do the same. Excellent idea. Makes a fast splitter even faster..
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #5  
The only issue I see could/may come from UV light...if left exposed...
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #6  
Holy crap - You got a Super Split Down Under?!?!? The shipping must have been insane on that. I love mine, but I can't imagine getting one shipped internationally...

If you get black UHMWPE that will help a lot with UV for outdoor longevity. Carbon Black is what they use to make most plastics black, and it is a great UV stabilizer.
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #7  
Wasn't a cheap exercise, made a little bit more difficult because Paul wouldn't sell me one direct for fear of me copying it. After a few years now of me not doing that I would hope he would now consider his paranoia misplaced in this regard, at least in the context of me standing by my word to not do so. As it stands, someone in China has copied it and those splitters are now being imported into NZ and his chance to establish SS as the original kinetic here 'down under' has evaporated.
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #8  
After a few years now of me not doing that I would hope he would now consider his paranoia misplaced in this regard, at least in the context of me standing by my word to not do so. As it stands, someone in China has copied it and those splitters are now being imported into NZ and his chance to establish SS as the original kinetic here 'down under' has evaporated.

"Change, to a research engineer, is improvement. People, though don't seem to think of it in that manner. When a change is suggested they hold back and say, "What we have is all right—it does the work." Doing the work is important but doing it better is more important. The human family in industry is always looking for a park bench where it can sit down and rest. But the only park benches I know of are right in front of an undertaker's establishment."
Charles Kettering, 1929

Good product but they don't seem to be keeping up with the market.
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #9  
So I have been watching several threads of wood splitter and processors. Some day I hope to build my own but in the mean time I have been wondering why I haven't seen an application of using ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, between the beam and the slider. I have seen it on boat trailers and on the bottom of airboats. It is more slippery than carbon steel....Just wondering. Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I have my in-laws splitter that they purchased new around 1983. It has split about 6 cords a year, every year, so, about 30 years times about 6 cords equals about 180 cords. Then add on all the family members that have borrowed it over the years, so say about 250 cords. Nothing has worn out yet. 30 years. So why add the cost?
 
   / Improving wear of wood splitter slides #10  
I just rebuilt the splitter I made back in 1981. I ran two beads on each slide with my mig welder. Ground the welds flat and re-used them. How much would it cost to rig up your idea?
Dave
 
 
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