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I have more than a passing familiarity with splitting wood, and I thought I’d share with you some of what I’ve learned about wood splitting tools.

The first thing to understand about wood splitting is that it’s different from wood cutting. Wood is made up of cellulose fibers, oriented along the grain.  The cellulose is held together by lignin. The cellulose is pretty strong, but the lignin isn’t. Imagine a bunch of drinking straws held together with putty. The drinking straws are the cellulose. The putty is the lignin. When you split wood, you are separating the cellulose fibers from each other. This is why wood can only be split along the grain. When you cut wood, you are severing cellulose fibers. This requires a lot more work than splitting, because cellulose is tougher than lignin.

When most people think of splitting wood, they think of an axe. Axes are designed primarily to cut, which is not the same as splitting. An axe blade is usually very sharp, thin, and light (about 2 lbs). The jobs for which axes are ideal are felling trees and bucking logs (cutting them up into sections). However, these days, these jobs are almost always performed with either chainsaws or manual saws. Axes are okay for light splitting, such as making kindling and splitting pieces of wood less than, say, 8″ in diameter. Once the piece of wood gets big or hard enough, the axe’s thin blade sinks in and just gets stuck.

The tool pictured above is a maul. It differs from an axe in that it is designed exclusively for splitting wood. It has a much wider head, which means that it does a better job of pushing the cellulose fibers apart and breaking the wood into pieces. It is heavier, typically weighing around 8 lbs, which means it hits the wood harder than the axe and busts it up. Finally, it has a sharp edge, but not a thin one, which means that it doesn’t get stuck in the wood like an axe will.

The back side of a maul is shaped like a sledge hammer. It can be used to drive wedges. Don’t try this with an axe!

The main disadvantage of a maul is its weight. If you are doing light work, you can tire yourself out much faster with a maul than with an axe. But once you get past a certain size of wood, you are never in a million years going to split it with an axe, so you need to just step up.

There is also a tool called a splitting axe, which has a sharp blade like an axe, but it is wider at the base, more like a maul. I don’t prefer these, as to me they seem like the worst of both worlds. If I want to use an axe, I’ll use an axe. If I want to split bigger stuff, I need the weight of a maul. Splitting axes also don’t have the “sledge” on the back of the head, so they can’t be used to drive wedges.

For very tough and/or large pieces of wood, you will need to use splitting wedges. First of all, in my opinion, you should totally ignore the kind of wedge pictured on the right. It is clever and all, but my experience has been that any piece of wood that I can’t split with a maul totally laughs off that right-hand wedge. So it’s basically useless. Also, you might think that because it’s kind of square, it’ll split your wood into four pieces instead of two. It won’t. I recommend the kind of wedge pictured on the right.

A wedge is used like this. First, you “set” the wedge in the wood. I like to gently tap it in with the maul held in one hand, but some people use a small (like 4 lb) sledge, known as a “single jack” for this task. Basically, you want the wedge to dig in enough that it stands up on its own. It is sometimes helpful to hit the wood with the maul in order to make a divot in which you then start the wedge.

Once the wedge is set, you begin to hit it with the back side of the maul (or a dedicated sledge hammer) and drive it into the wood. This requires some finesse. If you just haul off and hit the wedge straightaway, you will pop it out of the wood. You need to start out relatively gently and increase force as the wedge goes further and further into the wood. Each time, you want to hit it hard enough that it goes a little further in, but not so hard that it pops back out again. The reason for this is that as you drive the wedge in, the wood is weakening and giving way. If you try to drive the wedge in too much all at once, the wood doesn’t have time to weaken. Once the wedge is about 1/2 way in, it’s probably not coming back out again, and you can commence to wail away on it.

A safety note: If the wedge does pop out of the wood, it is very likely to fly out in a direction parallel to its edge. So when you hit it, you want to face the wide side, not the narrow side. That way if it pops out, it probably won’t hit you.

Wedges sometimes come with a relatively blunt, beveled edge. I don’t like these as I find they are impossible to set. I recommend buying a wedge whose sides basically taper straight down to the edge with as little bevel as possible.

For some pieces of wood, it will be sufficient to place the wedge in the dead center of the wood and drive it through. For bigger and/or harder pieces, it may be necessary to start the wedge close to one edge. Once the wedge is driven all the way in, start another wedge into the side of the wood, perpendicular to the first wedge, and drive it in. Make sure the wedges don’t hit each other when you do this. For really, really stubborn pieces, it may be necessary to continue to drive wedges into the top of the wood, working your way across from one side to the other. I have split 5′ diameter rounds using this technique with three wedges total. I suggest having at least two wedges, as it is often the case that one will get stuck in the wood, and it’s not coming out until you relieve the pressure on it with a second one.

Finally, there are two kinds of wedges that you will find in the hardware store. Splitting wedges are the kind we’re talking about. They weigh 4-6 lbs and are made of metal. The other kind is “cutting wedges,” which are used to hold a cut open when using a chainsaw. They’re made of plastic (so the chainsaw blade doesn’t get damaged if it contacts them) and weigh just a few ounces. The two are not interchangeable.

This post will contain, in as much detail as I can muster, instructions for building a hoist to allow top-down construction of a 16′ or smaller dome. 16′ tall domes fall into a gray area: too big to conveniently build with ladders, to small to be worth renting a crane. That’s where this hoist comes in. If you’ve got a 16′ dome or thereabouts and you’re sick of wrangling struts while perched precariously on a ladder 15′ in the air, this is for you.

The advantages of top-down construction are, first, that you can do all the work on the ground. This is obviously safer than doing the work on a ladder. It’s also faster, since you don’t spend time climbing up and down, and moving, a ladder. It’s also easier on your legs. The main advantage, however, is that you can have multiple people help with the build, which means that the more helpers you have, the faster the build goes. This is not possible with a bottom-up build, where you can only do as much work as you have ladders, and given how much tall ladders cost, you probably don’t have very many ladders.

Before I get to the parts list, let me insert a disclaimer: These instructions should NOT be assumed to be complete. Do not just follow them by rote. You should have experience building this kind of thing, working with rigging, and so forth, or enlist the aid of someone who does. Implementing this will probably require some creative problem-solving on your part. You’re welcome to ask questions, and I’ll be happy to answer them, but you assume all risk for following these instructions.

If you want more information on why I think this is reasonably safe, see this post. In fact, you should probably read that either way, so that you are better able to judge the safety margin of your own project.

Before you proceed, you need to know how heavy your dome is. We estimated the weight of our dome by weighing a bundle of 10 pieces of the EMT conduit that we used to build the dome. Since we know how many total sticks of EMT conduit went into building the dome, we could just multiply out. The total weight of our dome is between 600 and 700 lbs. This is important, because you need to make sure that all the parts are rated to take the weight of the dome–the parts that have weight-ratings, anyway. Add in the weight of the bolts too.

Now, the parts list. Total cost for these items was about $300.

• 2x steel plumbing pipe, 10′ long x 2″ diameter. I selected 2″ diameter pipe because it was the smallest diameter I couldn’t easily bend by hand, and because I have used it before in erecting impromptu RF antenna masts.
• 1x pipe coupler, 2″ to 2″.
• 1x pipe coupler, 2″ to 1.5″
• 1x pipe “nipple,” 6″ long x 1.5″ diameter
• 1x pipe end-cap, 1.5″ diameter

These parts are used to build the mast. The 2″-2″ coupler connects the two 10′ pieces of pipe into one long 20′ piece of pipe. Then the remaining parts are put onto the top of the pipe as shown here:

This assembly is to allow the attachment of the guy lines. I considered various alternatives such as eye bolts, but I didn’t like having to drill holes in my mast any more than necessary, and eye bolts are actually not very strong, especially when force is applied in any direction except along the direction of the bolt.

• 3x 50′ of rope. This will be for the guy lines. I like 3/8″ nylon sheathed poly rope, which is rated for 250 lbs and can be had for $10-20 per 100′. The guy lines don’t need to be able to take the dome’s whole weight, since the mast will be very close to vertical.

The guy lines attach to the assembly at the top of the mast as shown above.

A figure-8 knot with a large loop is tied at the end of the line. For instructions on tying this knot, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_loop

Then it is wrapped around itself as shown here and slipped over the top of the mast, where it is cinched tight. I like this method because it allows easy and secure attachment of the guy lines without having to tie and untie a knot or buy hardware like carabiners. This is, of course, absolutely not how a “professional” would do this, but I find the risks to be acceptable.

• 3x “corkscrew” style stakes. These are also for guying out the mast. The ones I bought were rated for 100 lbs. Again, this is plenty, because the mast will be very close to vertical, so there won’t be much lateral force on the lines. I like the corkscrew stakes because they are very easy to put in and take out, and are very secure.

Whatever you use for stakes, the rope must be able to slide past the stake, because you will be cinching the guy lines tight. If you want to get fancy, you can buy ratcheting line tensioners at the hardware store, but I prefer a good old trucker’s hitch:

Tie a loop about 10′ from the stake using a figure-8 knot. Then pass the free end of the line through the loop in the stake, back to the figure-8 loop, and through the figure-8 loop. This creates a block-and-tackle effect, allowing you to tension the line easily. Once the line is tensioned properly, tie it off. For many applications, I use a simple slip-knot, as shown in the photo above. For more security, I use a doubled half hitch. The point is simply to prevent the free end of the line from moving.

For instructions on how to tie a trucker hitch, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker’s_hitch

• 50′ of wire rope, of sufficient diameter to hold your dome up. When you buy wire rope, it will have a weight rating. It needs to be at least strong enough to hold up your dome, of course. You must also consider that your winch will have a certain maximum diameter of cable that it can take, so first figure out what diameter of cable you need, then buy a winch that can support it. The winch will also have a certain maximum length of cable that can be spooled on its drum. Since the mast that you’re going to build is 20′ long, you only need 40′ of cable at most, so I recommend buying a pre-made 50′ cable (I got mine at Home Depot). Just look at the weight rating on the package and select the diameter that can hold up your dome. If you’re on the edge, I’d say go larger. Better safe than sorry! The cable that you buy should have a loop pre-inserted in one end, and the other end should just be cut off. If you can only find bare cable, you will need to buy a “thimble” and clamps to put the loop in the cable’s end. This is kind of a pain in the ass and you can screw it up, so better to find pre-made cable.
• 1x slip hook. This is just a hook that goes on the end of your cable. They come in various sizes and weight ratings. Pick one that can hold up your dome. It should have a shaft held in by a cotter pin, or something similar, to allow it to be affixed to the loop at the end of your wire rope.

• 1x dual-direction, brake winch. Needs to be rated to take the weight of your dome. Actually, needs some safety margin, since you lose 10% of your winch’s rated strength for every complete wrap of cable around the drum. My winch is rated for 1200 lbs. After I am on the second wrap of cable around the drum, I’m down 10% (120 lbs) to a rated weight of 1080 lbs. On the third wrap of cable, I lose another 10% (972 lbs), then 874 lbs for the 4th wrap, 787 lbs for the 5th wrap, and so on. The winch should be dual-direction so that you can both raise and lower the dome. It should have an automatically-engaging brake, for hopefully obvious reasons. You can find winches at Northern Tool and Equipment, most boating supply companies, and, of course, Amazon.com. The winch needs to be able to take the diameter and length of cable that you bought. A nice-to-have feature on a winch is a “freewheel” setting, that allows you to freely play out the cable without having to crank the handle backwards (slowly). Some people view this as a safety hazard, since engaging the freewheel feature when a load is on the winch can have disastrous results.
• Misc. hardware to attach the winch to the mast. The details of this will depend on the bolt pattern of your particular winch. Some creativity was required. If you can’t solve this problem on your own, consider yourself un-qualified to attempt this project. I installed the winch 4′ up from the base of the mast because that seemed to be a comfortable height.

• 12″ of chain, rated to hold up whatever your dome weighs. At the store, have them cut three links off the end of the 12″ section. Keep both sections of chain so that you have one that is 3 links long and one that is 12″ minus 3 links.
• 1x quick-link, rated to hold up whatever your dome weighs. This will be used to make a loop out of the chain, to attach the dome to the slip hook. So the quick-link needs to be sized so that it will fit through the chain.
• 1x carriage bolt, 3/8″ x 3″.
• 2x nuts for the carriage bolt.
• 2x 3/8″ flat washers.
• 1x snatch block. This is basically just a pulley, with a high weight rating. It is installed at the top of the mast and the wire rope runs from the winch, through the snatch block, down to attach to the dome. The snatch block needs to be weight-rated to take your dome, but the lowest-rated snatch block I found could still take 8,000 lbs, so this was not a problem. It also needs to be able to take the size of cable you bought, but this is not likely to be a problem either. Do not just buy a pulley at the hardware store because they are rated for 150 lbs or so, and they will not work.
• 1x quick-link or some other device to connect the snatch-block to the chain. I bought a quick-link, but it was actually a tight fit to get the snatch-block onto the quick-link, and I kind of wish I had bought something else. Whatever you use needs to fit through the chain and then have the snatch block put onto it easily. It needs to be weight-rated to take your dome (duh).

The assembly of the above-listed parts is shown above. The carriage bolt has been installed in a hole drilled through the top of the mast, with a nut and washer on either side. The carriage bolt is 3/8″, which was the largest diameter I could get that would also fit through the chain that I bought. This keeps the chain from sliding off the head of the bolt and gives as much strength to the bolt as possible. I chose a carriage bolt because it is full-threaded and has a larger head than a hex-bolt. The first nut provides spacing between the mast and the chain, to allow the chain to swing a little more freely. You could accomplish something similar with a washer and a hex-bolt, although hex-bolts are often not full-threaded.

You might be wondering why I ended up with this silly setup. I originally was going to use an eye-bolt to hold the pulley at the top of the mast, but eye bolts have pathetic rated working loads–in the range of 100-150 lbs. Even solid forged eye bolts couldn’t reach the 700 lbs I needed, especially because the load was going to be 90° from the direction of the shaft. This was the simplest thing I could cobble together from hardware-store parts that would accomplish what I needed.

I don’t have a picture of this, but the final step is to use the remaining section of chain and a quick-link to attach the dome to the slip hook. Basically, you build the very first section of the dome, then loop the chain around the top-most vertex and put the chain in the hook. Also, as you get started, you have to build the first section of dome around the mast so that as the dome is raised, it slides up along the mast. Here is a photo of the early stages.

One thing we learned when doing this the first time is that the weight of the dome can drive the mast into the ground. The ground was relatively soft when we did this and the mast ended up about 12″ in the ground–no lie. I suggest setting the mast on a cinderblock to prevent this.

Installing the corkscrew stakes at the perfect 120° angle to each other can be tricky. To provide enough clearance so that the dome can be raised to its full height, the stakes need to be 26′ out from the mast. At this radius, the distance between any two stakes is 45′. What I do is mark the center of the circle, then measure 26′ in any direction and set the first stake. Then I measure 26′ out from the mast and 45′ from the first stake. The place where those two lines cross is the correct location for the 2nd stake. The mirror image of that setup is the place for the 3rd stake.

The most effective way we have fount to raise the mast is to set the base close to the desired center-point, then have one person start at the top of the mast and raise it while walking towards the base. Around the halfway point, this will become impractical. Another person should be pulling on a guy line from the exact other direction. Around the time that the “walker” gets to the halfway point of the mast, the guy line puller will get mechanical advantage and will be able to help. Two people should be holding the remaining two guy lines to keep the “puller” from pulling the mast all the way over. Once the mast is generally vertical, the three guy lines can be loosely tied off and the base of the mast can be tweaked. If needed, it can be lifted onto a cinderblock or moved to the exact center of the circle. Following this, tension on the guy liens can be adjusted using a level or inclinometer to bring the mast as close as possible to perfect vertical.

When adjusting tension on the guy lines, resist the urge to tighten them too much. Unless you’re using steel cable, you’re not going to keep the mast from jiggling entirely, and that’s okay. My calculations suggest that the system can go at least nine degrees out of vertical (with a 700 lb dome fully assembled) and not exceed it planned operating margins (notice I did not say “safe” operating margins). If you tighten the guy lines too much, they will just be pulling on each other and using up their working load. Get them taut, but don’t worry about getting them piano-string tight.

Once the dome is fully assembled, you will probably want to take the mast out. Even if you don’t consider it to be in the way, it is a tempting target for mischief, and it’s not designed to be climbed upon and so forth. I found the easiest way to do this is to leave the slip hook attached to the chain at the top-most vertex, then simply “kick out” the bottom of the mast so that it is hanging by the hook. Do this gradually and take as much tension out of the cable as you do it to keep things under control. Once the mast is hanging by the hook, simply reverse the winch to lower the mast to the ground. Finally, use a ladder to climb up and disconnect the hook from the chain at the top of the dome. Oh: disconnect the guy lines before doing any of this. They will simply follow the mast down as you lower it. Reverse this process to re-erect the mast when it’s time to take the dome down.

We used the hoist to build the dome today. It was a total success! Building the dome normally takes about 8 hours, and there is no way to really speed that up much, since we only have one tall ladder. This results in people who want to help sitting around with not much to do. The build today took about 4 hours from start to finish, with about 4 people total. Since all the work is done from the ground, additional people will bring that time down significantly.

Details on the construction of the hoist will follow in a separate post. For now, here are some photos for your enjoyment.

The hoist is up and guyed out.

A magnetic inclinometer was used to make sure the mast stayed within the allowable nine degrees of variation from vertical.

It begins.

So far so good…

Because the hook is to one side of the mast, the mast started to lean as the dome was constructed. Some adjustment of the guy lines fixed this.

Nearly done!

Complete!

Tomorrow, we will take down the mast, as we would at an event, then put it back up again and do everything in reverse.

I was recently reminded of this document, that I wrote years ago. I still agree with most of what’s in it, and thought I’d share it with you.

An Analysis of Bouquet

Summary: The document, “A Bouquet of Lovers,” by Morning Glory Zell, defines and describes the structure of many polyamorous relationships today. Bouquet is, in some circles, the de facto standard structure for people who are first venturing into polyamory. It is so pervasive that, in other circles, although the document itself may be unknown, the structures of polyamorous relationships nevertheless follow its guidelines. Given its widespread influence, it behooves us to carefully analyze the concepts put forth by Bouquet.

Bouquet states that, “The goal of a responsible Open Relationship is to cultivate ongoing, long-term, complex relationships which are rooted in deep mutual friendships.” By using the terms, “ongoing,” “long-term,” and “complex,” Bouquet captures the ideal of polyamory: that we can have simultaneous, nontrivial relationships, with or among multiple partners. But the primary/secondary structure described by Bouquet can be interpreted in ways that actively prevent the realization of that ideal. Even normally reasonable and compassionate polyamorists might take a harmful and extreme interpretation of Bouquet if they feel that their relationship is threatened. It is important to be aware of the possibility for that interpretation, so as to avoid it.

You may recall that last year, we built a dome. The challenge with the dome is that it’s 16 feet high at the tallest part, and building it requires slowly working your way from the bottom to the top, moving a ladder along as you go. We have a 14′ ladder, which makes it possible, just barely, to get the last bolt in at the top of the dome. Let me tell you as the guy who’s usually at the top of that ladder that wrangling dome struts together high above the ground is a little hair-raising. On top of that, only having one ladder means that the construction has to proceed one bolt at a time. No matter how many helpers are available, the ladder is the bottleneck.

If you have a crane, it’s possible to build a dome from the top down. You build the highest part of the dome, attach it to the crane, and then slowly lift it into the air as it’s built. All of the work can be done on the ground, which means nobody has to risk their neck on a ladder, and as many people can help build as you can find wrenches for them to hold. This is, in fact, the only feasible way to build very large domes. Unfortunately, it requires a crane, and they’re expensive.

I’ve often fantasized about building some kind of structure to allow the top-down construction of our dome without having to rent a crane. At 16′, our dome is in a sweet spot where it’s too tall to efficiently build with ladders, but not so tall that you absolutely have to have a crane. At first, I envisioned a pyramid-like structure, with the dome hanging from the point. Unfortunately, this would require legs over 30 feet long in order to contain the entire dome. In addition to being unwieldy to transport and set up, I simply lack the metalworking skills required to build such a structure. The most efficient structure would be a single vertical mast, guyed out, with a winch and pulley on it.

The challenge there is that the dome weighs about 600-700 lbs when complete, and I’d need a mast about 20′ long in order to make things work. I considered building something out of 4×4 lumber, but I couldn’t figure out how to join the individual pieces of lumber into a single mast in a way that would be strong, but also possible to disassemble at the end. Also, 4x4s are heavy.

The epiphany came when I learned that it’s common to use 2″ steel pipe for impromptu antenna masts. Two 10′ long pieces of pipe can be coupled together using a standard fitting to create a 20′ mast. Although steel pipe is not designed to be load bearing, wind load on a parabolic dish antenna can peak around 70 lbs of lateral force, and the steel pipe is strong enough for that. I realized that, as long as the mast remains relatively vertical, the lateral force on it will be minimized, and will stay within the established load limits of the mast.

Consider: If the mast is entirely vertical (0° tilt), then 100% of the weight is parallel to the mast and 0% of the weight is perpendicular to the mast. Weight parallel to the mast is irrelevant because there’s no way that the pipe is going to compress or crush. As the mast moves to the horizontal, more of the weight is perpendicular to the mast. When the  mast is totally horizontal (90° tilt), 100% of the weight is perpendicular to the mast. So we can see that the percentage of weight that is perpendicular to the mast is equal to the angle of the mast divided by 90°.

Based on the antenna example, the mast can tolerate at least 70 lbs lateral loading. If the dome weighs 700 lbs, that means the mast can go up to 10% out of vertical, or 9° without exceeding established safety margins.

Once I figured out that I could use 2″ steel pipe for the mast, the other parts fell into place pretty easily. The mast will be guyed using 3/8″ nylon rope, with a working load limit of around 240 lbs. This is about 30% of the dome’s weight, so the mast would have to tip over to an angle of about 30° before a guy line would break. I will use corkscrew stakes to hold the guy lines. They have a working load of 100 lbs, which corresponds to a mast angle of about 13 degrees.

From a marine supply store, I ordered a boat winch with dual-direction ratchet and automatic brake. This will allow for raising and lowering the dome safely. The winch is rated for 1200 lbs and is geared down to provide mechanical advantage. I purchased a 50′ length of wire rope from the hardware store, with a thimble and loop already present on one end. I don’t recall the diameter, but it was whatever diameter had a working load higher than 700 lbs. Actually, I think there was a rope with working load of about 800 lbs, and I went one size larger. Incidentally, it’s important to make sure that your winch can handle the length and diameter of wire rope you intend to use.

Finding a pulley to go at the top of the mast was difficult. Typical pulleys that you find in hardware stores are rated for around 150 lbs at most. Online, I found pulleys with working loads as high as 400 lbs or so. The breakthrough came when I discovered the correct search term: snatch block. A snatch block is a pulley that is designed for redirecting the pull of a winch. They’re rated from as low as 8,000 lbs to 20,000 lbs and higher.

Another difficulty was figuring out how to attach the pulley to the top of the mast. Standard eye bolts simply would not do. They are rated at a few hundred pounds at most, but that is when you are pulling directly in line with the bolt. If you pull off-axis, the working strength goes down quickly. I ended up buying a 3/8″ carriage bolt and a few links of chain. The carriage bolt runs through the chain, then through a hole drilled in the mast. The head of the carriage bolt holds the chain in place. A quick-link attaches the chain to the snatch-block.

I’m currently waiting for the winch and the snatch block to come in the mail, then I’ll finish assembling the hoist and give it a try. I’m really excited to see if it works. On paper, everything works out, but many an engineering venture has ended in tears when the rubber hit the road. Given that there will be 700 lbs of dome lifted into the air, I plan to work slowly and carefully, and check for signs of stress when I’m done. If it works, I’m pretty excited, because I don’t know of anybody else who has skinned this particular cat in this particular way. This is a common size of dome, so I don’t imagine I’m the only one with this problem.