One thought for splitting those bigger logs (>7" dia) that works very well for me: Get a big stump or make one from several smaller logs connected together. Get an old tire. Mount the tire so that it's hovering horizontally above the stump by about 3 inches using legs on the sides or under it. Now you can put several bucked up pieces of firewood inside the tire, sitting on the stump. Split them with your axe. They stay standing up and the tire protects you from many of the normal errant swings. When you have them split, pick up all the pieces and stack them (or split them smaller on the cracker).
With this arrangement I can split wood much faster and I'm not having to pick pieces up off the ground or balance them on a stump. Plus if you swing too hard, after splitting the piece, the axe handle kind of bounces up off the tire and helps you lift it for the next swing.
The reason you go through the trouble of mounting the tire above the stump is so that it's more lined up with the center of the splitting victims (to keep them upright) and so you can sweep chunks of bark off the stump without the tire being in the way.
Like this but with a wooden block:
Mike is a homesteader, gardener, engineer, wood worker, blacksmith and most recently a greenhouse designer. He heard about permaculture in 2015 and has been learning ever since.
