Felling Wedge

thingiverse

If you use a chainsaw, a felling wedge is a highly useful tool to have on hand. It can be used to fell a tree in a specific direction, separate wood slabs if you're using an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, or keep a log from binding your chainsaw blade. You can purchase a 5.5-inch felling wedge for about $5. Five dollars is quite outrageous for a piece of plastic! I'm making my own instead. Don't confuse a felling wedge with a splitting wedge - they have different purposes. If you have some steel filament, go ahead and use it too. It's also worth noting that a pitching wedge serves a distinct purpose as well. Store-bought felling wedges are typically made of solid ABS plastic. I printed mine using PETG, although PLA may work just fine. ABS should also be an option if you prefer it. Printing with 0.25 millimeter layers is perfectly acceptable, unless you're trying to impress your lumberjack friends. I've included both a cool-looking triangle-braced version and a solid version of the wedge design. Use the solid version if you're cautious - or just starting out. The PETG versions I printed feel incredibly strong; in fact, I stood on them without any damage, and they remained undamaged too. Unfortunately, I don't have any action shots to share. It's been too cold, too wet, nothing to cut, or just plain lazy lately.