Tricky bog wood

Hi everyone !
Does anyone have any tips or experience is splitting bog wood. My lfs only had XL pieces and so I grabbed one. It’s lovely but just too big !!! I could saw it but I don’t want two flat cuts, I’m toying with the idea of getting some small chisels and a hammer in the hopes it’ll split naturally . Has anyone done this before ? Or had experience doing anything like this. I know I should of bought a smaller piece but it wasn’t really an option and I’m impatient , Obviously

also no way is this gonna fit in any type of pan for a boil at all so it’s gonna be a huge tub soak for at least a week…

pic of the wood next to my tank for size comparison !

 

Nice piece of wood! I think hammer and chisel along the grain of the wood would be the way to go. Sawing it as you say would end up with perfectly flat surfaces and look a little unnatural.

 

Nice piece of wood! I think hammer and chisel along the grain of the wood would be the way to go. Sawing it as you say would end up with perfectly flat surfaces and look a little unnatural.

Thanks ! I can see a hole at the top from the back so if I start there I think I can 3 decent pieces from this, I don’t think I’ll need it all for just this tank but that’s okay. I can see a nice shape can come from this lump ! Just hope I don’t lose a few fingers in the process ! Wish me lots of luck coz I’m going to need it

 

Split it along the grain. Just as the Vikings did for their ships.

Edit: You will need a hammer, a chisel and a number of wedges (wood or metal. Stone also works if necessary). Open a split with hammer and then hammer in the first wedge. Do that along the whole split and then hammer in the wedges deeper and deeper until the wood cracks open. If it won't work and you use wooden wedges, you can also soak the wedges with water so they swell and do the work for you.

 

Hmm... Blacksheep1, do you still have those candles on standby?

 

Split it along the grain. Just as the Vikings did for their ships.

Edit: You will need a hammer, a chisel and a number of wedges

Thankyou ! Advice much needed. I have two screwdrivers and a kitchen knife and some useless “ocean rock “ as a hammer so far I will get the right tools for the job after work tomorrow , there’s some gorgeous smooth pieces at the back and some awful jagged , spikey parts that I’m gonna have to work out what to do with.

Hmm... Blacksheep1, do you still have those candles on standby?

I think I may need more than just candles
Can anyone give me advice on alternatives to boiling ? I’ve been watching YouTube vids and most say let it soak for about 4 days but how will this kill anything ? I know it’s Porous so I don’t wanna be adding chemicals but will just a real good soak do the job well enough ? What about repeatedly pouting kettle water on it in the bath then a soak ?
Feeling a bit of an idiot with my impulsiveness ( again !) and probably should of waited and bought more suitable pieces but oh well !

also the really sharp spikey pieces can I just cut them off when it’s split or leave them and hope the fish don’t get skewered ?

Thanks for any and all advise, yet again .. !

 

Thankyou ! Advice much needed. I have two screwdrivers and a kitchen knife and some useless “ocean rock “ as a hammer so far I will get the right tools for the job after work tomorrow , there’s some gorgeous smooth pieces at the back and some awful jagged , spikey parts that I’m gonna have to work out what to do with.

I think I may need more than just candles
Can anyone give me advice on alternatives to boiling ? I’ve been watching YouTube vids and most say let it soak for about 4 days but how will this kill anything ? I know it’s Porous so I don’t wanna be adding chemicals but will just a real good soak do the job well enough ? What about repeatedly pouting kettle water on it in the bath then a soak ?
Feeling a bit of an idiot with my impulsiveness ( again !) and probably should of waited and bought more suitable pieces but oh well !

also the really sharp spikey pieces can I just cut them off when it’s split or leave them and hope the fish don’t get skewered ?

Thanks for any and all advise, yet again .. !

I’ll admit it - I’ve never boiled driftwood. It gets soaked for a week tops in a bucket (used to be the bath before i got told off!), change the water daily, then in it goes. I suppose i place a lot of faith in my lfs to sell wood that is safe to use without the need to boil it.

As for the sharp pieces, you can trim/sand them down so they are more rounded and safe if you think they could be a hazard.

 

I’ll admit it - I’ve never boiled driftwood. It gets soaked for a week tops in a bucket (used to be the bath before i got told off!), change the water daily, then in it goes. I suppose i place a lot of faith in my lfs to sell wood that is safe to use without the need to boil it.

As for the sharp pieces, you can trim/sand them down so they are more rounded and safe if you think they could be a hazard.

Thankyou, I have a 40L tub that’ll be going in the bath to soak and if I get told off… I don’t care

there’s lots and lots of little stick like pieces , maybe I’ll place those in the substrate depending on the shapes I manage to get after I split it….

 

Any more tips for me as this hunk of wood is NOT budging !! I’m tempted to start launching it in the hopes it magically splits open it’s tougher than I thought it would be

 

Any more tips for me as this hunk of wood is NOT budging !! I’m tempted to start launching it in the hopes it magically splits open it’s tougher than I thought it would be

Hmmmm not sure. You could maybe try and soak it for a while so it takes on some water and softens up a bit but considering the size of it, that could take a few weeks at least.

 

What exactly have you tried by now?

 

Post a pic when your done, curious to see how it turns out.

 

What exactly have you tried by now?

I’ve tried chisels and hammers , 4 chisels at the same time . I’ve tried a saw to start opening the cracks then chiselled at those, I’ve cried at it nothing !

my partner had a go at it for all of 5 minutes before he said nope , Not gonna happen ! He’s usually great at stuff like this so I was surprised at that one.

short of a pneumatic drill I’m out of ideas !

Post a pic when your done, curious to see how it turns out.

I’d love to ! If I ever manage it !!!

 

Can you please post a picture of the chisels? If they are too thin it all will not work.

I was thinking of this technique. Just to be clear in case I didn't describe it the right way.

 

I would try splitting it from the front between the legs where there seems be be the beginnings of a split…


Start at the bottom and put a wedge/chisel pointing from the bottom up, then if it shows signs of splitting in the predicted direction, the next one higher up the split, etc. If it doesn’t seem to split, add a second one in the same place and try to “scissor” them, forcing the wood apart.

if you want to boil such a large piece, I would suggest buying a plug-in water heater element:



Put the piece in the bath, fill with water, put in the element, plug in and watch it slowly heat. It also comes in handy when your water heater dies!!!

 

I was thinking of this technique. Just to be clear in case I didn't describe it the right way.

That’s a lot more heavy duty than the tools I have , probably why I’m struggling ….

I would try splitting it from the front between the legs where there seems be be the beginnings of a split…
View attachment 809839
Start at the bottom and put a wedge/chisel pointing from the bottom up, then if it shows signs of splitting in the predicted direction, the next one higher up the split, etc. If it doesn’t seem to split, add a second one in the same place and try to “scissor” them, forcing the wood apart.

There’s a few bigger splits at the back and top and even though I’m wedging two in I think

Put the piece in the bath, fill with water, put in the element, plug in and watch it slowly heat.

This is cool though ! I’ll get one of those as it’s currently in the bath , much to my partners chagrin ..

 

That’s a lot more heavy duty than the tools I have , probably why I’m struggling ….

That is very likely an explanation. A sledge hammer is not necessarily a must, but a heavy hammer and good wedges are.

 

That is very likely an explanation. A sledge hammer is not necessarily a must, but a heavy hammer and good wedges are.

Well I’m not quitting until I’ve split it I’ve been at it 4 days now !!

 

Post a pic when your done, curious to see how it turns out.

finally ! I have one piece in the tank ! The other is still too big and needs splitting more but here’s the piece that had made it in the tank so far ! It’s no where near finished yet and needs some reorganising …