Board splitting, historical alternative to axes.

[JP_Finn]

Currently our characters can split boards of a trunk preferably with Splitting axe or Woods man’s axe. But any metal axe will do the job.
Another historical method to split boards, is with hard wood wedges.

So I suggest to allow splitting boards with ‘wooden wedge’*1, made from either slender trunks or from stakes. Maybe 4-6 wedges from a stake, bunch more from slender trunk. The wedges should be “scrap” or 0 squirrel hides value. Fire hardening requirement debatable?

Actual trunk splitting to boards with wedges should be slower than with axes, but also yield higher quality boards, so give a ~10% skill bonus. With ~30min time penalty or same time as non-preferred axe. If using wedges, blunt weapon, as with final step in tanning, should be required to drive in the wedges.
And last, not least, the board splitting should be pausable task.

*1 the wedges could be also required in deconstruction of log walls, especially if working alone without companion(s)

[Erkka]

I think we currently assume that use-once wooden wedges are automatically crafted (and destroyed) during the board splitting process. The axe is used to make the few initial hits, and then to hammer in the wooden wedges.

[JP_Finn]

Ahh. Ok. So cut off branches from the trunk worked to use as wedges.
In that case, I am not certain why splitting with stone-axe takes that much longer that it gets calculated to take too long to even start.
Pausing the task, with wedges in place, would be heartily appreciated!

[Erkka]

I'm under the impression (based on some real life experimentation) that when using wooden wedges, one needs to make an initial cut or two for each board to be split. Driving a wooden wedge into solid timber is not going to work. So, making that initial cut with a stone axe is probably going to take X times longer than with a metal one. But, sure, that X might be little bit too much now. So this goes into the basket of 'minor adjustments that will be fine-tuned some time sooner or later'.