While it is easy to imagine the ideal splitter on paper, it’s another thing to enjoy using it for its intended purpose.
I have a maul, but hate using it and would rather keep hacking away with a nice axe.
I think the Fiskars is probably the most well liked for people who only want results and don’t put as much stock in enjoying the task of splitting wood.
I have one, it’s indestructible and effective, but lacks warmth and I don’t enjoy using it for hours like I do my other axes.
I grew a fondness for most hand tools at an early age and appreciate being in nature doing manual labor whenever possible, so splitting piles of wood all day suits me just fine, I enjoy it more than shooting and riding atvs.
Having preferred an old double bit Michigan pattern most of my life, I wanted to try a nice single bit for variety, of course doing research beforehand being a knife and tool nut, I was particularly drawn to the Jersey and Rockaway Patterns, I have used Michigan singles and Dayton’s before and while effective I didn’t love them over my double.
I consider
@FortyTwoBlades my go to authority on classic edged tools and respect and value his opinion, so I asked him how the council took Jersey would do as a splitter, in particular the model with phantom bevels.
He suggested other options that make more sense for a splitter, but my want for one persisted anyway and I got one for Christmas.
While on paper it’s not the best splitter, and no argument a heavier Dayton would be more effective, but I love this Jersey and enjoy using it more than I would a “better” splitter. The head is beautiful and I enjoy the feel of swinging such a nicely crafted piece of steel.
I have already split somewhere between 1.5-2 cords of wood since Christmas Day with it, mostly Ash, a little pine, some Cherry, and a good bit of Osage Orange.
She cuts folks, I reprofiled the factory edge thinning it out considerably, steel feels pretty hard, a file skates, and it takes a mean edge and holds it well.
I treated the handle with Teak oil and it’s been great, I did split the handle in two pieces last week hacking apart knotty piece of Cherry, Split the handle almost perfectly in the middle clean in two pieces.
I was a bit upset at that since I really liked the profile of the handle as it came from Council, but I found a new 36” Link handle at a Rural King and rehafted it. It had a 32” from Council.
All of that just to say that although it’s not perfect on paper, my current favorite axe for splitting is just the one that I enjoy using the most.