fiskars 14" hatchet

[rocketmann]

Never mind, I found it with the fourm search ...

 

[Cliff Stamp]

In addressing the first part of your answer, then a 9" overall knife will be difficult at best to work with as I intended.

Yes, unless the wood is really easy to split you are going to have some work in front of you.

I was going to ask what size/spacing the teeth should be to be efficent ...

Teeth depend on wood type, on really soft and sap woods you want them wide open. I'd choose about 4.5 tpi as a decent starting point as that will cover most woods well. You can pick up decent folding saws in this blade style but they are generally meant for smaller woods, 2-3".

Basically I want 1 tool that I can delimb dead branches from standing trees; split 4-6" round pieces in half to burn more efficently in the campfire; and practice building hunting shelters with.

It is difficult to get an axe which will cut woods well for limbing/felling and still split effectively. A splitting axe in general doesn't look much like a felling axe. However 4-6" wood generally should be ok assuming the wood isn't overly difficult to split, and could be very easy if it was open and clear. In general you are much better off with a two handed axe, even a small one, especially for splitting due to reverse poll strikes.

Does the weight of the head do the splitting, or is it the power imparted by a full swing?

Depending on the wood the axe may not split it on the cut, but it is definately the power on the swing, even the heavy mauls won't do much with a light swing. If the axe binds in the wood you have to reverse it and bring the poll of the axe down hard on another block which will drive the round through the axe. You may need to do this more than once. Having a two handed handle is critical here because you slide your dominate hand up the handle until it is right under the head and pick up the axe with the round stuck on the head. As you bring the axe down you slide your hand down the handle. Trying to do this one handed is really fatiguing.

What is critical in splitting wood is the placement of the bit. In most tv the guy slams the axe into the center of the round, you actually cut into the edge to try to induce a crack. You also try to cut perpendicular to the grain and avoid cutting across a knot. If the knots are strong then you are better off splitting them directly. If for example you have knots at say 6 and 12 o'clock and you bring the axe down along the 9 to 3 o'clock line it will do next to nothing. You actually have to cleave one of the knots in two. Often times you can flip the round over and work it easier from the other side because once a crack is started it can crack a knot apart.

-Cliff