Gransfors Double Bit Felling Ax Question

I've got one and I've done a little splitting with it while on a camping trip. However, I was not splitting large rounds. I've also got the Gransfors large splitting maul and it works a lot better. The double bit axe has a head that is not that thick, compared with the maul. It will split but not nearly as well as the maul, in my experience.
 
I am thinking about getting the Double bit Felling ax and the splitting maul.

I saw someone splitting rounds with very high overhead swings. He used the stump as a cutting block and just used speed and momentum to split the rounds. The ax had a similar profile the DB gransfors, which is why I asked.
 
Sundsvall:

If you have never done any splitting before, a chopping block is very important for several reasons. Partly for your saftey, and partly for the saftey of you axe. Be sure to take the time and effort to use a nice solid one about knee high or so.
 
That is the way I have always seen wood split, for safety as well as protection of the edge of the axe. However if you read "The Axe Book", by D. Cook, you will find a very different description of how to split wood. The author recommends leaving the wood on the ground and moving rapidly from piece, moving it with the foot or axe if necessary and splitting it where it lies. He even climbs right onto a wood pile splitting the top wood in a similar manner. There is no doubt that this method is far more time efficient, but I would warn about it requiring more than a little bit of skill.

-Cliff
 
You must have a different ax book. Mine has a description of a guy splitting on a chopping block or stump.

I am wondering if I can just use the double bit to do a variety of chopping or is it too specialized and the splitting maul + wedge is merited.
 
If the rounds were large in diameter but not too thick---and the wood was straight-grained and dry---perhaps the double bit would be just fine. I was splitting some rounds that were probably not as wide as what you are contemplating, but fairly thick. They weren't as straight-grained or dry as I would have liked either. The extra weight and thickness of the maul head was helpful under those circumstances.

Since you mentioned wedges, I'll add that the Gransfors wedge is really nice. From the factory, it will shave hair off your arm. Makes it very easy to start.
 
The real problem with double bits and splitting is that you can turn the axe over if it fails to split the wood and hit the poll. Thus unless the wood is very easy to split, using the double bit will be cumbersome.

-Cliff
 
When I split any thing of size with an ax, I change my thinking from the "split it right down the middle" thinking to "Get that bit out toward the edge" thinking and I sort of "whittle" my way around the piece.
 
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