Hammer'in a Fiskars

S

ss Dragonfly

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Nov 9, 2006
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Has anyone used a 4lb. hammer on a Fiskars splitting axe on especially hard to split rounds? I have a bit of experience with an axe but you guys always come up with something new. Any information on splitting with minimal effort is what I am aiming for because this eucalyptus is giving me fits.

Cheers, Shane
 
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G'day Shane.

Are you trying to split it down the middle, or splitting it from the outside in by taking off chunks?. Admittedly by using the second method your split wood won't be as large, but it sure is easier.



Kind regards
Mick
 
I don't think it's good to hit your axe with a hammer...
I've broken one that way. ;)
Try hitting it with a heavy branch :thumbup:
 
I just made a heavy mallet from a section of stout log. Works like a charm. ;)
 
Yup - I hit a fiskars one time with a hammer. The hammer splintered and shot a peice of metal into my leg. I still have that shard in my thigh.

Anyone remember me posting the X-Rays? This is NOT a good idea.

TF
 
You can see the mallet I made at the top of this pic. The top is flat (being the end of the log I used to make it) so it's standing on-end.

FirstSuccesswithBowDrill001.jpg
 
I thought maybe just maybe since it was a "splitting ax" it could be hammered like a wedge. Guess I'll just get a wedge or two. Thanks for the info.
 
ZombaiO said:
I don't think it's good to hit your axe with a hammer...
I've broken one that way. ;)
Try hitting it with a heavy branch :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I've broken my fiskars while batonning,i've hit the handle one time & it was too much for the little fiskars
 
I have been using a Fiskas Splitting axe for six yrs. we are wood heated. A wood heater heats you when you drop the tree, when you buck the log, when you split, when you stack the pile and when you burn it. I found the Fiskars to be the best splitter I have ever used. The semi-concave profile means that if the log doesn't split the head gets squeezed back out. So it isn't very often ( as per the number of swings ) that the head gets stuck. I do use a 6lb sledge head on a 600mm handle to force the head through the block like a wedge. he problem I have found is the poll of the Fiskars is peening the face of my sledge. No Chips so far and as I said I have been at this for six years.
Another point of note we sell the fiskars range through work and in that time we have only had one broken handle, It chiped out between the lanyard hole and the end of the handle, when another log fell on it.
Fiskarsfamily.jpg

Trying to split a Gum block through the center is doing it the hard way I normaly try to take slabs off and leave myself a square block, sized to go into the fire box neatly.
If you think Eculyptus is hard most the fire wood we burn here is IronBark no need to wonder why they call it that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironbark
Carl
 
I know people say you shouldn't but I've beat on my Fiskars with a hammer many times with no issues. The back of the Fiskars head is fairly soft compared to a hammer head and will just deform slightly although not to a detrimental degree for a long time !!!
 
One of the cardinal rules you used to learn as a kid in a shop back in the '60's was to never hit metal on metal. Metal chips flying can get in your eyes, even with eyeglasses on, and then you have a major problem on your hands. Not recommended! Even though some folks do it, it's still not a recommended practice.

Find a wood working mallet if you must strike the head of an ax or maul. But remember, if it's that tough splitting and you hammer the head in, it'll be just as tough trying to extract it in the other direction if the wood does not split.
 
I bought a Fiskars splitting ax a few years ago. Used it to split several oak logs from a tree we cut down. Once I got into the trunk, which was almost 3 feet in diameter, it didn't have enough grunt. I'd get it wedged and use my 12 lb sledge to drive it through. The head never broke, but the handle molding around it didn't last long. Splitting of this type is better suited to a wedge and sledge.
 
Wedge n sledge you said it brother, the proper tools for the job at hand! Don't forget the eye protection!
 
1Tracker said:
One of the cardinal rules you used to learn as a kid in a shop back in the '60's was to never hit metal on metal. Metal chips flying can get in your eyes, even with eyeglasses on, and then you have a major problem on your hands. Not recommended! Even though some folks do it, it's still not a recommended practice.
Click to expand...

How about hammers and chisels !!!

As long as one medium is more malleable that the other all should be ok, even when both are fully hardened, as in two hammers, it is still very hard to get them to shatter as they proved on an episode of Mythbusters !
I have, however, had shards from my chisels come off with hammer blows but that was due to the poor 'mushroomed'state of my chisels !
 
Talfuchre said:
Yup - I hit a fiskars one time with a hammer. The hammer splintered and shot a peice of metal into my leg. I still have that shard in my thigh.

Anyone remember me posting the X-Rays? This is NOT a good idea.

TF
Click to expand...

I remember that post. Make a wood mallet. Be safe.
 
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