Miner's axe for medium kindling and starter kindling

[thunderstick]

I have used a Council Tool Miner's axe for making kindling over the last 2 seasons. This will break down most split wood with ease into the smaller kindling pieces. Occasionally I might use my Fiskars X25 to bust a larger one that slipped through the initial splitting process. I prefer it over all other kindling axes that I've tried for the following reasons:

1. has more head weight than a hatchet
2. is more precise than a small maul or splitting axe
3. one tool will easily make both the medium kindling from larger splits (with the heavier head weight) and the smaller starter kindling (with the sharp edge)
4. the short handle allows single or double handed usage and more precision when choking up
5. the weight and width of the head precludes the need for hard swings--so its safer and more precise
6. it has a full size bit length so when splitting down a small piece by tapping the wood vertically on the chopping block with the axe on top you don't need to worry about the bit popping out the side of the wood as it goes down through
7. the longer bit makes splitting easy when laying the wood horizontal on the chopping block

Does anyone else use a miner's axe and prefer it?

 

[Square_peg]

I'm using a Plumb house and I find it excellent for this purpose.

 

[thunderstick]

I don't want to infer that this is the "best" for all people ... I'm listing the reasons why I have come to prefer it after having used various other options.

 

[Square_peg]

It sounds like it's working well for you.

 

[thunderstick]

I quizzed my wife on what she likes best of the various options we've tried over the years and she prefers this ax also. She said having a short handle to get closer to the work and having enough head weight to do the work with little effort helps her to be a more precise with her swings.

 

[300Six]

Glad to hear this works for you! Most miner/constructor/rafting heads are 4 lb and up, which strikes me as being overly 'hefty' for making kindling, but hey, who am I to argue. The fact that you can pound on the poll is worth the price of admission.

 

[thunderstick]

It's 3.5 pounds--and no pounding on poll

 

[300Six]

I perused the Council website and see that they have various short and straight handled options for full-sized heads. Good for them. What I don't understand is why hardened polls are no longer offered in their line-up. For you, or anyone else, to be able to persuade the odd piece of non-compliant wood to split via a smart tap on the poll with a drilling hammer (sledge head on a short haft) isn't out of line with what you're doing.

 

[Square_peg]

I just baton my splitting hatchet with a heavy hardwood mallet. No need to worry about the poll.

 

[300Six]

I just baton my splitting hatchet with a heavy hardwood mallet. No need to worry about the poll.

Can't disagree with this statement but then again I do know that you are well aware of the physical properties of axe polls, whereas most folks aren't.

 

[Agent_H]

I perused the Council website and see that they have various short and straight handled options for full-sized heads. Good for them. What I don't understand is why hardened polls are no longer offered in their line-up. For you, or anyone else, to be able to persuade the odd piece of non-compliant wood to split via a smart tap on the poll with a drilling hammer (sledge head on a short haft) isn't out of line with what you're doing.

Did Council make an axe with a hardened poll? (I promise I can use the search function ) My father has a 5lb Rail Splitter that I keep forgetting to take a photo of that came set up with a 28" handle and has a shape more like the "rafting" pattern than just a 5lb Dayton or similar. Whether it is hardened or not I couldn't say but it looks the part.

Thunderstick - your axe, is it marked 3 1/2 or is that what it weighed in at before a handle?

I very much enjoy using mine for most splitting duties but haven't really used them to make small kindling - the chicken stick was 4ft long...

 

[300Six]

Did Council make an axe with a hardened poll? (I promise I can use the search function ) My father has a 5lb Rail Splitter that I keep forgetting to take a photo of that came set up with a 28" handle and has a shape more like the "rafting" pattern than just a 5lb Dayton or similar. Whether it is hardened or not I couldn't say but it looks the part.

Someone on here posted (Operator1975?) a Council catalogue entry, from about 2005, confirming that they did offer hard poll axes up until recently.

 

[Square_peg]

Someone on here posted (Operator1975?) a Council catalogue entry, from about 2005, confirming that they did offer hard poll axes up until recently.

That's my recollection as well. They did until recently.

 

[Agent_H]

Someone on here posted (Operator1975?) a Council catalogue entry, from about 2005, confirming that they did offer hard poll axes up until recently.

That's my recollection as well. They did until recently.

I'm good with that - chances are I read that here but wasn't entirely positive.

Here is the same beast in a listing:

I wonder what Operator has been up to?

 

[300Six]

Ah, the holy grail. I don't buy anymore, but hard poll axes are definitely the way to go. Wish I knew that 40 years ago.

 

[thunderstick]

Did Council make an axe with a hardened poll? (I promise I can use the search function ) My father has a 5lb Rail Splitter that I keep forgetting to take a photo of that came set up with a 28" handle and has a shape more like the "rafting" pattern than just a 5lb Dayton or similar. Whether it is hardened or not I couldn't say but it looks the part.

Thunderstick - your axe, is it marked 3 1/2 or is that what it weighed in at before a handle?

I very much enjoy using mine for most splitting duties but haven't really used them to make small kindling - the chicken stick was 4ft long...

I ordered it with the 3.5lb head. Not sure what the whole axe weighs.

 

[Agent_H]

I ordered it with the 3.5lb head. Not sure what the whole axe weighs.

Thank you Thunderstick. I realize now that when I read "miner's axe" I was picturing an axe specifically with a hardened poll.

Council sells a modern miner's axe which seems to be one of their Dayton heads on a shorter straight handle but no mention of the poll being hardened.

That size axe is really handy in my opinion.

I have an older Council Tools Dayton marked 3.5 one side and the CT that I planned to do the same with.

The funny thing is that it actually weighs 3lbs 12.25oz without a handle - I don't know how often axes come out that much more than the stated weight.

Also, the loggers/foresters here are currently calling a Michigan or Dayton pattern on a straight/short handle a "Faller's or Felling axe". These are guys who fall trees for a living and I am thinking they have adopted the name due to them being primarily used to drive wedges - plastic or metal I don't know. Power saws/machinery do the cutting and their axes serve to secondary purposes. In fact they are pretty keen on the "Collins In a Box" (CIB's?) era stuff on those shorter handles. It just might be us here that are hung up on vintage stuff and terminology lol.

When I ask them about hardened polls they have told my it doesn't matter or they are unaware that there is such a thing available but that 4-5lbs is too much for what they do with them. The three guys I chatted with say they want them that length and style to carry in their gear harnesses, if that makes sense. They tend to call all double bits "Cruiser axes" as well.

Unsolicited regional specific anecdotes aside,

So a Miner's axe today would look something like this? It would be a handle length and style more than something special inherent to the head?

When I hear miner's axe I think of the hardened TT or Plumbs that have been posted up in previous threads.

Thank you for your response, sorry for the derail, and I'm glad you found a good axe that performs the duties you need - that is what it is all about! :thumbup:

 

[Square_peg]

Felling wedges are pretty much exclusively plastic these days. You don't risk damaging the chainsaw. No need for a hard poll.

 

[thunderstick]

Yup no need for hardened polls for fellers--don't know any that carry steel wedges anymore. The shorter handle and relatively heavier head allows for an easier belt carry while still getting some heft in a swing. The axe is primarily for driving wedges or cleaning out corner debris or knocking out the wedge cut. Some loggers I know use custom made laminated handles so they remain wood but are virtually unbreakable.

 

[thunderstick]

Splitting kindling with a miner's axe is very efficient for me because i'm typically bent over the block and choking up on the handle any way. It eliminates the handle length that gets in the way. The heavier head just makes the splitting happen with little effort. If you hold the head tight to the top of the wood and drop the wood on the block to make small splits, the heavier sharp head comes down through the wood with very little dropping force.