Norlund Log Splitter Axe?

jeremy1517

jeremy1517

Joined
Sep 11, 2012
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Does anyone have any experience with the Norlund Log Splitter Axe?

Old axe head..... Good or bad???
 
I have two. One needs to be re-hung and I've never swung it. The other, I've split maybe 3 cords over the last dozen years with it. Not really a splitting axe and not too wedge shaped, but too thick to be anything but a splitter. Heavy-ish. I think it weighs more than the 3.5lbs often reported, but I've never actually weighed it. Works well for the occasions I use it for the uses I use it for. My dad put an edge on it long before I could swing it and I think that was the last time.

They don't seem to come up nearly as often as the little hatchets, the cruiser, or the hudson's bay, but they also don't seem to command near the same prices. I keep mine because of nostalgia and because it doesn't seem right to take a fiskars to the cabin where this axe resides.
 
Does it look like this?






This is a 5 lb splitter, early 1980's vintage IIRC. I don't have another splitter to compare it to, but it does a decent job. I sharpened it recently, and the steel is hard.
 
Norlands are decent axes but they're nothing special. I promptly sell any I find because they fetch such a nice price at auction. I sold this similar 5-pounder not long ago. I was very happy with the sale.

Norlund%205.jpg
 
So....... I have this but I've been contemplating buying a nicer felling axe. Either the GB American Felling axe or the Council Tool Velvicut Felling axe. I wasn't sure if those two would out perform the Norlund? Hate to spend the money and not get a better performer.
 
Honestly, the quality, size and shape of the handle will make a greater difference in your axe's felling ability than the steel composition. Weight is another consideration. 4-pound double bits were the standard for the man who worked day in and day out felling trees with the crosscut saw and the axe. 3.5 to 4 pounds is as much axe as most people would ever want to use for felling. Obviously your own size and weight will be factors, too. For me a 3-1/2 pound single bit with a 34" to 36" curved handle makes a nice feller. Banana or half-banana grind and razor sharp.
 
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