Recommend a good axe for getting firewood? Good double bit for the $$?

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bluesmandan

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Oct 31, 2013
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I've been cutting my own firewood all this month, and plan to continue that for the next few months. I take about an hour every other day and go out into the woods behind my house, look for dead limbs and trees, chop them out, drag them back to the house and use my little 14" electric chainsaw to cut them into usable lengths (Say 'ello to my leetle friend.) I have a splitting maul. And I have a single bit felling axe. I mostly use the axe for both felling and splitting, as I don't care for swinging that gigantic maul. The axe dulls pretty quickly and has to be touched up every day... part of that is from using it to split wood and hitting the dirt, and part of it is because it is, I suspect, a rather cheap not-too-hard steel.

So I'm thinking I should get a decent double bit axe, made for both felling and splitting. But I don't know a lot about axes... I know knives and knife steel pretty well... but I know very little about axes... Are there any good axes out there for a good price that I should consider? Not looking for one of those $300 boutique european things. Inexpensive but good quality is my route... You can even recommend a good Ebay find, old stuff I should look for, etc. THANKS!
 
Tru-Temper makes a good double bit axe. Estwing also makes a good axe. They use A2 steel which is easy to sharpen and holds it's edge well. DM
 
Yes, I see True Temper makes full size double bit Michigans. It looks like Estwing only makes smaller camp axes, though... nothing full size for taking down bigger stuff. I'll be chopping stuff up to around 8" in diameter I guess... nothing thicker than I can cut into around 10-15 foot sections and drag out of the woods by myself, but still, 8" across is pretty thick for a little camp axe.
 
By the way, the current axe I'm using is a 3.5# single bit head on a 36" hickory handle. I have no idea what brand it is... I think it was a cheapo I bought from a local feed n seed back in Mississippi... I think it is probably mexican made.
 
There are some nice axes at counciltool.com the regular and the velvicut... but no double bit in the velvicut... anyone reviewed these?
 
You can find old axes at estate sales, or in local ads. Ebay has become fairly expensive but worth it if still in your budget. Brand doesn't matter all that much, just try to get one you like the profile of, and preferably one that is a pattern from the region you live (some are better for certain woods). Something in the 2.5 to 3.25 pound range would be good I think. You may want a longer handled axe for splitting though since it is much safer. A lot of limbing and general purpose axes are in the 24"-31" range which is the most dangerous, so you have to be constantly aware of follow through and standing outside of the axe's reach.

If you're looking at Council I think OmahaKnife would be the way to go. I do not have one but I've heard they do a good job sharpening them, and the Council axes I have seen with factory edges/grinds are awful. It would take several days of work to fix, and an inexperienced person couldn't do it correctly.

If you go the vintage route try to get one with as much steel remaining as possible, and viewing in person gives you a better idea of profile. Online you have to make sure there are plenty of pictures, and even then you don't get to feel the steel.

A couple things you can do about saving your edge while splitting. The axe doesn't have to be razor sharp, just sharp enough to bite into the wood. Make sure you are keeping the handle parallel to the ground. This is also a safety issue since rounding your swings can mean a glance may head towards your toes (all the advice to keep your legs far apart isn't really as important since glanced blows are by nature quite unpredictable, keeping the axe headed straight downwards towards the ground is crucial in splitting and bucking, your feet should always be more than the handle length away from the axe's heel). This allows your axe to go straight down into the block rather than glancing off towards the dirt. As well, you could put down an old piece of plywood so that you don't hit the dirt, or just place the split billets of wood around the block strategically to catch any glanced blows. Your handle should be at least 32" if you are to protect yourself from glanced strikes. I would just convert your single-bit if possible to a dedicated splitter, since a limbing or felling axe will be too thin in the bit for any serious splitting.

Keep in mind as well that the double-bit axes will always warrant more attention and care on your part. They are more dangerous to carry and swing, which is an important consideration in slippery conditions. But they are more balanced than single-bit axes, apart from a few extremely rare Maine and 1800s patterns, and also give you the advantage of two cutting edges which can be good in mixed forests (hardwood and softwood benefit from different edges) or for rough work along the ground, limbing, splitting etc..
 
I see on Omaha Knife I can get a full sized axe sharpened and shipped to me for $42. That's not bad.
What's the difference between the Dayton and the Jersey? And how is the Velvicut worth more than $100 more?
It doesn't seem that Omaha carries the double bit, though... I wonder why?
 
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