whats a good axe

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gutsy

Joined
Sep 27, 2005
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theres alot of wood around my fiances house that needs to be split and i dont trust the axe her dad left there and i was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to purchasing one . preferably one that would be easily obtained at a dept. store and that doesnt cost an arm and a leg. what do you guys think of eastwing? its the only brand im really familar with. alot of the wood is over four years old and is very tough. i split ALOT of the smaller pieces yesterday with my becker 7 and my little necker and was extremely imressed with the both of them. the bk7 was batoned with full force heavy swings through logs measuring about 5 inches across the top and 14 / 15 inches high. the necker was pushed pretty hard too and both knives blades have considerable wear on the finishes as evidence . the edges in both held up very well though i might add . these knives werent used on just a few logs, they were used on a whole pile of seasond wood with alot of knots . my hands and arms are feeling it BAD today suddenly i remember all the times i broke my hands and wrists. need to work out more i guess. just thought id share my recent experience and ask for some advice on getting a better too for the job . thanks in advance.
 
Gransfors Scandi Forest Axe.

Fantastic Axe :)

If you don't feel like spending the $70 - $80 Dollars...


You can go with a Wetterlings.. Although you may need to file/grind to get a better cutting bevel.
 
You are looking at either a splitting axe or a maul. Axes are for small rounds which are easy to split inherently due to type or is clear/fresh. A splitting axe just looks like any other axe, it is just thicker through the bit. Most general hardware store axes are pretty much splitting axes by default. If the wood is larger you need a maul which is essentially a splitting wedge with a handle. They are much heavier than axes (up to 20 lbs) if the wood is difficult to split they are more efficient in general. Mauls are also designed to be used with wedges and have the weight and durability to pound on steel wedges.

Without seeing the wood and handling it, it is impossible to know what is needed because even easy to split wood can be problematic if the grain twists when seasoned and worse yet then gets punky with rot which will let it just absorb an axe and not crack as it just bends around it. However based on the fact that the Becker could handle it I would lean towards a thick bitted axe from a hardware store, something with a synthetic handle because the haft under the head can take a pounding unless you have done a lot of splitting.

If there is a lot of wood, take some time to look at the effects of how it splits so you can figure out where to place the axe, what works and what doesn't. If the axe binds in the wood, which it will do occasionally, then lift it up, reverse it and bring the poll down on a block sharply. You might have to repeat this more than once. If it happens on a signifiant number of rounds then a maul would be a better choice. Make sure no one is around you because the splits can crack violently and launch a fair distance.

-Cliff
 
thanks cliff. some of the wood split pretty well and some of the more seasond wood had more of the twists like you said.i never heard of the brands mentiond in the earlier posts , ill have to look into those as well. i need to practise splitting wood more anyway ,plus its good exersize. ill probably make my purchase either today or in a few days and will let you know what i come up with.
 
nuguyen , i havent heard of wetterlings before , what kind of handle do they have? im sure ill be kinda clumsy at first .
 
Wetterling has a solid wood handle, it works well if you know what you are doing but not what I would recommend to someone starting out. If you do choose to try wood then wrap the handle under the head to cushion the impact and if it does take a lot of impacts there then check it periodically and address any damage. If you do go with Wetterling or Bruks which are two of the higher end axes then don't use the actual felling/limbing models. They make splitting axes and mauls specifically and a really nice spiral wedge.

-Cliff
 
where would i find wetterlings or bruks ? would dept. stores carry them? thanks .
 
You can buy them on line, I doubt you can find them locally unless you are really lucky. It is difficult to find quality axes any more, but decent mauls are not uncommon.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
Wetterling has a solid wood handle, it works well if you know what you are doing but not what I would recommend to someone starting out. If you do choose to try wood then wrap the handle under the head to cushion the impact and if it does take a lot of impacts there then check it periodically and address any damage.
Click to expand...
I've destroyed one axe with a wooden handle exactly the way you were warning about because of my clumsiness.

Are there any good axes with handles that are more or less impervious to people with bad aim? :D
 
hwyhobo said:
Are there any good axes with handles that are more or less impervious to people with bad aim?
Click to expand...

For splitting wood yes, for chopping, not that I have seen. This isn't because you can't do it of course, just generally when the ultra-durable handles go on an axe the bit tends to thicken to make it more durable as well which means the cutting ability tends to decline rapidly unless you are working in really soft woods.

-Cliff
 
I wonder if after wrapping the handle thick and tight with bandage soaking the wrap with epoxy would provide a decent protection, or if it would be counterproductive?
 
It provides protection, the part I really don't like it that it isn't 100% and now you have a possibly damaged handle that you can not see. With just plain wood you can examine it and address any cracks. With everything covered you could be one hit away from a broken handle and still keep going. This is why I like wraps which can be removed and checked.

-Cliff
 
Here's a small splitting maul.
http://cutsforthknives.com/item-detail.cfm?ID=441&storeid=1
Darren Cutsforth is one of the good guys to buy from.
(I only recommend folks that I have dealt with myself)
He also has a full sized maul and many things GB.

A good source for lots of things sharp.

Also check your local hardware or garden store...maybe even Sears for mauls.

There are also slide on rubber bumpers to protect your axe/maul handle.
My buddy heats with wood, and splits a bunch of wood and uses the rubber bumper on his maul.
YMMV.
 
my father split his wood for years with a thin double bitted axe, but he had a lifetime of practice, slabbing it off with a twist of the blade at the right time.too dangerous for me, if you're not used to it a miss can send the axehead swinging sideways...he did go to using a steel wedge with acouple of hardwood "gluts" to split fenceposts out...and thats what i use when i have to split any.you can run across some bad hackberry that has some unreal twists in it that defies any semblance of splitting, looks like a corkscrew and theres a million sharp splinters connecting the halves...I rolled a bunch of that into a sinkhole, i gave up on it...easier wood to be had.for not much money you should be able to pick up an old double bit for spare change, instead of spending a bunch of cash and waiting on the really expensive blades.next time you go to china-mart, look at what they offer, then you'
ll know what not to get!
 
hwyhobo said:
Are there any good axes with handles that are more or less impervious to people with bad aim? :D
Click to expand...
Here we got "Nova" solid fiber glass handles wrapped in yellow rubber for mauls and sledge hammers (opposed to Fiskars hollow fiber glass handles) which are rated "unbreakable", they come with a lifetime warranty.
Fact is they are quite heavy and clumsy, not that great on vibrations, but I've never seen one broken, even under stupid use.
 
i almost got the fiskars but at the last minute bought an east wing campers axe. used it most of today and i learned alot really . some of the wood is so seasond and twisted it seems that nothing would work and others split with little force. my axe purchasing has not came to an end by no means , i kinda opened up a whole new can of worms . im going to get the fiscars and a few other various brands like bruks and wellterlings and do a comparative study of sorts . plus then ill have plenty of axes to do diferent things with [ limbing, chopping , splitting]. the east wing performs exeptionally well despite being more of a limbing axe than a splitter. speaking of which , ive got more limbing than splitting to do anyway. lots of fallen trees around the tree line that need to be taken care of and ill probably get more of splitter sometime soon .
 
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