Best axe to split logs/make kindling etc

[ollie989898]

It will soon be that season to start the stove up but in all honesty I do not actually own and axe or hatchet. I have a respectable pile of logs but I deliberately cut them all shortish (around 8 inches in length) so they would fit our stove. All the serious splitting I did last year with a full blown maul which weighed a tonne but did work.

In essence I am looking for suggestions on what kind of axe I should buy. I will use it to split stuff down to make my own kindling as well so I need something that I can swing as normal but which is handy enough to use single handed to (very carefully) make kindling. I was thinking one of those composite Husqvarna axes, about £30?

 

[milkloss]

I’ve had all the tricky little axes etc and to be honest I usually just go for the big maul every time now. Hold the handle halfway for easy splitting stuff and just use it’s own weight to do the work. Much the same with making kindling but hold the handle just behind the head and a six inch push to split chunks off. When you get close to your hand I jub it in the wood and strike the now stuck wood onto to chopping block.

I think the fiskars splitters are supposed to be good but imo the little ones take too much swinging to split something a maul will do with its own weight.

 

[Lincs Lass]

My grandad used one of these ,,its thin but has plenty of weight and slices through straight grain like a hot knife

Vintage Staniforths Severoui Axe Hedge Layers Bill hook Slasher Billhook Chopper | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Staniforths Severoui Axe Hedge Layers Bill hook Slasher Billhook Chopper at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[hendrebc]

Whatever you get make sure you don't just get a big one and try and use it one handed. Get a separate hatchet that you can use with one hand. I have a nice deep scar on my left index finger, a numb fingertip and a chip on the bone from trying to use an old 4lb elwell felling axe to split kindling.
Go to a car boot and buy something old. Be better than anything new you will get for a lot less money and you won't mind so much if you hit a nail or a rock with it.

 

[br jones]

Fiskars

 

[Henarar]

Elwell

 

[Clive]

I have a Fiskars one - makes easy work of it

 

[JeepJeep]

Had Bahco and the handle Split. Fiskars after that. It's lasted longer than the Bahco so far good.

 

[Drillman]

Multec LS2 Log Splitters - Multec Ltd

Multec LS2 Log Splitters - - (Let us know your colour preference in the “Order Notes” box at check-out) Choose your LS2 Log Splitter here:

multec.co.uk

It’s 2019 why not do it the easy way!

 

[Tomr10]

I would get two one big one small. Never worried about brand

 

[ollie989898]

The one handed thing, I meant to say I hold the axe near the head and just use its weight to split kindling. No danger of the other hand being struck.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[hendrebc]

The one handed thing, I meant to say I hold the axe near the head and just use its weight to split kindling. No danger of the other hand being struck.

Thanks for the suggestions.

That's what I was doing. And one bit of kindling wouldn't stand up by itself so I held it with my left hand and tried to tap it (like I'd done a thousand times before) to get it stuck so I could whack it and something slipped somewhere and I spent the afternoon in a+e

 

[ollie989898]

That's what I was doing. And one bit of kindling wouldn't stand up by itself so I held it with my left hand and tried to tap it (like I'd done a thousand times before) to get it stuck so I could whack it and something slipped somewhere and I spent the afternoon in a+e

I have a way of doing it that negates the need for a second hand.

 

[ollie989898]

Multec LS2 Log Splitters - Multec Ltd

Multec LS2 Log Splitters - - (Let us know your colour preference in the “Order Notes” box at check-out) Choose your LS2 Log Splitter here:

multec.co.uk

It’s 2019 why not do it the easy way!

Yeah the wife isnt going to authorise that.

 

[som farmer]

Japanese karate expert

 

[Dr. Alkathene]

Fiskars X27

 

[Robt]

My grandad used one of these ,,its thin but has plenty of weight and slices through straight grain like a hot knife

Vintage Staniforths Severoui Axe Hedge Layers Bill hook Slasher Billhook Chopper | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Staniforths Severoui Axe Hedge Layers Bill hook Slasher Billhook Chopper at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

My father gave me one of those! I use a flapper disc to polish it and keep it sharp! Great for kindling and dry logs. It won’t go that well through damp logs

 

[Lincs Lass]

My father gave me one of those! I use a flapper disc to polish it and keep it sharp! Great for kindling and dry logs. It won’t go that well through damp logs

The old Lincolnshire name for it was a Thurbull, one of those strange useless bits of information that would only ever be useful in a pub quiz

 

[milkloss]

My father gave me one of those! I use a flapper disc to polish it and keep it sharp! Great for kindling and dry logs. It won’t go that well through damp logs

You don’t want it sharp, that’s how people end up in a&e. Sharp knife, chisel, scissors etc yes. Splitting axe, no.

It doesn’t cut the grain, you don’t want it to or else it goes across/cuts into the grain which is very hard work, unpredictable and gets stuck in the wood. You want it to open the grain with a not-too-dull edge and split it apart by following the natural grain, not cut it.

 

[Tomr10]

This

https://www.facebook.com/1851065601778730/posts/2367010763517542