Finnish inventor rethinks design of the axe

I love splitting wood, but when it has to be done and in volumes without the aid of pneumatic splitters, this new axe/maul head design is fantastic. The Finnish people make some great tools, going to have to add this puppy to my garage wall. (sorry for the short post, but I think the product and the article really speak for themselves...enjoy!
phys.org...

The video on that link makes it look so easy compared to how you'd normally do it. Definitely a handy tool!

I want to know why he takes a decent log and converts it to kindling.

I only split them so they fit through the door of my slow combustion and that is usually just splitting in the middle.

Looks a bit suss to me. Hmm. Any axe can take out the edges.

When splitting wood, people have given me a nickname. Lightening! ..... Because I can't hit the same spot twice. Lol

P

a reply to: pheonix358

That's what I was thinking.

How does it work splitting a ring in half??

a reply to: Havox

Thanks for uploading the pics I guess that was a bit lazy of me!

a reply to: pheonix358

Well I have split as much as 10 cords a season for home use, and there are those logs that you take down to kindling. I believe his point was to demonstrate to ease of action and control in peeling off even small pieces of kindling with this maul.

Once a person is quite accomplished, you really must be able to read the grain and knots to split your more twisted pieces of hardwood, this tool would be invaluable in my more than excessive experience.

Maybe....but I would have to try it out compared to my Swedish Arvik axe.....

It appears to be birch that he is splitting.

The rounds that he was splitting are fairly short too. A lot of modern wood furnaces take billets up to 28 inches.

I would give him a round of oak or hickory(decent firewood that will last on an 8 hour stoking) with a knot in it that is 28 inches long to split... I suspect that he would be switching up to a hydraulic log splitter.

a reply to: butcherguy

Hickory is about the hardness of jarrah, and that's what I had to split for the wood heater since I was old enough to wield an axe lol

I couldn't get the video to play so I went to their website and watched a couple, he says he's splitting elm, compared to,the likes of oak, hickory and jarrah, that's a soft wood!

a reply to: butcherguy

Hehe perhaps so, I have seen the beasts such as you speak of and out of sure determination beat myself and my axe handle in vain

in a perfect world we would all have mountains of black locust, both for building as well as burning. Highest BTU burning wood there is, more water resistant than Brazilian Epay

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: butcherguy

Hehe perhaps so, I have seen the beasts such as you speak of and out of sure determination beat myself and my axe handle in vain

in a perfect world we would all have mountains of black locust, both for building as well as burning. Highest BTU burning wood there is, more water resistant than Brazilian Epay

You speak the truth.
I hate to burn black locust when it is worth so much more as fence posts. However, my aunt had a windstorm blow down a few big ones and I gladly accepted and burned those.... I had a warm house that year, with long burn times!

originally posted by: AlphaHawk
a reply to: butcherguy

Hickory is about the hardness of jarrah, and that's what I had to split for the wood heater since I was old enough to wield an axe lol

I couldn't get the video to play so I went to their website and watched a couple, he says he's splitting elm, compared to,the likes of oak, hickory and jarrah, that's a soft wood!

I saw that video too, and it did look like elm that he was splitting there. I like the use of the tire... for splitting kindling. And those soft woods would be fine for kindling.

Tree is birch and is one of the hardest to put in pieces. it also burns purest. This tool is actually good it reduces the muscle power to cut. We have this axe and its easy to me too to use even i am quite petite woman.

originally posted by: dollukka
Tree is birch and is one of the hardest to put in pieces. it also burns purest. This tool is actually good it reduces the muscle power to cut. We have this axe and its easy to me too to use even i am quite petite woman.

What kind of birch? Birch is one of the easier woods that I have split. I have never split yellow birch, but I have heard people complain a little about it.

So this'll work on the ol' DuraFlame log? Every now and then I get into an *I'm an outdoorsman* kick and I like to throw on the red & black lumberjack flannel and chop some wood with a "way too big for the job" brand new axe or chopping maul. My voice becomes more "burly" and I only drink animal beer out of the can and I pee outside off the balcony of our apartments. Like a real outdoor man. And I whittle wood with my knife. I don't actually carve it into anything though, I just sit on my seat made from a short, round section of a log standing up vertically, and I carve off pieces of wood until there's nothing left, then I start with a new piece and begin whittling away at it again... it is an acceptable expression of art, in its own way...

It's been said on here but it is still a free country

This axe seems to work fine on short, even grained, soft woods. I am not buying that this will do the same job on long, messy grained, Oak. Sorry. No way.

I heat my home with wood. All Red Oak. It's what grows around here. Splitting cord upon cord of that with a splitting maul is silly. 27 ton hydraulic splitter makes the job do-able with all the other things to do living in the boonies.

originally posted by: ABNARTY
It's been said on here but it is still a free country

This axe seems to work fine on short, even grained, soft woods. I am not buying that this will do the same job on long, messy grained, Oak. Sorry. No way.

I heat my home with wood. All Red Oak. It's what grows around here. Splitting cord upon cord of that with a splitting maul is silly. 27 ton hydraulic splitter makes the job do-able with all the other things to do living in the boonies.

I don't think anyone is claiming it splits easier (maybe faster in some cases) than a hydraulic splitter. It is a human powered hand tool, but as far as axes go, it may be a fine tool. I would have to try it. I spent my youth splitting walnut, cherry, spruce, maple and alder. I could easily fly through alder and most spruce faster than any hydraulic splitter with an ordinary axe, but the rest of them you will invariably run into pieces that can really only be split with a maul/wedge or hydraulic. For those pieces, I am sure this axe would be just as useless, but that in no way means it isn't likely a great tool.

a reply to: Halfswede

No doubt. On dry, short pine for kindling, splitting maul all the way. Easier and quieter.

The only down side I can see to this tool (granted I have never used it) is possibly the torque sent up the shaft.

I have seen an axe from the US that does a good job of splitting, THe chopper perhaps? IDK, but when I saw this guy go to town, I had to rethink my methods

There's a chore I don't miss. Give me a log splitter any day.