New high-tech axe from Finland

[Windy Wilson]

According to my Scoutmaster the key to splitting wood efficiently was to have a sharp ax and know what you were doing, so you hit the wood with the ax head and not the handle. People who knew what they were doing could use thinner ax handles which would not transmit the force of the impact as much as the heavier handles. If you didn't know what you were doing you'd break a lot of ax handles.

Having an ax head made of two different steels was supposed to be the bees knees. Hard steel for the bit and a softer steel for the rest of it, which also cut down on the force of the impact being felt in your hands.

And how does using a tire as a base to split wood on work? Doesn't it bounce too much to be safe?

Hadn't heard about spiking oneself in the back with a pickaxe. I HAVE heard of hitting one's toe so one had 6 "toes" on one foot, and slicing one's hand putting the ax back into the sheath while it was still fastened to the belt.

[rightisright]

And how does using a tire as a base to split wood on work? Doesn't it bounce too much to be safe?

Get a big ass round and nail or screw the tire to the round.

[rightisright]

That scale wont help on matters of splitting. That's measuring compressive strength not engrain shear strength.

Some of the hardest woods split the cleanest.

Because they're more brittle?

Not necessarily more brittle. They have straighter grain. I've worked extensively w. several of those hardwoods listed near the top of the chart. Most of them split much more easily than a piece of elm the same size. Working with them is another story. THAT is where their hardness comes into play.

[308Mike]

That scale wont help on matters of splitting. That's measuring compressive strength not engrain shear strength.

Some of the hardest woods split the cleanest.

Because they're more brittle?

Not necessarily more brittle. They have straighter grain. I've worked extensively w. several of those hardwoods listed near the top of the chart. Most of them split much more easily than a piece of elm the same size. Working with them is another story. THAT is where their hardness comes into play.

Got it! Thanks!

[Odahi]

I've seen videos of the tire trick. You don't split the wood on it, you set it inside it, and it keeps it steady and keeps the un-split portion up where you don't have to keep bending down to put it back up on your base (at least that's how I see it). It seems to work well. I haven't split any wood in years, mainly because I'm not athletic/coordinated enough to trust myself. I've no interest in putting some surgeon's ass in a new Ferrari, thanks. Back home, I had several friends who sold firewood, or worked for Boise Cascade. Amazing how many of them had BIG scars and/or missing digits. Me, I'm old, fat, slow, tired, and lazy. I still have all my original parts, and I want to keep it that way. I'll leave all that Paul Bunyan crap for the "young and the bold." It's fascinating to watch, from a safe distance. Like internet distance.

[Highspeed]

A few years ago I sent my missis out to buy an axe, and she came back with a maul.

A maul made in China, although I have told her so many times NEVER to buy Chicom tools her essential skinflint nature always betrays her. She should probably have noticed that the Snap-On tools I own - while being very expensive initially are still looking brand new after 20 years of use, but what the fuck.

I have never managed to explain to her what the difference between an axe and a maul is, her brain isn't equipped to process that. She can take an ex-race horse which was going to be turned into dogfood due to it's man killing nature ( the evil thing should have been worth something like £250k if it didn't want to murder everyone who came within 6 feet of it ) and tame it, but she can barely tell the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver.

She thinks this maul is a blunt axe and all she needs to do is swing it harder. Which means it bounces off the wood with more velocity and danger.
The other day she actually managed to swing it so hard that the handle split from end to end. I can supply a photo if needed...