Best Axe for wood splitting

muleman77 said:
Like em or not, a fiskars splitting axe is a great choice at well. Wood just falls in half with it. They are great splitters, and easy to find.
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...and if your neighbour fails to return it, a mischievous camper swipes it, it falls out of the boat or you lose or break it, it's not as big a deal as if you'd invested in a Swede boutique jobbie or had lovingly refurbished a collectible classic. Mind you there are lots of axe nutz on here that will counsel you to seek out and 'befriend' a vintage Kelly/Collins/Plumb/Emerson & Stevens etc. Boy's axe. Myself included!
 
I'm all for the vintage! I've got dozens and dozens of em:) , but for a guy who wants to buy an axe today, and split wood this afternoon, you can't beat the orange and black.
Splitting wood tears up axe handles in less experienced hands something fierce too. Even experienced for that matter, take a blow time to time.
 
muleman77 said:
I'm all for the vintage! I've got dozens and dozens of em:) , but for a guy who wants to buy an axe today, and split wood this afternoon, you can't beat the orange and black.
Splitting wood tears up axe handles in less experienced hands something fierce too. Even experienced for that matter, take a blow time to time.
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Cannot disagree with you and despite the thread title Billy02 was actually looking for advice about a limbing axe.

Billy02 said:
What is the right choice of axe for chopping small to medium branches as opposed to splitting wood?
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300Six said:
Cannot disagree with you and despite the thread title Billy02 was actually looking for advice about a limbing axe.
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Yes, I mistakenly thought he ws talking about splitting small branches rather than chopping small branches. What he needs is a boys axe or equivalent. One of the medium sized Fiskars axes like the X15 (though a little short) isn't a bad choice. A Council Tools Boys axe is probably a better choice.
 
Yep, I read the title. Then the first comment and realized they are talking 2 different subjects. DM
 
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My Estwing is a very good hatchet for trimming limbs, once I thinned the cheeks. My wife purchased it for me 20 yrs. ago for about 50$ w/ tax.
I got my wife to interpret the intent of this topic as she thinks different than us. She thinks what Billy wants to discuss is the different type of axes for limbing and those for splitting.
So, a hint above is a thinner faced ax is better for limb work and a beefy cheek axe is better for splitting. Plus, one can use a 2 lb to 3 lb. axe for limb work. But on splitting the better axe would start at 4 lb.. DM
 
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David Martin said:
a thinner faced ax is better for limb work and a beefy cheek axe is better for splitting
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To a point. But it depends on the size of the limb. I saw a video yesterday of a famous maker demonstrating his small limbing axe. He spent half his time wrenching his stuck axe free from the limb.

If your limb is small enough that you will cut it completely in one blow then a thin axe is fine, maybe even preferred. But if you have to wrench your thin axe out of the limb after every blow then you're wasting time and loosening your hang. A convex cheeked axe should be used instead.
 
Ok, in general. Of the ones I use for limb work, the Estwing I have thinned it's cheeks. My Master Quality Wards is 3.5 lbs. and thin. My 2 lb. Mann is the thicker of the 3. All 3 work Really well. No binding. Of course the last 2 have an added advantage of handle length and head weight.
But their face is different. The Wards may could double as a splitting ax but I have others that are made for that and they are a work-horse. DM
 
I guess it depends on preference somewhat, and what you are doing.
Like some others I'm sure, my experience is that I very seldom prefer a thin cheeked axe, even limbing. An American style boys axe, high centerline, or double bit cruiser is about as thin as I've ever really liked to use.
There is nothing a thinner axe can do for my uses they won't do better. And I've tried almost all the variations.
 
My double bit cruiser is a True Temper from West Virginia. It's face is near the same as my Wards ax. Both of these chop and cut limbs nearly the same. Their weight is close to each other. Not as thin as my Estwing (it's really best for kindling). I have used all these for splitting oak. The Hults Bruks is a good step up on them. It starts with more wedge has greater width at middle bit and head weight, helping to drive the logs apart with the same swing. Just my take. DM
 
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