Roughneck65640

Not splitting woods very well !Not recommending.

Having recently bought a house with woodland and after a tree came down (and expecting 100s of other may fall / be cut down over time) knew I needed to invest in something that turns chain-sawn wood into pieces to go into our (12 inch wide) log burner.Most of our big trees are ash (some oak) but the only tree I have experience using this maul with is ash, and its great! And as ash is a hard wood its a good test. I'm a beginner to splitting logs, and of average build, 5'8", 75kgs. Went for the 6lb version and feels about right. Might go up to the 8lb once i get better at it, but feels about right for now. After 20-30 minutes (with short breaks in between) I'm exhausted!Firstly this is a maul, not an axe.So it isn't meant to be sharp. It's pointed, but not sharp.Sharpening it would make no difference as it works on brute force. It would be like sharpening bullets, pointless.Think of it as a sharp-ish sledge hammer.You don't use your swinging strength to break the wood, you use the weight of the maul (the head), gravity, and a bit of a swing on the way down.It takes practice (beginners reading this) but after a few hours and 20-30 logs you'll have the (basic) hang of it and be able to split logs in 2-10 swings, which are 6-8 inches thick. I can see myself doing much thicker logs very soon, just working my way up. Video is of 4th swing into a c.7-8 inch deep, c.10 inch wide ash log.Start with your (non-writing) hand by the heavy end, lift above your head, then slide it down to meet your other hand at the base on the "swing" down. When the maul is at right angles to the ground your hands should be almost together and you can give it some welly. Aim for existing cracks, then for your existing dents, and remember some logs just wont split so feel free to turn them over after 10 whacks and no big cracks opening up. And remember to chop it on a wide piece of chain-sawn wood as a base, at around knee height feels right to me.Love this maul. Bought a hatchet too which takes finger width "branches" off the logs but the hatchet is more for home protection than splitting anything.

You will see some complain that it 's 'blunt' - you can ignore them - this is not an axe. This is a splitting maul - it works by weight. The head is a splitting wedge. Works as a sledge hammer as well, so you can drive in a grenade for those knotty logs.Well made, right weight for me - 8lbs. The 6lb splitters just don't cut it, no pun intended.

Great axe for chopping logs for the fire. Small light weigh with a great centre of gravity. Perfectly weighted in the hand which helps with accuracy.One thing you will need to do with this axe once it arrives is spend a little bit of time sharpening it.

The edge on this axe is disgracefully blunt. I've owned axes that are many years old yet still have a sharp blade. This axe is useless (and dangerous) unless you're prepared to spend the first few hours of ownership sharpening it. Don't waste your time or money, buy a better axe.

Isn't axe supposed to be sharp. What a waist of my money. What for the seller is thinking customers can use this? Surely not cutting anything. I saw one question on-line before buying this asking if the axe is sharp. It didn't even come to my mind that I'll be buying dull axe.