Axe – what to get

I’m lucky enough to get some free firewood for my log burner. Although it’s pre cut, as I have a tiny 3kw log burner I generally have to cut it smaller.

I’d like to get an axe to do this, can anyone please recommend what to get? To give an idea of size, the logs are around 25cm by 15cm and chopping them in half would do the trick.

Also, does anyone please have a link for a good safe method to cut logs with the axe?

Cheers

If you need to split them use an axe. If you need to cut them in half surely a saw would be easier and safer ? Bundle them and saw would be my suggestion

If you need to split them, a small axe/hatchet will do the job, if you want to cut them in half, What Quentyn said.

As for brands, Hultafors or Gränsfors Bruk. I have a small trekking axe and it is excellent. Mind you, I also have other axes that are way cheaper and less good quality and they still work. My splitting aze was a third of the price of a Fiskars version and warks as well.

I prefer to split kneeling and with the wood on a large, thick piece of wood. Watch your fingers.

This is a great video for instruction on different types of axes and how to chop wood:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wravsaQ51h4&t=910s&pp=ygUQcGF1bCBraXJ0bGV5IGF4ZQ%3D%3D

Very easy to injure yourself so take care!

Fiskars x25.  It’s longer then you need but long is safer (blade hits the ground not your shin if you miss)

If it’s well dried easy splitting then you can always choke up and just use like a hatchet.

Fiskars +1.

Excellent axes. I have an xl27, it’s for big rounds but the smaller ones will be perfect for you

You absolutely don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a good axe.

You want a splitting axe for splitting , not a felling axe

Some axes are good at both

Wear gloves, it’s very easy to skin yourself. I always wear steel toe caps

and learn to sharpen it.  The difference between a sharp axe and a blunt one is amazing, and it’s much easier to keep one sharp than recover one that is thoroughly blunt

Any of the Fiskars are good but I love the X10, I have a 5 lbs Swedish Wetterling but never use it as it’s wooden shafted and not a mark on the neck

The Fiskars can take so much abuse but watch your fingers they come razor sharp

If your name’s Eugene you’ll need to be careful with it whatever one you get.

To give an idea of size, the logs are around 25cm by 15cm and chopping them in half would do the trick.

Cutting a log thats only 10″ isnt going to be easy, given you’ve only a 5″ bit to hold, and its far less in reality. Or you’d have to split it first a few times then try to break those thinner pieces, which will burn faster and you’ll go through a lot more fuel that a thick log shape

I’d suggest a Silki saw about the 12″ length, and something solid and stable to rest it on.

Do Not even contemplate something like an electric mitre saw, as that would go wrong very quickly. But If I was to recommend a powered saw, a small bandsaw would be ideal and save a lot of time and effort.

You’ll get a small 2nd hand bandsaw on ebay for the cost of a fiskars x25 axe

Thanks everyone, really helpful

quentyn – to clarify I did mean splitting, but given the size I think cutting in half or splitting in half would work

Steezy- thank you that’s a great video. I’ve seen some other YouTube videos that have left me thinking the technique is suspect, but that technique looks ideal.

I currently use one of these with a small electric chainsaw to cut (as opposed to split) the logs, but basically am thinking that it would be safer to use an axe and split the logs, given they are quite small

https://portek.co.uk/portfolio/logmaster-saw-horse/

Fiskars?!

pfft, * reaches for the brades*

But seriously any hatchet will get through that let alone an axe.

And sharp for splitting means run a file over it once in a while.

Is the diameter of the logs 25cm or 15cm?

if the latter, I find wedging smaller logs standing up inside a car tyre easier for splitting a load as you don’t have to worry about holding the log.

re the video, I’ve used that technique, it works well. Be careful if you do hold the log that the handle doesn’t trap any fingers

Stop messing about with designer kit that you (and most people) won’t appreciate unless it is bragging here. Same as bikes really but less skill compensation. A cheap B&Q job will do the job as well or poke around a car boot sale for army surplus. Keep the edge sharpish and you’ll be fine. For short stuff like that something mid size will be ok. Use a chopping block of a height that suits you. That’s my 50 years worth of splitting talking. May be b*********s

Fiskars for efficacy at splitting, hard use, neglect, cost etc. It’s s the Voodoo Bizango of the axe world.

I’ve got the X5 and X10 and used bigger versions.

I’ve also got a Gransfors which is prettier and better at slicing but not splitting.

I got a cheap splitting maul from the local DIY shop and it’s not very sharp at all but it splits wood just fine. +1 for an old car tyre, wedge in as many logs as fit and then split them all in seconds without having to stop and pick anything up. You want something sacrificial to act as a base, I kept back a round from the tree that we had felled a few years back.

OP said chop them in half, not as in split them in half.

To me that kind of implies cut them from 250×150 to 125×150.

So which is it ?. cut them or split them ?

I use a small Sandvik for kindling chopping and combine it with a pistol when I do the local Post Office.

(These photos made sense at the time – zombie apocalypse theme during lock down!)

Another cheap maul owner here. Never sharpened, it’s the shape and weight that do the work. Chopping block is a branch union from a beech tree, would take several goes to split in the hydraulic splitter so will last under the axe.

Possibly overkill for 150mm dia logs, but may not be depending on species and how seasoned. A 3/4  handle Fiskars would probably be sufficient if its easy stuff.

Well depends on what you plan on doing with it…. are you planning on buying a patio spade aswell?

If you need to split them use an axe

If you’re dealing with hardwood use a proper block splitter with a 2.5kg head. Needn’t be a fancy one.

For splitting you need a block, a piece of branch or smaller trunk, about 18” to 24” across and a bit taller, flat at both ends, then you can sit the smaller pieces on the top and lightly tap the axe on the top to get a bit of a bite, then just lift and bang it against the chopping block. That way there’s little chance of serious damage being caused to either the axe blade or the person holding it.
This is all simple common sense.

Simples, really. Certainly simpler and easier than faffing around with a saw. Unless you’re cutting long bits into shorter bits, then you can use the axe.

The post above are some examples I prepared earlier – a chopping block which is a piece of a fallen Beech branch, another a slice from a dead elm, with legs made from thick hazel stems, my Gransförs axe, a bearded head from eBay that I hafted from a chunk of wood from a mates hedge, and a modified Kent-style I found in the shed, and shaped with a whizz-wheel. They’re all very sharp, I used to whittle butter knives with them.

The Roughneck “vintage”ones with the dark brown handles are extremely good for the very low price. Main downside is the blade’s barely sharper than the handle as shipped, but they take a decent edge and you’d be sharpening anything sooner or later. You can get them starting from £15.

(I got mine as a root-basher for trailbuilding so I really didn’t care much if it was any good, since I knew it’d get neglected and banged off rocks and such, I got it because it was cheap and looked nice. But I’ve been pretty impressed)

For splitting, I now use a fixed head splitter like this…

https://forest-master.com/universal-7-splitting-axe-base-log-kindling-splitter/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA88a5BhDPARIsAFj595jjEmMJBpDqLxXKPqAkCeJvWkEAFR9epJ6NP5iDeMzPHCT95gyd_BQaAn3xEALw_wcB

… And a lump hammer. Much easier than a splitting axe.

For splitting kindling, perhaps. I can’t see how that could work for anything any size. Besides the hassle of the positioning of the wood, the energy of impact will be massively reduced by the fact you’re knocking a big lump of wood down onto a fixed wedge rather than whacking a wedge into stationary wood.

Is the diameter of the logs 25cm or 15cm

The diameter of the logs is 15-20cm and the length of them is generally around 25cm.

I think splitting them so that they’re not so chunky would do the trick

Mrs BH and I really shouldn’t be let loose anywhere near heavy sharp implements, so we use a kindling splitter and a grenade for large pieces

I’ve got a tiny Hobbit Log burner and standard log length is too wide for it.

The Hobbit Stove

If they are thick I cut them in half using a reciprocating saw…

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-ers1100-1100w-electric-reciprocating-saw-220-240v/405fx

If they’re not too wide I use a Titan sliding mitre saw…

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb794msw-210mm-electric-single-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-240v/881kp

For splitting kindling, perhaps. I can’t see how that could work for anything any size

Well, it works for me. You’re not going to split rings with it, but for making already split stuff into smaller pieces, which is what I do and the OP said they wanted to do, it’s brilliant.

Just read that the logs to be split are 15-20 cm. Perfect size for that.

For small splitting duties I have a cheapish screwfix/toolstation hatchet. Nothing special, but it sharpens fine (probably twice a year). For larger work an old hickory handled double handed felling axe. Not perfect, but it’s light, doesn’t stick in dry wood and easy to use for long periods. And for proper heavy duty or green wood splitting I have a maul, but got to save that for strong days. Big chopping block for use with all of them. Actual cutting is done with a big bow saw.

Stop messing about with designer kit that you (and most people) won’t appreciate unless it is bragging here. Same as bikes really but less skill compensation. A cheap B&Q job will do the job as well or poke around a car boot sale for army surplus.

Ive got through 3 B&Q own brand axe’s simply splitting logs. 2 split along the shaft and 1 lost its head on the backswing. Not something i’d recommend to anyone.

Fender Telecaster ….. road worn Lake Placid Blue over Sunburst .

Found this discarded by a trail…

when I do the local Post Office

that Porker wasn’t really £500 then!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forest-Master-Heavy-Duty-Splitter/dp/B0CB4K6QVX

Ive got one of these, and actually really like it. I feel much safer swinging a rubber mallet at my hand than an axe. Obviously you can still hammer your hand into the blade, and its an upturned blade in itelf, which feels a bit shady,

It flippin sharp, and only takes a gentle tap to split most things. If it takes a second swing, the log is wedged on the blade, so no need to get your hand in the way.

Ive got one of these, and actually really like it. I feel much safer swinging a rubber mallet at my hand than an axe. Obviously you can still hammer your hand into the blade, and its an upturned blade in itelf, which feels a bit shady

Thank you, I do quite like the look of that. Someone posted it earlier, so I took a look at a YouTube video of it where it seems people are using it to split logs that are the dimension of the logs that I need to split, so that’s encouraging. Unlike in all the videos and pictures of that splitter, I don’t have a huge stump where I can mount it to. I guess I could probably get one.

As pointed out, though, it is mega sharp, so I would want to ensure that it’s secured away somewhere away from little children. It’s going to be difficult to secure if it’s mounted to a massive stump in the garden, so is the idea that you unscrew it from the stump each time?

If your name’s Eugene you’ll need to be careful with it whatever one you get.

This deserved more recognition!

You do not need any sharpness for splitting. Sharpening your tool will make it more likely to get stuck, then you hurt yourself getting it out.

Believe it or not you can buy chopping blocks on amazon- £29 for a log, but some of the reviews did complain that the bark came off leaving it less aesthetically pleasing 🙂