Splitting/Chopping Tool Review Thread

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talking of rehanging reminds me I didn't review my bison pickaroon (post #1188 has a iink). Well the head is good and it picks up rounds well but I've found it isn't so good for picking up splits and I stick to the mortar pick for that. That handle was awful though, cheap softwood judging by the grain spacing, thick and heavy and grain perfectly out of alignment. On the plus side, it broke quickly, so this week I rehung it on a hickory handle. a cheap ebay buy, grain couldn't be any further wrongly aligned, but it tight, its slender, it feels so much better and I seemed to get the head hung super tight (beginners luck). I have however done the typical pickaroon thing and drilled through and added a screw. Today it got 2 coats of BLO....I'm quite proud if my first ever rehandling.
 
I'll get some finished photos. Handle has had about 8 coats of BLO, been soaking it up!

I'll have something new to review soon as I just ordered one of these
http://www.gardena.com/int/products/tree-shrub-care/axes/1400a/967330401/

You may think it looks familiar.... You've got the big brother haven't you Steve? Picture it with an orange handle. Gardena is part of husqvarna and it appears to me they've just changed the colour and swapped the 'a' or 's' designation to after the gram weight number. Even the descriptions are identical to the husky ones. I ordered the gardena as I found it for a bargain price of £30. Mine should be turquoise and black, I suspect the grey and black is a recent colour change and mine is old stock being dumped, but just guessing. I want something short and light for easy splitting stuff, hope this will do.

So the stable has a stihl 8lb pro maul, fiskars x27 splitting axe and soon a husky/gardena universal axe. Maybe I need a wettlings, Hultafors or GB kindling hatchet
 
grrrr, had my order cancelled and refunded, I guess they had no stock.

After a lengthy search I ended up ordering a fiskars x17 as the cheapest tool I know I'll love. £35, at the same price I found a hultafors trekking axe, tbh that was appealing, it looks like sex on a [hickory] stick, but its not really the splitting tool that I'm after and also as much as there's nothing like a good piece of hickory, rubbed with BLO, I also appreciate a strong and well damped Polyamide handle, particularly with a lifetime warranty.
 
yes, a light splitter is what i want. tbh my cancelled order for the universal a1400 may have been good and my extended search was both about price and 'the right tool' again. It had me looking at the a1400 and the slightly heavier splitting s1600 but couldn't find either for less than £40, the s1600 a few pounds moe. The splitter is what i want though, and am sure the x17 will be every bit as good as the x27 (minus some big oomph of course)
 
yes, a light splitter is what i want. tbh my cancelled order for the universal a1400 may have been good and my extended search was both about price and 'the right tool' again. It had me looking at the a1400 and the slightly heavier splitting s1600 but couldn't find either for less than £40, the s1600 a few pounds moe. The splitter is what i want though, and am sure the x17 will be every bit as good as the x27 (minus some big oomph of course)
I'm curious to try the 17 and 25
 
There's an x21 now too, to fill the gap. Recognizing that no one can have the complete stable and swap to the perfect tool for each round, I wanted a good spacing, something light to really rattle through the few times I actually get easy splitting stuff.
 
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