Splitting/Chopping Tool Review Thread

[Erik B]

I have one of the small leather wrapped Estwing hatchets. It's a nice little tool to have around. Not really great at anything, but handy, nonetheless. It does take a nice edge, and also took the tip of my thumb off while making kindling. Had a Plumb Boy Scout hatchet, but cracked.

Do you have the knife that goes with the BS hatchet?

 

[theswampthing]

Do you have the knife that goes with the BS hatchet?

Naw. My friend's dad gave me the hatchet before he moved to FLA. Don't know where he got it from.

 

[johnnylabguy]

Santa finally delivered my x27 maul this afternoon and I finally got a chance to see if it lives up to the hype!

Unfortunately, I've split the two trailer loads of pin oak mostly with my true temper maul this week that I've been on vacation(6 lb council was 2nd place thus far). When the brown UPS Santa sleigh showed up all I had left to test the fiskars on were the uglies mostly.

And with the limited time and usage I'm impressed. For lack of better wording, The smoothness and sharpness make up for it's lack of mass!
-I peeled a few of the the big hydro stack reserved uglies like an onion with minimal effort(even with extra wacks) from the sharp edges vs my other mauls.
-Smaller rounds exploded apart with ease as expected
- I think the most impressive aspect is when the log isn't split the maul is easily removed. Either from the coating or design. That's really nice!
-It DEFINATELY penetrates further into a round than the other mauls I own.
-it's light. Easy to swing for over an hour at a time. Big plus. Cannot stress that enough.

Here's an ugly I had a few hack marks in with the other mauls. The x27 broke thru in one whack. Nice.


Now it didn't beat all my ugly stack but it definately is an improvement over any other maul that light easily. Looking forward to some straight grain wood time.

 

[Philbert]

The 'uglies' are normally harder to split. Try it side-by-side with your regular maul for a fair comparison.

Philbert

 

[svk]

Hey @spike60

Just a thought. Would you consider doing a "Traveling S2800" demo like we did with the Leveraxe? If it's as good as the few reports say it is you may get a few sales out of the deal.

To take it a step further: If someone tests it out and wants to keep it, they could pay you and then you could ship another one to the next person in line.

 

[Jake Wise]

Well after reading this thread I became convinced that I needed a Fiskers so I put in an order for one on amazon and I should have it on Friday. I will post my thoughts after I use it this weekend. The one I ordered was 36" all black and said discontinued by the manufacturer. If I am not mistaken this is the Super Split that I have heard praise over the newer x27 on other threads on here. We'll see how it does.

 

[UnforsakenGhost]

Well after reading this thread I became convinced that I needed a Fiskers so I put in an order for one on amazon and I should have it on Friday. I will post my thoughts after I use it this weekend. The one I ordered was 36" all black and said discontinued by the manufacturer. If I am not mistaken this is the Super Split that I have heard praise over the newer x27 on other threads on here. We'll see how it does.

You will love it, That's the one I've got is the all black one, although the stickers said x27 on it, no complaints, if it doesn't split it the first couple swings, it will crack enough that a heavier maul will plow through it, and it won't wear u out lol

 

[johnnylabguy]

I split a trailer load of ash this afternoon with the x27. Got the true temper out to compare but only swung it maybe half dozen times. There's just no comparison on effort to achieve the same result.

Using the x27 is almost like cheating at my workout!

Anyone want to buy a slightly used council 6 lb maul btw? Lol

 

[zogger]

Hey @spike60

Just a thought. Would you consider doing a "Traveling S2800" demo like we did with the Leveraxe? If it's as good as the few reports say it is you may get a few sales out of the deal.

To take it a step further: If someone tests it out and wants to keep it, they could pay you and then you could ship another one to the next person in line.

What I would like to see is a US distributor for those larger splatensplittenaxen that fiskars sells overseas. Those are the ones I would like to try next.

 

[svk]

Anyone want to buy a slightly used council 6 lb maul btw? Lol

The only problem is you'd spend enough for a new one just to ship it!

 

[sdt7618]

Which one the x39 or the x46. Can get both in the UK but the x46 don't look nothin special.

 

[c5rulz]

Well Santa gave me a Helko Vario 2000. This thing is so pretty I don't really want to use it. Thinking about hanging it on a wall. The wife said not in "Her House". Well my garages have walls too.

The mounting system is unique, the heads and handles can be interchanged or replaced if damaged easily.

 

[svk]

Split a good deal of deep freeze rounds today. For those who don't get a lot of cold weather it's a little different beast than working with thawed wood. Splitting tools have the tendency to bounce off of frozen rounds long before they get stuck. Although you do get cleaner splits even in green wood.

Fiskars worked better than the 8# Collins in the birch and the smaller aspen. In the big aspen, the Collins would crack pieces off the outside easier but wouldn't break them away from the main block so I'd use the Fiskars for that. The rest of the big aspen rounds are going though the DHT tomorrow.

 

[zogger]

Which one the x39 or the x46. Can get both in the UK but the x46 don't look nothin special.

Oh, I'd like to try them all, but most likely first pick that six pounder, must be the 39 I think.

 

[zogger]

Which one the x39 or the x46. Can get both in the UK but the x46 don't look nothin special.

Oh, BTW, I have your seeds, man! Send me a private conversation message with your address, I'll get them out. I was waiting until after the holidays to let the big glut of packages thin out some.

 

[zogger]

Well Santa gave me a Helko Vario 2000. This thing is so pretty I don't really want to use it. Thinking about hanging it on a wall. The wife said not in "Her House". Well my garages have walls too.



The mounting system is unique, the heads and handles can be interchanged or replaced if damaged easily.

Those are just sharp lookin!

You can always hang it on the wall after a good wipedown and bustin some wood!

 

[sdt7618]

Oh, I'd like to try them all, but most likely first pick that six pounder, must be the 39 I think.

Not the best vid but has both. The x39 is mucho £, about twice the x27 but the x46 is about the same price here as the x27

 

[sdt7618]

Looks like the x39 and x39 are totally different. Would appear the x39 has a plastic insert for banging on with a sledge to drive it like a wedge. The x37 is more like a trad maul

 

[zogger]

Which one the x39 or the x46. Can get both in the UK but the x46 don't look nothin special.

..Just looked again, I think the x37, conventional looking, just fiskars made.

 

[spike60]

Hey @spike60

Just a thought. Would you consider doing a "Traveling S2800" demo like we did with the Leveraxe? If it's as good as the few reports say it is you may get a few sales out of the deal.

To take it a step further: If someone tests it out and wants to keep it, they could pay you and then you could ship another one to the next person in line.

That's an interesting idea. As you know I haven't even tried one myself yet. I'm continuing to retro grade on the tool timeline and my most recent toy is an old double bit axe that I put a new handle on.

I will brake out a S2800 for JrepairsK70E's GTG later this month and we'll see how it does and go from there. Shipping costs would likely make it better for guys to buy them locally than from me, even at the lower price I sell them at. I figure it's gotta cost $20-$25 to ship one of those things. What did it cost to ship the lever axe?