I'm surprised Collins would even make an 8# with a sledge eye. I have a Collins 8# with an axe eye and it was actually quite difficult to break. Nonetheless your new handle should solve things.
Which splitting maul to get next?
- Thread starter fields_mj
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I've got one like that, but it's a cheap one. I think it weights around 5 lbs. Honestly, I don't care for mine. My X27 weighs less, is easier to work with, and will split more difficult rounds. Maybe I'm using it wrong though? Or maybe my cheap one has something else wrong with it. Not sure, just didn't care for it. I picked it up after I broke the handle on my 8lb maul the first time, but before I bought the X27. It was easier to swing than the 8lb maul, but was only marginally better than my standard axe, which was still a LOT easier to swing. The next season I had a new handle in the 8lb maul and I was back to using it and my standard axe.
For what ever reason, it seems like all the mauls around here either have a sledge eye, or have an great big axe eye with a fiberglass handle, and a large piece of rubber/plastic under the head to protect the handle. I don't like the large overstrike shields. They get in my way. I want a clean handle so that nothing gets in my way while taking a swing.
For what ever reason, it seems like all the mauls around here either have a sledge eye, or have an great big axe eye with a fiberglass handle, and a large piece of rubber/plastic under the head to protect the handle. I don't like the large overstrike shields. They get in my way. I want a clean handle so that nothing gets in my way while taking a swing.
The X27 generally outperforms most mauls in most wood species, that's why it has so many fans. Exception is real tough wood where you want a big, sharp maul to bully through them at the expense of needing to swing extra weight.
Agreed. For that matter, a standard axe will split MOST wood just fine IF you know how to swing it correctly, and IF you know where to hit. I mentioned using that old maul a lot when I was a kid. My dad would split the same stuff that I split, but he would do it with an axe. Not sure that I ever remember him missing his mark. It took me a long time to learn how to use the axe as well has he does. The X27 is certainly a step up from the standard axe. Almost as easy to swing, and will effectively split larger rounds more easily. Anything the X27 can't split, needs a maul and/or wedges. In fact, most of what my X27 doesn't split gets partially noodled. I'll hit it a time or two with a maul to see what happens. Sometimes it start to split, but usually it gets the saw. I've found the X27 doesn't do really well on partially noodled rounds. Probably because it's nice sharp edge never gets in the wood. That's when I need a maul. I think the 6lb BASH will do fine at this job. Doesn't take a lot of swings, Just one to finish what the saw started. From there, the X27 generally does most of the rest of the work if needed.
If I had welded that pipe on before I bought the bash, I probably wouldn't have bothered buying it. However, I think it will be a better tool. Besides, it's got a really cool name
mn woodcutter
ArboristSite Guru
Has anyone that you know tried expanding foam in the handle of the fiskars? Just curious. I haven't noticed much for vibration from the fiskars handle but maybe it would be a noticeable difference. (Sorry if this has been covered in the thousands of fiskars posts on this site)
The handle on mine is similar to yours. Up near the head is where I wrapped nylon mason line to reinforce the handle--about 6" of wrap using a lashing that I learned to tie in the boy scouts. It worked. That's a beautiful maul you have there, Sunfish.In close to 40 years of wood processing the best hand splitting ax/maul I ever used has a head like this one.
But mine has a fiberglass handle. I also have a couple 6 lb mauls with wood handles, but usually
have to replace wood handles every 6-8 years or so, this was with heavy use.
sunfish
Fish Head
That's not mine, but was the closest picture I could find in a google search. Mine has a plastic or fiberglass handle. I'll try and get a photo later today.
I noticed a small amount of "slap" on my hands when splitting dried hardwoods like sugar maple and elm with a Fiskars and no gloves. On softwoods none at all.
sunfish
Fish Head
These are the two that got used the most here. But very little use after the arrival of the Super Split.
Quick update on the BASH. It sucks. Put an edge on it yesterday and took it out to the wood pile for a test run. Took my cobbled up Bionic maul along for comparison. I rolled out 4 rounds of black hickory that were 12"-14" across and 22" long. I hit each one half a dozen times with absolutely zero progress. I swear the rounds were actually laughing at me. 2 of them had good checks on them that I was hitting and still nothing. Picked up the 8lb monstrosity, and it took 3 hits each to get a good split going. Couple more swings and I had them all split. Went back and tried to split the halves with the BASH. Some it would split but it struggled. Others it wouldn't. One hit with the 8lb split slit them all. I'm absolutely confident that my X27 will split ANYTHING, absolutely ANYTHING that the BASH will split, and it will do it with less effort and fewer swings. I still want to try it on some partially noodled rounds. MAYBE it will hit hard enough to split them. The X27 doesn't really like those. Tends to start to split them but then gets stuck because it's just not thick enough or heavy enough. Hopefully the BASH will at least be able to do that job and earn its keep.
sunfish
Fish Head
What's a "BASH"? Must have missed something here.
The Wilton BASH splitting maul.
Very interesting!
I have to admit that I wasn't all that surprised that my BASH maul struggled. I've found that a maul is best used when you're splitting wood that's generally tough as opposed to hard. On wood that's hard, once an axe starts to separate the grain on the end, the grains are stiff enough that act as a lever to extend the crack deeper into the wood allowing the rest of the round to easily pop apart more easily. On tougher wood/grain, it doesn't matter that the axe was able to start a crack because the wood will flex, removing that lever effect, and keep the wood grain from separating. Instead you need a maul because you can generate more momentum with a heavier tool than you can a lighter one. That added momentum helps carry the maul deeper into the round prying it apart as it goes rather than relying on the wood grain to act as a lever. I've always figured that's one of the reasons why the tough stuff splits better with an axe out when it's really cold out. The moisture in the wood freezes making it harder than it otherwise wood be. So when the axe starts separating the grain on one end, that crack quickly extends its way the length of the round.
With that in mind, my BASH had 2 strikes against it to begin with. The shorter handle, and the lighter head both take away from its momentum. A 36" handle would help, but I still don't think I would have been happy with it. With the BASH, I think the problem is the rather blunt leading edge of the maul. I read a lot of reviews indicating that most of them were just plain flat on the end. Mine had and edge on it right out of the box, but that secondary grind was really blunt, and it just barely made and edge. The extreme ends still had a slight flat on them. I had another 6 lb maul that really would split things the X27 could not. The difference between it and the X27 (performance wise) wasn't huge, but it was noticeable on tough to split stuff (like hickory). It simply had more momentum and could muscle it's way into the wood when the axe couldn't. Having said that, I remember that 6lb head having more of a concave shape to it for the most part, and the leading secondary grind was more shallow. The leading edge on the BASH tool is really blunt. A lot like most of the cheap mauls that I see on the shelf. When it strikes the wood, it generally doesn't sink past that blunt secondary angle, so the primary angle just doesn't get a chance to do its job. I'm thinking that it would be worth my time to take this tool over to my belt grinder and really reshape that secondary grind so that the maul has an easier time getting into the grain where the momentum can pry the round apart.
With that in mind, my BASH had 2 strikes against it to begin with. The shorter handle, and the lighter head both take away from its momentum. A 36" handle would help, but I still don't think I would have been happy with it. With the BASH, I think the problem is the rather blunt leading edge of the maul. I read a lot of reviews indicating that most of them were just plain flat on the end. Mine had and edge on it right out of the box, but that secondary grind was really blunt, and it just barely made and edge. The extreme ends still had a slight flat on them. I had another 6 lb maul that really would split things the X27 could not. The difference between it and the X27 (performance wise) wasn't huge, but it was noticeable on tough to split stuff (like hickory). It simply had more momentum and could muscle it's way into the wood when the axe couldn't. Having said that, I remember that 6lb head having more of a concave shape to it for the most part, and the leading secondary grind was more shallow. The leading edge on the BASH tool is really blunt. A lot like most of the cheap mauls that I see on the shelf. When it strikes the wood, it generally doesn't sink past that blunt secondary angle, so the primary angle just doesn't get a chance to do its job. I'm thinking that it would be worth my time to take this tool over to my belt grinder and really reshape that secondary grind so that the maul has an easier time getting into the grain where the momentum can pry the round apart.
That's a great post, summarizes things we know but don't often mention together.
bigwhiteash
ArboristSite Member
I saw the BASH but wasn't impressed. As mentioned above, looks to be the wrong geometry for my taste. Manufacturing can vary alot and some tools won't be finished consistantly, thus the blunt edge. Also, thez daze, they seem to be on the soft side. Probably from my Tool&Die background, I want my edge tools to be hard, including mauls and axes. I'm a hand splitter. My X25 is worn back 3/8" curving back at the top from lots of use. It's soft, could file it easily. I have old 6 and 8lb mauls in what I call the 'Oregon style', shaped/necked down front and a secondary edge, flared top to bottom. These are what I use for tough first/second splits that the X25 is too light for. I use a 4 1/2" angle grinder to spruce up the edge. My .02 JinNJ
Of the two, which one do you prefer?
Ironworker
Addicted to ArboristSite
link523
ArboristSite Operative
You may want to try some tung oil or boiled linseed oil. It will help with the head lossing and handles drying out and shrinking. Don't know if it will help with the snapped handles maybe the moisture will give it some spring.
