The Traveling Leveraxe/Leveraxe 2 Thread

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With the wedge shaped space between the handle and the flat, looks like some weight could be easily added if one were so inclined. I thought the original was a little light for serious work now this is even lighter. Less weight might make shipping it around a bit cheaper.
And hang on to the extra handle!
 
Cast steel isn't the same as cast iron, but I think the original was made from extrusion with a little additional forging.
 
(Dramatic background music). The time is now!

We better see some vids, or at least some detailed pics! :D With all this talk about the 1st generation head being higher quality, do you think they just made the 2nd gen out of cheaper metal just to get feedback, and that the final production version will have something forged? Just thinking out loud here....
 
I'll post details later. But after going through several rounds this morning I can tell you this:

If you are splitting short, small, or straight grained into small splits, the LA delivers, and IMO may be the fastest tool to work with because the motion stops at the top of the split. Just like he does in the YouTube infomercial.

If you are splitting knotty, twisted or large wood then stick with a maul for reducing them to size. I had several rounds that the LA or Fiskars were getting stuck in and the maul bullies right through. And my maul isn't even that large.
 
OK, in "good" wood, is it really faster, significantly faster, and easier than a Fiskar's? How about felt shock, hands, elbows?
 
OK, in "good" wood, is it really faster, significantly faster, and easier than a Fiskar's? How about felt shock, hands, elbows?
Depends.

In short, small and/or straight grained wood the Leveraxe will outpace other tools because the tool stops at the top of the wood, saving time and energy (see infomercial on Youtube, it really does work just like that). The traditional splitting axe and Fiskars split just as well but go all of the way through the split making more work as you need to pull the axe out of the pile of splits. Also the lightness of the head makes it effortless to swing. Maul goes through too but takes more "umph" to swing which ends up transferring excess energy into the splitting block. But, you need to make small splits with the Leveraxe. If you try biting off too big of a piece you'll find the cutting edge buried in the wood. *Side note: If someone down the line has one of those new Husky axes or a X25 this could end up in a horse race to see who can split more wood. The X27 is just too big of a tool for splitting small stuff

As an all around "one tool splits most" this does not match the Fiskars. Although IMO neither does any tool I've tried, up to this point. (Yeah, yeah drink the Kool-Aid LOL.) The Leveraxe doesn't like knots. The Fiskars will buck decent knots, to a point.

In full disclosure most of the wood I split today was in the 18-20" length. The stuff I split the other day was shorter and that's where the LA shines. But my three main burning units are a boiler, traditional fireplace, and sauna stove so I wanted to try it for my wood, not to repeat what we know already works.

Regarding shock on hands/arms/elbows: I wore soft gloves (the yellow cotton ones with red wristbands) and there was no felt stress on hands or arms with the tool stopping dead at the top of the split. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I experienced some hand slap when using the LA without gloves.

In summary: A very well built tool that works very well when used for making small splits or with shorter rounds. NOT a Fiskars/Splitting axe/maul replacement but rather a complimentary tool. Off the top of my head someone with a smaller potbelly or high efficiency stove could get good use out of this.

The LA is off to @MechanicMatt in the morning for Spike's GTG next weekend.
 
If the shipping is USPS, tomorrow is a holiday.

I have the wood handled husky splitting axe/maul and the original fiskars supersplitter, which is 28". I think the husky is 32. That's mainly what I can compare it to.
 
If the shipping is USPS, tomorrow is a holiday.

I have the wood handled husky splitting axe/maul and the original fiskars supersplitter, which is 28". I think the husky is 32. That's mainly what I can compare it to.
Thank you for reminding me. I don't need to go into town until Tuesday morning then.
 
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