Splitting axe (axe head)

B0bbyEwing

Only recently learned that an axe was not an axe, which really shouldn't have surprised me but there you go.
Turns out I've been using a felling axe to work my way through logs so I went & bought a splitting axe, or rather a 'splitting maul' as it's listed.

When it came it was different to any axe I'd ever used previously - in that the blade was tiny. Basically it's only really about 3" across. Axe's I've used previously have seemed a decent bit wider.

Is this what splitting axe's/mauls are like then or is this actually quite small?

I don't want to start using it, find out it's a bit poor (even though reviews suggest otherwise, generally speaking) & then be unable to return it. 

Just expected the blade head to be longer that's all.

Grenage

I have the 8lb roughneck, it's pretty decent.  A larger head would spread the impact; a maul is about brute force.

B0bbyEwing

I'm no expert but I just imagine a small head like the one I've bought wont be as good when it comes to splitting. I imagine it will bed in to the logs more whereas a larger head is more likely to split the log (Sooner) than bed in?

fisher66

My maul just looks like a sledge hammer but one end of the head is shaped like an axe, it's not sharp, just pointed like a wedge. I've used it to split hundreds of logs over the last decade and it works brilliantly.  Not sure I'd want one with a small head.

fisher66

Mine's like this but it has a fibrelass handle.

https://images.app.goo.gl/914gn5wu3vHibDb48

greenbee

It'll be a lot easier to split logs with the maul than it was with a felling axe. You may need to change your technique a little as it's weighted differently, but it will be much more effective. 

B0bbyEwing

fisher66 said:

My maul just looks like a sledge hammer but one end of the head is shaped like an axe, it's not sharp, just pointed like a wedge. I've used it to split hundreds of logs over the last decade and it works brilliantly.  Not sure I'd want one with a small head.

Same. That's why I'm here to try & find more info as to whether it gets kept or not. May be better trying some wood chopper forum though it seems, if one exists.

fisher66 said:

Mine's like this but it has a fibrelass handle.

https://images.app.goo.gl/914gn5wu3vHibDb48

This one does too.

But that gives no insight in to the head size whatsoever.

greenbee said:

It'll be a lot easier to split logs with the maul than it was with a felling axe. You may need to change your technique a little as it's weighted differently, but it will be much more effective. 

Which is why I bought it.
But didn't expect the head to be as small as it is - hence being here asking about it.

Will try find a wood chopping forum then.

FreeBear

I got me one of these a few years back - https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb762lsp-corded-brushless-37cm-log-splitter-1-5kw/649gf (ouch, £100 more than I paid). It struggles with really big rounds, but nothing a chainsaw won't fix.

Had fibreglass handled hammers & axes, but kept breaking them..

Reddleman79

I have a splitting maul with hickory handle. Superb piece of kit. The only logs I find difficult are elm, but ash, oak, and beech split easily.

Eldi_Dos

Would have thought Oak more valuable as timber rather than turning it into logs to burn.

B0bbyEwing

Eldi_Dos said:

Would have thought Oak more valuable as timber rather than turning it into logs to burn.

What if someone has sorted you out with a few small sized logs that need chopping down for the fire but are too small to do anything with?