Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[GrizG]

If you favor an axe over a maul fir splitting by hand. May I suggest a 6lb. Council with a 36" handle.

6lb. Council next to an eighth pound maul.
View attachment 1031946

Fir back country felling, limbing and even recreational or competition throwing? A hand forged Gransfors Bruk is hard to beat! I've never experienced any other axe as sharp or stay sharp as long as a GB! Spendy, but well worth it. When you tap on a GB with a screw driver or bar wrench? You will here a familiar "ting" unlike tapping on any other axe of cheaper steel.
View attachment 1031948View attachment 1031947

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

Those handles look like they could use about a half dozen+ coats of boiled linseed oil... Each time, soak it until the oil pools on the surface, let it sit for 10 minutes or so and wipe it off the surface. Repeat that every day for a week and then apply a new coat annually. If you sand the oil in with 120-150 grit paper each time you will also all but eliminate blisters while using the tools without gloves.

 

[MustangMike]

I just couldn't get behind those short handles on the husqy and the x25. Same reason I just couldn't Like the Wilton maul. I'm 5'9" so pretty average height. I wish husqy would come out with a 32" version of the s2800

Nate, not sure what you got the Buck with, but I think you need another 45-70!

 

[MustangMike]

Those handles look like they could use about a half dozen+ coats of boiled linseed oil... Each time, soak it until the oil pools on the surface, let it sit for 10 minutes or so and wipe it off the surface. Repeat that every day for a week and then apply a new coat annually. If you sand the oil in with 120-150 grit paper each time you will also all but eliminate blisters while using the tools without gloves.

Or leave them on the wall and buy a Fiskars (Ha, Ha, Ha!).

 

[GrizG]

I've never used a nice wooden handled splitting axe, but I do like the two fiscars splitting axes I have. I prefer the x27 over the x25 (iirc) even though I'm not real tall (5'7"). They are different than using a large splitting maul as they don't have the weight behind them, it's all about the speed with them. Here in the states they also have a lifetime warranty, which is great. I let a buddies kid try mine out, he swung just past the round and nailed the handle on it, it busted the head right off. Had I not seen it myself I would not have believed it as I had over swung it myself and never had a problem, not sure if I started the fracture and he finished it or if he hit the perfect spot. I contacted fiscars and the said get online and follow the instructions, put my name and address in and sent pics, they sent me a new one free of any extra charges. What's not to like about that .

I've got a Bison splitting axe that is wonderful... I won it which makes it even better!

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...XDnjNp9_KSe1ElLnnCDEtwgfDUTHK0-RoCeasQAvD_BwE

 

[sean donato]

Nate, not sure what you got the Buck with, but I think you need another 45-70!

Mike I think your getting your quotes mixed up.....

 

[GrizG]

Or leave them on the wall and buy a Fiskars (Ha, Ha, Ha!).

We collectively should be using wood where ever we can... this isn't the Independent Petroleum Association of America or American Composites Manufacturers Association web site.

 

[old CB]

I hand-split everything for decades, until buying a used Iron & Oak 20-ton about 8 yrs ago. But I keep a Fiskars (x-27, I think) around for occasional use. It's nice for waking up the muscles on a cold morning.

But I get all I can out of it with the full 360 degree swing, starting with left hand at the end of the handle and right hand up near the head, bringing the maul behind me and overhead, then sliding my right hand down to meet my left on the down stroke. Am convinced that the centrifugal force of that full arc adds force and saves on effort.

Like Mike said above--splitting when the wood is extremely cold (below zero is optimum) makes wood with any moisture content pop apart when it might resist otherwise.

Yes on the Fiskars. Having replaced way too many wood axe and splitting maul handles, I finally welded a steel handle onto my maul in the '80s. That thing would rattle your brain hinges, but I never had to replace it. (I replaced it with the Iron & Oak.) At camp I have a wood handled maul that I keep wrapping Gorilla tape just below the head where it gets splintered otherwise. The Fiskars setup is extra nice.

 

[Philbert]

Are there different length handles and weights?

A search just brought up tons of X27 axes, new at stores.

There are several Fiskars threads here on A.S. I will try to link some. Plus, the offerings and model names change over time.

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/fiskars-28-and-36-side-by-side-comparison.170817/
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/fiskars-question.356381/
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/fiskars-axe-is-junk.188672/
Philbert

 

[old CB]

We collectively should be using wood where ever we can... this isn't the Independent Petroleum Association of America or American Composites Manufacturers Association web site.

I'm with you on that. Last week I finally reached the end of a bale of plastic round baler twine that I'd been using since quitting round baling in 1995 (quitting all of ag, I should say). Saturday I went to the local hardware store and got a small bale of sisal twine, like we had for small-square baling back in the day. I prefer to avoid the use of plastic whenever I can.

I have a friend who is an independent oil/gas producer, as I lived 3 decades in Oklahoma which is oil & gas country. Arrived there in 1979, right at the beginning of a drilling boom--what a time that was. Have some photos I took of the rig crew that drilled on our homeplace (1980-something). But plastic has become a plague on the earth, and I'd love to see us relegate it to history. Plenty of better substances exist and/or can be developed.

 

[SS396driver]

Milling today love the 395xp for the job and I got the chain sharpening pretty much down but I need to mod the muffler . It blows the exhaust right up at my face . Any suggestions ?

 

[sean donato]

Memory isn't being kind to me at the moment but I believe the 395 muffler is the same as the 394, and if so, I'd be blocking the factory exhaust port and welding in a short length of pipe to direct the exhaust down and away from my face. I really don't recall ever having this issue with my 394 on the Alaskan though, so I'm thinking the mufflers may be different. ?

 

[JimR]

Milling today love the 395xp for the job and I got the chain sharpening pretty much down but I need to mod the muffler . It blows the exhaust right up at my face . Any suggestions ? View attachment 1032187View attachment 1032188View attachment 1032189View attachment 1032190

How about a 60 degree elbow off to the side?

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

You missed out on years of arguments on this topic.

About 85% of people who use it will say the Fiskars is a very efficient splitting tool. However it needs a fast strike to be effective and some folks who are used to swing heavy mauls can just never get it right so they say the Fiskars is crap.

The Fiskars type splitting axes work fine in straight wood. But in twisted, knotty stuff you need the weight of a serious mall.

 

[sean donato]

The Fiskars type splitting axes work fine in straight wood. But in twisted, knotty stuff you need the weight of a serious mall.

That's what the iso core maul is for

 

[MustangMike]

If you swing the head fast, the splitting axe works just great.

Also, I wear gloves to reduce any vibrations from the handle. They really only get bad when you miss!

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

The double faced ones?? They used to say if you wear those out you're workin' too hard.

Carhartt ain’t what they used to be and I quit wasting money on them. I haven’t had a pair last over 2 weeks in a few years.

 

[SS396driver]

Memory isn't being kind to me at the moment but I believe the 395 muffler is the same as the 394, and if so, I'd be blocking the factory exhaust port and welding in a short length of pipe to direct the exhaust down and away from my face. I really don't recall ever having this issue with my 394 on the Alaskan though, so I'm thinking the mufflers may be different. ?

This is the situation the ports of the muffler point straight up . Guess I’ll block them off and add a pipe to the side

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

Milling today love the 395xp for the job and I got the chain sharpening pretty much down but I need to mod the muffler . It blows the exhaust right up at my face . Any suggestions ? View attachment 1032187View attachment 1032188View attachment 1032189View attachment 1032190

Put the saw the other way in the mill

 

[The Shooters Apprentice]

That's what the iso core maul is for

My dad had this monstrous short handled red maul when I was a kid, thing has to weigh 20 lb.

I’ve been eye balling a Stihl of husky splitting maul as I like a longer handle. But haven’t jumped on it yet. Right now I do most of my splitting with a plumb double bit, and I’d that won’t do it I use the lazy man’s axe.

 

[turnkey4099]

Are there different length handles and weights?

A search just brought up tons of X27 axes, new at stores.

There is the X25 which has a shorter handle. I recommend you stick with the X27 as less risk of chopping your leg. Those axes are SHARP!.