Vipukirves Axe

[FLHX Storm]

Has anyone seen or for that matter used this axe? I kind of like the shape since it's design appears that once impact is made, it forces the head to twist in one direction. It also appears to be very light weight. I'm considering adding it to my ever growing wish list. :msp_smile:

[video=youtube;9jDR_2Zsr40]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jDR_2Zsr40[/video]

 

[Bushbow]

Can you say, "orthopedic surgeon"? On frozen birch it does wonders but so would a fiskars. Get one and let us know how the torque on your wrists plays out??

 

[dave_376]

That has been around for a while. I guess the general consensus was that it worked well on soft woods but not on the tougher hardwoods. I think it was called a LEVER AX if i remember.

http://arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/46925.htm

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/56607.htm

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Lever_Axe_Reviews

A lot of people say that striking the wood with a normal ax angled/twisted will give you similar results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Z2UXEFUIw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fWo0P0MdJM

 

[FLHX Storm]

Well, if it only works on soft woods n trashes my wrists to boot, I guess I'll have to take it off my wish list. I still love my Fiskars!

 

[zogger]

I cant see why it wouldnt work on most any normally easy to split wood, hard or soft.

As to it hurting your wrists, you are supposed to let it slip and pivot in your hands, they say that on their site or video I think. Looked at this thing before and the inventor is an AS member.

Id like to try one, but again, there are a variety of $150 to $300 and probably up axes out there I cant afford to just try out. fiskars for 50 and under was tons better than a normal 30 buck generic maul for me. night and day. Goes by money versus productivity, are any of these 4 times or six times as productive as a fiskars? Any of thos high end axes? Even just twice?

I have yet to see actual proof of that. Anecdotals, yes, proof, nope. And it is hard to prove this over the internet, you have to grab one and try it out one afternoon in your own wood, so there ya go.

His design is obviously cool and well thought out. Cut his price in half, might be worth buying and trying out. His axe is two weeks + pay for me plus shipping, cant afford to try one. fiskars is around three days pay for me, that I made an effort to afford, completely based on reviews here, and I am very well pleased with that investment. It works as advertised, and was easily 3 to 4 times as productive for me with much less effort. but..thats about as high as I was prepared to economically experiment as well. Regular maul, 15 minutes, thats it, ready to go do something else, fiskars I can swing for hours. proof enough for me, splits about almost the same wood as any maul I have ever tried.

If I was back in my old job pre injury days and raking in 500 to 1000 dollar paychecks, sure, I would try a high end axe or two or three, for myself and the team here, to give a good review, an honest one. Not now though. I have never been cheap, but I am forced to be frugal now, quite frugal, heh. Ill have to leave it to the folks with larger paystubs to try out and report on the higher end tools.

This is also why I learned to work on saws, cheap used, barely or non runners to start with. Same with vehicles, I buy rollers and eventually make them work.

 

[woodchuck357]

I built similar splitters out of a maul and an ax ages ago, a neighbor noticed them

last year in the tool shed and brought his Vipukirves over for me to try. It works great, much better than my attempts. It works BETTER in hard wood, very soft wood doesn't resist the stop block well enough. Not hard on the wrists at all.

I would not buy one but then I wouldn't buy a fiskars ax either, $12 at the farm store buys a new 6 lb maul and a few minutes with a grinder and I have a much better splitting tool. I do have a pair of fiskars that were gifted to me but seldom use them.

The VIP is a way for a person who doesn't want to learn to flip an ax or maul (or is just not coordinated enough) to enjoy the benefits of the flip technique of splitting.

 

[GeeVee]

I used the one that was passed around here, wasn't a benefit to me or the four men and a boy who gave it a work out. From largely "Master" splitter to in-exeperienced, none felt it was worth having in the stable.

(The thingy went AWOL for a while after I sent it to the next guy on the list. I think it took a personal visit from an AS member nearby the crud who had had it last to said cruds Parents home to get the thing to the next guy on the list. I saved the receipt from the Post office of who and where i sent it.... Thankfully.)

Nice of the owner to send one around the country for free trials, actually we all paid a wee bit to mail it to the next guy, Heck it may still be available to try, I don't know.

 

[stihl sawing]

Think the biggest problem with the lever axe was the price, The guy was wanting nearly $300 for the thing.

 

[FLHX Storm]

Think the biggest problem with the lever axe was the price, The guy was wanting nearly $300 for the thing.

Whew! For that kind of money I could buy another chainsaw. :msp_w00t:

Not that I'm cheap or anything but the maximum I'd pay for an axe is $40 n then it really does need to live up to it's reputation. Like the Fiskars! So far it has split some pretty gnarly stuff, but admittedly it hasn't split everything. But nothing my noodle machine couldn't handle (chainsaw) :msp_tongue:

 

[computeruser]

I had a demo version come through my hands a few years back. Nice idea, couldn't get it to work worth a damn, though. It was definitely not productive for me, and definitely not at homeboy's crazy asking price.

 

[stihl023/5]

Now that is a arm/wrist twister. Will eventually do a lot of damage.

 

[stihl sawing]

Here's the original thread.

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/46925.htm

 

[milkman]

Lots of old guys who used to split with an axe, used the same technique and it worked for years. I still use it when I split with my double bitt axe and it hasn't created any problems at all with my wrists, maybe that's what wrecked my shoulders and knees and hips, but my wrist and elbow joints are the only ones left that don't bother me.

 

[SteepJobs]

I know this is an old thread, and by the looks of it, not much interest. But, I do use this axe. Once I got the hang of it, I was splitting gnarly pieces of pear, quince, cherry, locust, and chestnut with surprising ease. I really got on board when I saw the old man's brilliant splitting stump with a old tire nailed on top. He fills the tire with logs and just works around it in circles, then picks up the pieces in one go.

It did cost me a pretty penny, but I paid less in Europe than you would in the states. Four years later the axe is still in excellent condition, and I expect it to keep working for years to come.

I've got bigger hand and wrist issues from years of holding the brush cutter and weedwhacker...

 

[svk]

Glad to hear your input. There is another thread here that is more or less the beginning to present of both of the "pass along" axes.

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/the-traveling-leveraxe-leveraxe-2-thread.263669/

 

[unclemoustache]

SteepJobs, welcome to AS. Glad to have you aboard.

You an American living in Italy?