New Axe Sharpening

[JEFFJP_N_JJ]

Here's my main wood maul, look at the profile, one heck of a splitter, if the man can handle it. When I sold a lot of firewood, I mostly used a hydraulic wood splitter.
https://i.imgur.com/NIRYBVZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/YqL04aW.jpg

I grew up on a citrus ranch and my dad would send out my brother and I to split some citrus trunks before Christmas/New Year with a 'Maul' like that and a 10lb sledgehammer to drive it home... I remember it WAS work!

[Mud Pie]

There's actually over 40 patterns, including the Long Island pattern, what do you think about that?! That's where you're from, right?

Nope, never knew, and yep, that's where I'm from !!

How does the L.I. pattern work ? Does it make some sarcastic comment about how L.I. is better than NYC and wishes the "city trash" would stay in the city right before it hits the log ? lol

[VanHahner]

Anybody remember the 12lb Monster Maul with the steel handle ???

96279974-A4D1-4D25-BD99-DE95238F91AD.jpg

[4570govt]

Anybody remember the 12lb Monster Maul with the steel handle ???

96279974-A4D1-4D25-BD99-DE95238F91AD.jpg

Yes, I have one around here somewhere. I found it works good in easy splitting wood, but knotty oak or hickory, not so much.

[VanHahner]

I remember a time long ago when some farmer gave us some down eucalyptus trees that had been down quite awhile.

We cut 16” rounds and then tried to split them with wedges and a 15 pound sledgehammer.
The wedges would hardly dent it and often would bounce off onto the ground.

We then cut the rounds down to 8” to see if it would split easier, but even that was a lot of work ! We finally gave up after about a dozen pieces and concluded that, that kind of free wood wasn’t worth the trouble !

[4570govt]

I remember a time long ago when some farmer gave us some down eucalyptus trees that had been down quite awhile.

We cut 16” rounds and then tried to split them with wedges and a 15 pound sledgehammer.
The wedges would hardly dent it and often would bounce off onto the ground.

We then cut the rounds down to 8” to see if it would split easier, but even that was a lot of work ! We finally gave up after about a dozen pieces and concluded that, that kind of free wood wasn’t worth the trouble !

Not that many around here would use it for firewood and for sure not buy it, but elm and gum is horrible about splitting! I have split gum for my own use(it's rough, not good grain) just because it was in the way and I cut it down, but elm, that is something entirely not worth the effort in splitting, it won't even burn very well! We don't have eucalyptus here.

[wrwindsor]

Eucalyptus, elm, and gum are all horrible for smoking meat, too.

All of them are "sappy" (high resin/oil content) and when they burn, it turns bitter.

[GunnyG]

Eucalyptus burns great for heat but I wouldn't use it for cooking. It can be split if you make the sections short.

[4570govt]

Sweet Gum, not the type you chew, grow pretty big around my AO....when I was still logging, you could cut a load of big gum logs pretty fast, they grow tall and big in diameter, the only drawback, is that the price of them is not very good, the wood is only fit for railroad ties or pallet lumber, but if in a substantial stand of them, you could make it worth your while. One exception, as as far as lumber is concerned, if you have gum sawed into 2x4's and almost immediately use for example, on a barn roof as purlins to attach metal roofing it can't be beat for that application....gum will hold the roofing nails like you wouldn't believe, wind won't loosen the nails and you probably couldn't pull the nails with a wrecking bar either.

[RENCORP]

I use an 8 lb splitting maul for most firewood, old cast wedges and 10 pound sledgehammer for the big rounds. Here on the west coast, there were innumerable axe patterns for back cutting, felling, limbing, you name it. Just the number of manufacturers for felling axe patterns and imported axes with tempered blades is unbelievable. We have big arbutus growing on the coast, really wet wood when green, heavy and dense. Split it green, and stack it for at least 2-3 years, and it burns like coal, hot and slow. Try splitting it dry, and you mights well just be swinging any implement at a rubber slab. For big tough rounds, I'll do a starter cut with the chainsaw blade tip to plant the wedge, never fails. Once you halve them, the rest is easy. I like to get into a rhythm by standing all the rounds up on end crowded together, then walk around on top swinging the maul until i can't see straight, take a breather, then go at 'er again till done. No time for one at a time.