New type of axe found on FB

Haha, looks familiar. Over on AnotherSite it was called the LeverAxe and it actually made its rounds amongst members. The company rep took a beating, mainly due to price $280.

 

Brother sent me the link via nbcnews on facebook a few days ago.Asked me what I thought of it.Told him "I thought it was no more than a yuppie axe,an overpriced fancy gimmick."

Noticed on the company video that it looks like straight grained pine or birch that is being split.Then brother said "Who burns PINE?" He mentioned "how he'd burn pine in the firepit or when camping,but NOT in up the chimney in his open fireplace...."

So...... I had to educate him on the 'pine is dangerous & no good for indoor burning etc..." myth. Explained that most everyone living on the pacific coast/western US,northern parts of US like Maine etc & northern Europe have little or no hardwoods,have been using softwoods for fuel & building material for thousands of years etc etc...." Think I got through,not sure though....

Looks easy on medium sized straight grained knot free softwoods such as white pine or spruce.Would be interesting to see how it behaves in twisted,gnarly knotty White Oak,Mulberry,Honey Locust or Elm/Apple stumps....That stuff just laughs at my X27,have to use the sledge/twisted wedge or break out the big saw for that brutal stuff........"

As of last Wednesday that Vipukirves ax was $277.08 with shipping to US addresses.....NO WAY!


For $277 I can buy either 2 or 3 more medium sized vintage Mac's, a sizeable chunk towards one of the rarer very large gear-drive monsters or a very good pair of calk boots with steel toes & chainsaw resistant sidewalls.....

 

The axe head is cast! That's enough to scare me off without even looking at the price.
I've been splitting Beech all winter. It's nasty. This whiz axe isn't going to pop Beech like that pine blew open. If it would, I'd buy two!

 

Scary looking beast!

 

It's Beech. I've split cords of it. Some of this had beechnuts on the limbs. Some of it is fine and has manners. But some of it gets that grainy wave like Sweet Gum, but not as bad. The good spiral wedges are a godsend.

 

That would probably work decent on White Ash and White Pine that I split and burn almost entirely.

 

I'm on the fence as the hook on it looks like it could pop a beer open.

 

The theory behind the way the Leveraxe works reminds me of Tom Clark. I don't know if Tom Clark invented that technique but he sure perfected it. He even modified his axe to help it flip to the side just like the lever axe.

 

I sometimes give the wrist twitch a try when swinging the Fiskars. Doing it wrong is hard on the wrists, so it's a technique I can see few mastering, nevermind on Tom Clark's level.

 

I'll keep the hydro splitter, I can buy at least ten gallons of gas for it for 280 bucks.

 

Well, for 30 years I split everything, including hedge with a monster maul. Then I got old and had to buy a hydraulic splitter. Whatever works for ya.

 

X27 for the light to medium stuff, 8lb for the stubborn stuff and the Husky 35 ton for the string knotty stuff. Looks like a cool gizmo but I have enough in my arsenal to get the job done.

 

No kidding on "nevermind on Tom Clark's level". The only time I wrist flip successfully is on accident; sometimes I don't come down straight and the Fiskars flops down on one side of the split and the other split just goes. Splits nice but hard on the wrists for sure.