Makin' kin'lin

[osagebow]

I like my little Estwing hatchet .
1 1/2 lb. 14" handle. A glove on the left hand
and chip away!

Lot of people love those, gotta get one.

Great handle,PW - favorite Paulie Walnuts line : (Shortly after he was told about a guy from the Russian interior ministry that had killed 16 Chechen rebels)

" You're not gonna believe this. He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator."

 

[Kenster]

Here's a link to a thread I posted a little over two years ago, with pics, showing how I make kindling out of cedar fence posts.
In the original post I mention something about making my own 'fatwood.' Technically, it's not fatwood but works just as well in my experience and it's very cheap. I get at least two years worth of kindling sticks out of one fence post. It's a lot cleaner than scraping up chips off the ground.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/making-my-own-fat-wood.60147/#post-60147

 

[fabsroman]

I tried that with my cheap hatchet and the lump hammer left quite an imprint in the poll of the hatchet. Obviously not heat treated so I switched to beating on the poll with my large rubber mallet.

I think the Fiskars would stand up to that sort of abuse.

I got the X27 and X7, and on the guards for both tools, there is a symbol showing not to strike it with a hammer. So, I am guessing that using the 4 lb hammer on the new X7 might not be a good idea. Maybe the softer metal of the cheap hatchet is designed to mushroom like it is doing. Sort of like some really old masonry chisels that I have seen.

 

[Kenster]

The X7, or any other ax is not intended to be used as a wedge. If you want a wedge, get one and pound it with small sledge. Spare the X7.

 

[Boog]

I never "make kin'lin" by splitting big things up, I just cut all the branch tips down to about an inch or so and stack it all right in with the bigger stuff in my piles. My stacks are full of tiny little "rounds" all through them. Whatever is left after that goes into wildlife brush piles.