I can honestly say iv been a wood burner for about 12 yrs have multiple stoves and have never once split a piece of wood with an ax. Dont actually even own an ax. When i do have to split wood its with a 30 ton splitter or more that i rent. If i cant get thru some of those rounds with a 30 ton i certainly would never do it by hand.. I tried to go it without a splitter, but my declining health refused. Now I have a decent hydraulic splitter, a tractor, and a few attachments, but