Maul vs Axe

We heat exclusively with wood - some cut ourselves, some purchaced allready cut & split.  Most of what we cut ouselves is tops and limbs discarded by the paper company (yes, we even have a permit and do it legally). That means not a lot of splitting for me to do since most of what we cut is on the smaller side.  But I do have split some.  Would like to do more of owr own this year. . . .

2 years ago my hubby had a serious back injury leaving him disabled.  I do the splitting.  He's convinced I can't handle a Maul and that I need an axe.  I did convince him to let me buy the heaviest axe I could find  - I believe it's 4.5 lbs.  I think my life would be easier with a maul.  Should I just go out and buy the darn thing and argue with hubby about it later?  If it makes a difference, I'm 5'9", thin and muscular.  I can haul a 20 lb baby on one hip and a 40 lb bag of dog food on my other shoulder without any problem.  Y'all think this is hubby just feeling bad he can't do it himself?

I'm not too bad with the axe.  Is it worth the argument ane expense?

Pekkah, just go buy yourself a maul.  Only you will know the right size and weight that's most comfortable to you.  Don't discuss it, don't argue, just DO IT.

Koka, another ole Mainiac

We have done a lot of splitting inthe last 34 years and there is no comparison between an ax and maul. In fact the ax will just stick and be a pain sometimes. What I would like to say is it is easy to hurt yourself with a ax or maul.

What we do for our friends that visit in summer and insist on helping put up fire wood is give them a large steel wedge and a sledge hammer. This way if they miss it will not be a sharp object hitting them. This is really only for large pieces and if you are a coordinated person then the maul is best.

A maul is specifically designed for splitting wood. That's its only purpose (other than turning it over for use as a sledge hammer.)

There is a trick to using a maul. most girlz use impact devices like...well....girls. So do alot of manly carpenters...and these carpenters end up with tendonitis because they don't understand how to use impact devices.

Someone un-trained in the use of these devices, typically, will try to force the device to the work (have you ever watched a habitat build and some girl has two hands on a hammer, whacking, whacking, whacking. She's trying to push the hammer onto the head of the nail and force it into the wood.) wrong.

After some practice what should happen is the following:

Line the maul up with the wood. raise it about head high, then fairly forceably guide it down (this is where the easy part comes in....going down 'cause the maul wants to fall anyway), backwards past your leg (not specifically dangerous because your wrists will naturally turn the maul from a direct line of slicing your leg off), then really get it going 'til it just comes over your head....then let all that momentum work for you while you only guide the maul to the wood (you should actually try to relax the tendancy to "drive" the maul at this point.) So you make a big circle. You should also find that you work more at keeping the maul in a nice circle to meet the wood due to the centrifugal force rather than trying to drive it forward.

It's alot easier to really get it going by raising it up then swinging down, back, up, and around....rather than placing it over your shoulder, then trying to raise it up and slamming it down.

it pains me to think I think this much about something like this. But being a carpenter and using just about the heaviest framing hammer you can buy, I've learned how not to wear myself out.