We all want to spit our wood with little effort and fast. A good splitting maul will help a lot, but there is one axe that makes splitting wood really easy. The Chopper 1, is a pretty old axe that not many people know about.
The Chopper 1 is one of the craziest axes ever created. Created originally in 1977, the Chopper 1 axe makes splitting wood fast and easy. They were out of sale for a couple of years, but recently you can buy them again online at chopper1axe.com.
The head of the Chopper 1 is made from premium steel and weighs around 5 to 6 pounds. The handle is made from hickory. You can order the replacement parts for the levers in case they get broken somehow.
How the Chopper 1 works
What makes this axe so special are the two splitting levers on the side of the axe head near the cutting edge. When you drive the head into the wood, the levers will push the wood apart making it easier and faster to split the wood. This makes the use of wedges and mallets unnecessary and it prevents the axe from getting stuck into the wood. Even splitting large pieces or knotted pieces is a real ease with the Chopper 1.
To get the maximum effect of the levers you need to hit the wood as square as possible, try not to heel or toe the blade on the wood, and hit the wood in one smooth strike. Be aware that the wood will fly further away than you are used to. So make sure that people who are watching this great axe in action stand not too close to the wood!
Buying the axe
You can get the Chopper 1 Axe Head on eBay for around $ 50. A completely new axe would cost you $ 100 at Chopper1axe.com.
I often split log rounds of yellow pine that are 2ft or more in diameter and are sometimes slightly green and need to open up and cure before burning in the winter. I use a 20lb splitting maul, which, after 10 or 15 hacks, starts to open up and split.
I wonder, at 5 or 6 lbs, if this gimmick ax has the mass to hold up to the challenge of what I split.