As a regular mad axe-man, I read with interest about the new-fangled Vipukirves Leveraxe touted by woodlander. Firstly, its not cheap- it'll set you back about £230 (!!). Secondly, while it has its fans, there is an element of scepticism that its just capitalising on an old woodsmans trick, where you bring the axe down and flip it with the wrist at an angle when it makes contact with the wood, 'busting' rather than splitting the wood, as it forces the momentum of the axehead to transfer to horizontal rather than vertical force. The technique is explained here, which might make splitting a lot easier for some. What the Vipukirves doesn't do is train the eye where to aim, avoiding knots. Hitting a knot head-on is a no-no and the true artist splitter can read the weaknesses of a log and find a way through the tangle of cross fibres. Last resort is full steam with a heavy demolition maul, which just tears logs apart, a hydraulic splitter, or just half the length of the log again with the chainsaw and give it another go with the axe. Love splitting logs.
http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/wood-craft-blog/2014/04/24/axe-nothing-new-expensive-gimmick-people-money-sense/
