Fiskars x27 vs Gransfors Bruk large splitting axe

An overanalysis of the relative merits of two popular splitting axes, for those of you who enjoy digging into the minutiae. This is a comparison of the everyman axe, the Fiskars X27, versus the delight of hipsters, the Gransfors Bruk Large splitting axe.
Montage Music:
Marty Gots a Plan by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/

[@calebcaulum9888]

Really good video! Thank you for doing it. I have the 27x and have been really wanting the GB. This video is really what I was looking for. Thank you!

[@alanparks7919]

I enjoyed this, and wasn’t really surprised. Every time I think of buying a $200+ axe, I use my X27 again, and ask “why?!” It just works.

[@splittingelm7375]

I mean, if it ain't broke...

[@scottcrowley2061]

Fiskars can generate a goodly amount of pow. Liked the first one and bought another..... @@splittingelm7375

[@raw6460]

Bloody brilliant! At the end you pulled in some factors I had thought. Absolutely brilliant review!

[@shane4176]

Great video! Way to get numbers to make this quasi scientific. I have several x27"s and the gransfors small splitting axe. Been wanting to get the large. Nice job

[@raw6460]

I'm excited to watch!

[@petersimonson7278]

Nice vid! Informative with some well timed comedy.

[@ErktheEngineer]

Hey thanks Peter!

[@IndianaDoug]

Thanks for sharing. I don’t have the money for a GB, but I compared a Chinese maul to a Fiskars X27 on my channel. The results we about what I expected. Technique and experience has a lot to do with it too imo.

[@Jtdevecchis]

I would add the Gransfors Maul into the conversation it’s heavier and is a beast

[@splittingelm7375]

I would happily trade my big box hardware store maul for the GB one :) For real though, you really do need a maul as well, for heavy stuff and for hitting splitting wedges.

[@ELDRofficial]

Amazing and inspiring. I’m a musician and this gives me lots of fuel for the imagination, so thank you! 💜

[@thekiltedsawyer]

I have the Gransfors 8 lbs one, have had it for 12plus years, just replaced the handle, it didn't need it but I had a couple 😂 Great vido

[@PNRosca1]

Is this the standard large (27 inch handle) or the long and large (31/5 inch handle)?

[@splittingelm7375]

I got the long and large handle version.

[@sawdustadikt979]

I own both. I started with the x27 11 years ago. I burn between 4-7 chords a year in New England. I do it all by hand. Mainly white oak, ash red oak and swamp maple. I get all the wood free. I like the exercise. I now own several different splitting mauls and axes. When I broke down how much ive saved in heating bills over 10 something years, I wasn’t so cheap in trying something different from year to year. The main thing I like about the x27 is it’s length and the pinky hook at the bottom. The metal SUCKS and does not hold an edge. Sharpness matters in that stringy oak. I’m a self employed carpenter, I appreciate a well crafted tool and that’s what the GB is. A after having several different tools to choose from, some shine in different grains than others. I’ve tried to split stuff with the GB and it bounced but switched it up to a Stihl splitting axe witch is a tazzy pattern and popped the same thing open no problem. The point is there is no one does all. You won’t know this till you can switch it up. When you look at the price of a real splitter, not one from any of the box stores, having a few different quality mauls is small potatoe$. Love that cruiser axe behind you, I want to get one and learn that flick splitting method.

[@splittingelm7375]

I got a buddy who is going to lend me his Stihl splitting axe for a comparison video at some point. I've been putting it off a little because I can't figure out how to be objective about it. I'd really like some hard numbers that mean something, or a conclusion that means something, if possible.

[@sawdustadikt979]

My two cents, that you didn’t ask for😆. The stihl splitting axe shines in softer wood. I had to bust up some poplar over the summer. Tree fell on my house, had to buck it up, a neighbor wanted all of it for their fire place and fire pit. ANYWAYS, the GB maul, and my stihl splitting maul just sunk into the grain but did not split it at all. It had occurred to me that the axe has more bit surface area and it might work better. It did, it totally outshined the mauls. It’s also great in ash, but ash splits so easy that’s really nothing amazing news wise. The draw back to the stihl splitting axe is it has a horrible feel to it. If the x27 swing could be described, it would be the essence of the”rock in a sock” it’s easy to get a snap to it. The stihl on the other hand has a cartoonishly huge handle so it swings like a pipe. It has a pound or two on the GB. I use the stihl as weight training, a few sessions with that and getting a nice snap with it, when you go back to the GB you are a full on BEAST! Putting myself in your place, I’d talk about the “feel” the Untangible

[@splittingelm7375]

@@sawdustadikt979 Interesting! Maybe I can quantify that feel to some extent by comparing the balance points.

[@raw6460]

@@splittingelm7375 i went and looked for the video... a thought I had was also about length of handle, I'm thinking if I'm in an unmainted woodland I'd be thinking about swing height with over hanging, yes I'd clear as much as i could first, but a shorter handle could be beneficial no?

[@splittingelm7375]

@@raw6460 Yes that's true if you split in the woods. I typically cut the tree into rounds and bring them back to my barn for splitting.

[@mkir4723]

I love gransfors

[@dhillukka]

Did you end up sharpening the axe before the test? Also I paid 35 for that axe when I bought it.... It was on clearance, maybe at end of life since there is a new generation

[@ErktheEngineer]

I didn't sharpen prior to the test since the gb wasn't particularly sharp either. It was mainly just the upper corner that was bad. Thanks for the use btw!

[@crocsonletsgo9665]

Sold!

[@raw6460]

I'm bidding on the gb maul at the moment, slightly concerned about the weight and to be honest I probably dont need it, but I do love the craftsmanship and sustainability factor.Fingers crossed I get it for the price I'd like!

[@VK-ds2dw]

That's the Fiscars Super Splitting Axe, not the X27

[@Longing4theWoods]

Would have helped if he had the GB axe sharpened. It designed to cut in and split and not split with just weight

[@splittingelm7375]

Yeah that would probably have helped a little.

[@MartinWoodStudios]

Cleave it like you mean it 😉

[@Mr11ESSE111]

199$ for axe!? unless you dont get some cellphone with it or it work/split by itself alone i dont see why is it so much expensive in compare to fiskars

[@boutthere3374]

I seem to be collecting axes and I have a half dozen or so GB but the axe I always seem to grab are my fiskars. I have a 28inch(if I remember correctly) fiskars chopping axe and I can't believe how good it is as a splitter(within reason). The head has a slickness that seems to give it some acceleration though the junks that is lacking on my GB or council tool. As for durability Ive not been able to break mine and I tried in minus 30C with intentional overstrikes and nada. I would not have dared tried that with my GB's.Dollar for dollar the Fiskars are the Best Buy out there in axes.

[@cristiandemirel1918]

Is it true that these plastic handle axes create a lot of vibrations that take a toll on you after a couple of hours and can that be fixed with a pair of gloves? Thanks!

[@boutthere3374]

@@cristiandemirel1918 Ive heard the vibration complaint and I have experienced it on other axes but I've never noticed it on my fiskars(if it happened it didn't leave an impression on me). Granted I'm using the 28 inch chopping axe to cleave up small to medium rounds which the axe isn't designed for but it does a fine job. I admit the composite handle doesn't have that warmth of wood handle feel but thats to be expected. I do have a Grans splitting maul that I use on any thing big and ugly and I have hit awkwardly and received vibrations through the wood handle with that one(not often but has happened). Its what you get for the price with the Fiskars. Won't break the bank and gets the job done. Cheers.

[@woodbalt]

@@cristiandemirel1918 I have had the X 27 for 8 years, I have never felt any vibration, I think Fiskars shafts are unique precisely because they have no vibration and that they split everything, in fact the X 27 is a super ax that is very close to a maul. P.S. GB looked really bad in this video…

[@jsymanzik]

I'm a Fiskars user, predominantly. Never swung a GB. Different axes for different jobs is how I look at it. Who hasn't taken two or three or four axes out to the woods pile? Straight, clean logs are a pleasure to split no matter the axe. It's the crotchety, knotty stuff that inspires the debate. If my splitters don't get it done, I don't waste time making toothpicks. If it's serious enough to justify grabbing something a little heftier then why even mess around with another splitter? Or a maul for that matter? I go straight to the baddest mamma-jamma that there is... splitting wedge with a 16 lb sledge. Game over. We're not racing. We're getting it done, right? The only time, and I mean THE only time, that I've gotten stuck and needed a second wedge (which also got stuck) using the 16 pounder was breaking down a 4-1/2 foot diameter, 22 inch thick 'round' of white oak that weighed right around 1,600 pounds. Everything else gives way to the 16lb sledge with three, maybe four solid hits. It's no contest. I mean, it's physics isn't it? It's twice the weight of your typical maul so it literally produces twice as much force. Not being a know it all. Just plainly stating the facts. It's not my fault... it's science. Just for the record, I am not a professional woodsman of any sort. I split firewood infrequently these days. I used to have a problem turning down free rounds on Craigslist. The landlord didn't like what i did to the grass in the backyard so i had to dismantle the wood burning furnace I built in the backyard. As you can imagine, most of the free rounds you'll find are three leftovers of a tree service or arborist and if you're not the first one to get to the lick you settle for the sloppy seconds or go home empty handed. So, I've got a lot of experience with the trough stuff so believe me when I say that I have suffered at the altar of the yoke. And let's not forget. Knocking the shit out of a stubborn piece of wood is just plain fun. Lol

[@hlias395]

Χάχα Χάχα , nice..X27 for ever..

[@woodbalt]

yes, Fiskars is out of competition

[@woodbalt]

But did you like that hipster GB?

[@seapanther53]

Funny how he calls the GB a hipster's delight when it's actually fiskar that is the throw away tool.

[@DRJMF1]

PS....I split 10 cubic metres of Turkey oak with my Amtech, and it is still intact.

[@phillipparker8947]

I think the GB logs was gnarly from a few knots, also you're not the ultimate axe swinger, I've actually split wood with a single and double bit axe quite well knowing the grain

[@marioburgos6508]

Was that a fart?

[@richcooke9241]

That Fiskars looks like the de-contented big box store facsimile of the X27

[@splittingelm7375]

It's just an older version of the x27, got a few miles on it!

[@richcooke9241]

@Splitting Elm The handle is different, and it has a different Fiskars SKU. I'll wait and get the real thing

[@millman26]

Fiskers should stick to making scissors.

[@filoIII]

Gransfors Bruk would be for professionals, vs. the Fiskars for periodical hackers, like me.

[@paulhomsy2751]

You can speak for yourself not for anyone else.

[@filoIII]

@@paulhomsy2751 I spoke for me. I said it RIGHT IN my post.

[@dricedt]

@@filoIII no you didn't. You literally referenced two different groups, what would be best for each of those types of people and related one group to yourself.

[@filoIII]

@@dricedt Professionals need professional tools. Hacks, like me, do pretty well w/ Harbor Freight. I stand by my statement.

[@highonimmi]

@@filoIII i think because schools don't emphasize writing anymore, he didn't understand the last item you referenced was the axe you use.

[@silverback4434]

Maul is better than splitting axes

[@filoIII]

Gransfors Bruk is $200 more????

[@splittingelm7375]

Only 150 more, last I checked. Fiskars was going for 50ish and the GB for 200ish.

[@filoIII]

@@splittingelm7375 For those of us who cut only sometimes, I can't justify the Bruk, when the Fiskars does very well. Add the maul to the mix for another $50, and I can bust quite a bit of wood.

[@splittingelm7375]

@@filoIII Yeah, I don't think you can justify a GB based on price alone. Must people can't justify it at all, in fact. In order to justify the GB you have to really appreciate quality tools for their own sake, and not simply be looking for the most cost effective tool. Really depends what you are after.

[@gregmerckx8557]

I believe this year’s model is called the Gransfors Burks “Look At Me”. Or maybe the Gransfors “Keepin’ up with the Jones’s” Bruks.

[@raw6460]

Hey if people are becoming more aware of the craftsmanship and art value then I'm all for it, its also more sustainable, you can replace the handle on a gb,it's a tool for beyond your life , much like planting trees, you plant for the future not the now. Where as 3.3 replacements fx27 v 1 gb ... plastic waste... strokes chin

[@highonimmi]

gfb is far from a look at me product. you do know they have had those models for years... there are way more pricey hatchets/axes/mauls out there. it's ok if ya can't afford it or don't want to...others do. look online at how expensive these products from other brands can be. also, it is easy to find gfb items at decent prices.

[@ConnectFork]

You’re poor. It’s ok.

[@John-wr6yo]

Leather mask