COUNCIL TOOL 5 lb Single Bit Faller's Axe, 36" Straight Handle

Handle feels great. Axe head weight splits wood with ease, great value, balanced weight with longer handle, very sharp from factory.

I’ve been through two handles on this axe, it is an excellent wood splitting tool for dense woods like Red Oak or similar, the head geometry is excellent from factory for general cutting, I did take my angle grinder and bring it back a little to where the taper is more convex allowing it to not stick into the logs I was splitting as hard, the poll on this axe is noticeably wide which also makes it conducive for driving wedges, more so than a traditional pattern axe. Council tool has consistently delivered a quality product, they have very high quality handles out of the box as well, I have nothing but positive remarks about their products and company.

Axe was working great. Wonderful splitting axe. Handle exploded after less than 20 minutes of work and i didnt even overstrike. Got ahold of Council Tool and they shipped me a new handle

Used this for about a year and it sucks. Hurt my wrist really bad and it gives you blisters instantly.

I call this thing, "The Sinker". It's heavy and narrow. I'll use it to open up a good crack on a particularly knotty or twisty piece. It is certainly usable out of the box. But for me? I smoothed it down with some 120 grit and then rubbed it down with some linseed oil. Really helped the grain pop. And it now feels amazing in the hand. In summary, this is the best splitting ax I have found in this price point. Give the handle about 30 minutes of your time and she feels as amazing as she chops.

I had good grain structure with low runout in my handle. The handle itself, was not taken to a nice finish. The axe was crudely sharp and very rough grind marks left from factory. You can make this axe a real performer. I used an angle grinder/flap disc to sand out the axe head to a smooth finish then hand sanded up to 2000grit. I scraped the varnish off the handle with knife and then sanded the handle with 100,120grit. Scrape the varnish off before you sand, otherwise it will clog sandpaper immediately. I burnt it, then oiled with boiled linseed oil. Axe now, very smooth to swing, well balanced from bit to poll. If you polish the bit, it does not stick in the wood hardly at all. The “FLICK” method splits very well. Factory it’s a 3 - it’s $70 because it was not hand tuned. Hand tune it yourself and you have a great performer.

I love how it splits and it’s less taxing than a maul but works in ash/oak/anything that doesn’t require a log splitter. Very happy with the quality and especially that it an American made tool.

Nice splitting axe