Kindling Cracker King XL Cast Iron Kindling Splitter, 9in. Opening

The delivery from Northern Tools was much faster than expected and they used FedEx which for me was a real plus. The Original Kindling Cracker is extremely well made (in Australia, NOT China, another plus in my opinion) and the splitting blade arrived very sharp. So sharp that I took a piece of leftover water pipe insulation and made a sheath for it to both keep it sharp and prevent accidents. We use exclusively mesquite wood to heat our house and while it produces tremendous heat (BTU's), it is neither straight grained nor knot free, so I was curious to see how the Kindling Cracker would handle this type of wood. Well, it handles it like a champ! Sure it's not as clean splitting as the wood used in all of the YouTube videos ( straight grained pine or oak) but it allows me to produce kindling at a good pace without risk of injury from an axe or hatchet. I was a bit concerned about using it on the ground, without a stump as a base, which would bring it up to a more comfortable working height, and who knows, I might just end up doing something along those lines, but just placing it on the ground works very well. I use a 4 pound dead blow hammer from Harbor Freight and that to does the job nicely. The Kindling Cracker will not be replacing my hydraulic log splitter but compliments it beautifully. I'm glad I went with the original and not a copycat version. It's so well made that it'll most certainly outlive me.

Wow! The price is great and the product is definitely the one you want (I’d guess). First, it is both heavy and sturdy. I haven’t felt and wobble due to the well-designed base. I’m glad I got the XL. Small (2 inch by 2 inch) sticks can be set on the blade, tapped with the back end of a hatchet to set, let go, hit it again, and very small kindling. Now I don’t have to worry about being like my grandpa and father-in-law with a chopped finger! But it also works to spilt whatever fits in. I just started using it, so I don’t know how long the splitter edge will stay good, but it looks indestructible and here for the long haul. Another perk, check out the detailed patterns on it. It looks so nice that we are leaving it by the fireplace and taking it out when needed. SUPER HAPPY!

Stop using a hatchet. Buy this. It cut my best hatchet pieces in half to thirds in half the time with half the work and safely. Great buy 👌

Perfect next step for turning our poor dead tree into mulch. Works awesomely when screwed into a stump for height improvement. Genius invention! Be sure to wear ear protection.

I am not lumber jack. I don't have a big Axe but I do have several fire stoves and have firewood delivered 2x a year. I find when the larger wood extends outside the top I have significantly more smoke and sparks. This devise is perfect for cutting down larger pieces of wood to fit into my Solo stove. It is also great for splitting off even smaller pieces to serve as kidling. You will want to have a 5 lb. metal mallet. Then place the log onto the blade and with just one or two strikes on the wood you will safely splits or trims the log. Enjoy!!

It is sharp enough, solid enough and has holes at its base so that it can be fixed to the ground for stability (which is a must), so it is well designed. BUT, the top ring of the device in which the wood fits down into, is necessarily not big. You would think that the size of the top ring would dictate which circumference of log you can put into it. NOPE. For even if the log fits into the opening that doesn't mean that the device will work. Oh it will split the wood... right before the downward force on the split wood jams itself into the wedge and bottom ring because it was too wide. Good luck getting that stuck wood out. in the meantime the device is unusable. It seems if I even slightly overestimate the size of the log I want to split I end up with this problem. Happens not infrequently. For already split wood or small logs it works like a charm

Seems like a safer way to split than a totally exposed blade. We split a few of the oak logs we got when our neighbor had some trees limbed and it worked well with a 8lb long handle sledge hammer. Takes quite a few hits for me (65) or my hysband (75) to split a log but we each did a few. Good exercise too. It moved around a bit so we will probably attach it to a larger base for more stability. Note: we got this sledge hammer: Zeluga 25-349 36in. 8 Lbs Pro Sledge and Club Hammer with 5G Fiberglass Handle, Drilling/Crack Hammer with Forged Steel Construction, Shock-resistant https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRS342KH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

A bit expensive. Wife bought one for me, and I needed another at the lake house.

Love it! My grandkids love it too!

Bonjour. Au déballage j’ai été surpris de la petite taille de ce fendeur de bûche au point d’avoir été vérifier sur le carton d’emballage que j’avais bien reçu le grand modèle King. A l’usage, je confirme que ses dimensions sont bien adaptées pour le job. Je commande du bois coupé à 50 cm mais certaines bûches peuvent mesurer parfois jusqu’à 60 cm. Il convient de travailler sur un sol dur et stable sinon l’énergie de vos coups va se dissiper dans le sol. Comme je n’ai pas de billot de bois sur lequel le poser, le King repose directement sur le sol. Mes bûches étant longues (entre 50 et 55 cm pour la plupart), j’ai juste besoin de fléchir un tout petit peu les jambes pour travailler à la bonne hauteur. J’utilise deux massettes, principalement une de 2 kilos, celle de 1,5 kg me sert vers la fin du fendage pour un meilleur contrôle de mon geste et éviter ainsi d’aller taper la lame du King ou pour le bois moins long et de plus faible section. Je déconseille des massettes plus légères sauf peut-être pour des bûches de petite longueur, et évitez les bûches avec des noeuds qui sont très difficiles, voire impossible à fendre. Plus le bois est sec, mieux il va se fendre. Au bout de quelques heures d’expérience, j’ai constaté qu’il faut taper très fort sur la bûche (entre 5 et 20 fois approximativement selon sa section et sa longueur) pour arriver à un résultat. Cela étant, on y arrive très bien et on a déjà chaud avant même d’avoir allumé le feu. J’imagine que ce sera beaucoup plus facile et rapide avec des bûches de 30 cm ou moins et dans ce cas on pourra même travailler assis. En conclusion, ce Kindling Cracker King est un excellent outil pour éviter de se blesser avec une hache ou de dépenser une fortune dans une fendeuse électrique. Il requiert un effort physique mais qui reste à la portée de presque tout le monde, homme ou femme. Je recommande vivement son achat. J’espère que mon commentaire vous aura été utile.

Capable de fendre petites et grosses bûches. Qualité au rendez-vous. A conseiller. Prix élevé justifié.

A bit expensive, but it is very well made and it should last a lifetime. I used it a few minutes after Amazon's delivery, and in about one hour I made kindling for the whole winter out of 14" fir firewood. It was a breeze and fun, much easier than I expected! I'm glad I ordered the XL size and not the smaller one. My wife also loves this gadget, she thinks it is not just something practical but it also looks like a beautiful, decorative piece of art to keep near the fireplace. Highly recommended.

Funziona bene, sono molto soddisfatta. Importante è fissarlo a una base stabile con viti lunghe; il martello da 2 kg fondamentale, per pezzi non troppo grandi basta la forza di gravità. Ho provato tagliando quercia stagionata di varie misure, lunghezza 30 e 60cm, diametro dai 3 ai 12-14cm. Più il pezzo è lungo e largo serve una base stabile (la mia si muoveva un po’ con i ciocchi più grandi, ma non avendo un posto all’esterno dove lasciarlo ho preferito una base che riuscissi a spostarla facilmente fuori casa). Con i pezzi più grandi (60cm lungo e 14 cm diametro) ho impiegato un pò di colpi con forza prima di spaccarlo, ma ci sono riuscita.