Fiberglass handled splitting maul

[redropers62]

First off, hello. I am a young widow, lost my husband to cancer two years ago. Also very determined to remain independent. That's part of the reason I'm here. I need some advice or instructions.

I have a wood stove and I"m running a little low. I'd made arrangements with a guy to cut wood for me, a rick for a rick. I"d pile the brush, he cut the wood. I'd haul my own, he hauls his own. As luck would have it, I haven't seen him in three weeks, and its getting cold. I"d decided to go out and split some wood. I've done it before so it was no problem. I gathered my wedges, maul etc. I had some pretty big logs so I'd decided to use two wedges. I took three swings and the head came off my 10 lb maul with the fiberglass handle.

I'm not going to go buy a new one if I don't have to. The broken one just had the head fly off, no damage to the handle. Whatever they use to put the head on the handle apparently had started to chip away. More than three quarters of the old stuff is there but there's a small spot where its gone. I"d searched this site and found where someone had picked up something from walmart to repair one with in the past. Could someone give me the name of the product? I'd really like to get this fixed soon.

Thanks
Jana

 

[peakbagger]

Sorry to hear about your circumstances. JB weld will work to glue the handle back on. Its cheap and in the hardware area of walmart and most hardware stores. It works best if you can lightly sand both surfaces with coarse sandpaper. If there is any grease, you need to clean it off. Let the pieces warm up to room temp, mix up a blob of goop from the two tubes of JB weld and coat the inside of the maul and the outside of the handle, slide them together. If there are any crevices remaining, fill it with the mixed epoxy. The stuff is messy, so rubber gloves are recomended. As it sets up it may try to leak out so keep an eye on it and feel free to push it back in place if it does drip. Let it sit in warm place for 24 hours and it should be good as new. They sell JB weld regular and fast set, my suggestion is to go with the regular.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Welcome Ms. RR. :cheese:
As with nearly everything, a picture of the maul head would be helpful. If the handle broke, I would recomend replacing the handle. Assuming you are a 48 yo woman, swinging a 10# maul may be tough for you. I would probably recommend making a deal on getting a teenager to help you. If I understood your location, you can't be going through much wood in a year.

Jimbo

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Jana.

The JB Weld should indeed work as that stuff is very tough. But with your situation I would still highly recommend you check into renting a hydraulic splitter. Most places if you rent on Saturday you can use it for 2 days for the price of 1 and you can split a lot of wood fast with one of these things.

On the bargain you made with the other fellow, it may have been too steep of a price for him. Him receiving 2 to your 1 would be perhaps a better deal for him and you might find that arrangement a bit more common. I once let some folks in to cut on a 3-1 basis and was happy with the deal. Of course they had to agree to a bit more than normal and that is why I went 3-1 rather than 2-1.

Good luck.

 

[bboulier]

A 10 pound maul is an awful lot to swing, even for a large male. I don't have any mauls that are any bigger than 6 pounds, and those are fairly taxing to use. I would recommend that you look at a Fiskars Super Splitter. Lots of comments on this tool in the hearth.com forums. I got one this year. It is light weight and easy to use. I recommend it highly. Alternatively, and probably better advice, I second Jimbo's recommendation that you hire a teenager to provide assistance. I described the Super Splitter to a high school classmate. He recommended the ideal accessory: a 6'2" teenager. Kids are happy to pick up some extra cash in today's economy and it's good for them to earn some honest wages.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

And if you can cook or bake well, or have a teenage daughter, you shouldn't have any trouble getting the testoterone over. The hard part will be keeping him focused ;-)

 

[RNLA]

JEEZ, I stand almost 6ft. tall I swing an 8# maul and it gets tough after a few hours. Go to the local store and get a 6# or 8# I also have a hydraulic splitter for the tough stuff. I can say of personal preference I do not like glass handles, wood feels better, less vibration.

 

[FLINT]

If the fiberglass handle is broken, I would also recommend replacing it with a wooden handle. If you do choose to replace the handle rather than fix the one you have, take the maul head in to a hardware store to make sure you get the correct shape, as some mauls have round holes, and some are oval. The hole in the maul is actually bigger at one end than the other, so make sure that the bigger end is on the bottom. place the maul head on the handle and then holding the thing straight up and down with the bottom of the handle near the ground, pound the handle against the ground quite smartly - find a hard surface like concrete or a rock or something and this will drive the maul head onto the handle. Then drive the wedge into the slit in the top of the handle, which should now be sticking out of the top of the maul head.

however, as also mentioned, a 10lb maul is HEAVY! and my hats off to you if you can swing that puppy well.

if you do decide to replace that beast, I highly recommend the fiskars super splitter. Order it from Amazon.com as they have good prices and I often seem to be able to get free shipping on orders from amazon. Here is a link to the correct item. This will make splitting much easier, and it has an unbreakable handle

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-7854-...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1291825920&sr=8-1