I was cracking the cement in front of my fireplace splitting small wood with a small ax. This solves all that. It splits well. I use the back of the small ax but may now bring in a slightly heavier mallet I have.
Careful that your follow through is not aimed at the blade, it will dull it. Grinder cleans it right up though. The metal is a little soft but it's fine.

This thing makes splitting logs very easy. Most important thing is to attach it to a very sturdy base so it doesn't fall over. Been using it for a couple of years now, it has gotten kinda dull but it still works well without sharpening.

This is ideal for logs that are at most 5" in diameter and 12-18" in length. Gets harder to split with 6" diameter logs.

Poor packaging, arrived damaged with the edge broken off and large dings in the blade. Since this is not a Japanese chefs knife, I decided I could fix the blade enough to not require a replacement. After some time with a metal file, I had the blade sharp enough to do the job and I have had a pretty easy time ripping logs apart. I use a short handled 5 lb hammer, and comparing it to other things on the market, I am very happy with the design of this tool. I also like that I don't have to mount it to anything so I can store it up high away from my kids and pets.

I purchased this kindling cracker after I purchased the original smaller one. That also worked well, but the diameter of the ring made the logs that it could split limited due to size. This baby does not have a limit regarding a diameter of a log. I originally also got a 3 or 4 lb. sledgehammer, as maybe I'm not strong enough, but after reading more reviews and watching many YouTube videos to figure out why successful results were not consistent, I came to the conclusion that a heavier hammer was a necessary accompaniment to this wonderful kindling creator. I just picked up my 8lb. hammer with a 12" handle today, and it literally took me about 20 mins. to successfully create the crateful of kindling in the pics!! I'm so excited and relieved that I will now have more time to relax and the fact that this tool will pay for itself in a short time is just amazing! I do have to give a word of warning however, as I smashed my left index finger 2 weeks ago, as I simply lost focus for a split second--ouch!! So be very careful, mindful, and you should get lots of kindling from this wonderful tool! Sooo...yeah, I highly recommend this amazing tool, and I am not getting anything for leaving a positive review other than my desire to pay good things forward. ðŸ‘

I am a recent widow since Oct 2020, and my husband always took care of the wood for our woodstove. I love wood heat so I want to keep the fire going this winter but I need kindling to build it back up in the morning. I can't split wood to save my life. Both me and my daughter have tried. It just isn't happening. And I can't keep calling on friends to split it. If you've ever used wood heat, you know that you go through kindling pretty quickly. So I thought, there has got to be some kind of contraption that will help me to make kindling. So I got on Amazon to look and I found this. It came a day early, just when I ran out of kindling and I am so excited of how this thing works! I use logs that have already been split and place them on the top, and with a small sledge hammer I whack it to stay in place (it weighs 3lb 6oz). Then I use the heavier sledge hammer to pound it and wa-la! No more pestering men to help! They were always willing but as often as I go through kindling I just hate to bother them for help all the time. The company recommends a 4lb hammer but unless you're a man, it won't do a thing. For me, all mine did was hammered it down to the bottom of the blade and it wouldn't split apart. You need a heavier one, probably a 6lb or 8lb one. You don't want too heavy or you won't be able to lift the dang thing and swing it! I don't know what the weight is to my bigger hammer that splits it but it is almost too heavy for me to use. I'm afraid of coming down on the blade and also it's a little hard on my back so I'm going to go get a less heavier one. I'll try to weigh this one first. I hope this helps someone that's struggling to get kindling.