Bucking Without Sucking, Toward Efficient Axe Notches, Cordwood Challenge

Bucking with an axe is simple in principal, but most beginners will make predictable mistakes in chopping bucking notches. It is important to have a plan and stick with it, concentrating on accuracy and adherence to a proven geometry. The mistake is not failing to cut an excellent notch, but rather not having the intent to do so as closely as possible and maintaining your focus on that intent throughout. Focus on accuracy over speed or power. The ability to combine accuracy with speed and power will grow over time. In a future video, I'll talk about the psychology behind common mistakes when chopping bucking notches with an axe. These pitfalls are so common as to be nearly universal. Essentially, notches are made too narrow or the axe is held at too high of an angle. Narrow notches create a lot of extra work. More blows are required in a narrow notch because the axe angle is high. Each blow does less cutting and transmits more shock through the handle. As soon as you see that a notch is too narrow, go back and fix it. It is almost always less work to go back and widen the notch than to keep nibbling away in a narrow one. Better to start off right, but things go awry, so fix it as soon as you notice. If you want to seriously improve your axemanship, take the Axe Cordwood Challenge, started by myself and now run by others:   / axecordwoodchallenge   Amazing competition technique in this video:    • Axe Testing 5 4 2014   For the common mistakes of cutting at a high angle and too narrow, see this video:    • Bucking with a HB Cruiser Ax Wood Craft on...   Support on   / skillcult   has been critical in keeping me experimenting and making content. If you want to help me help others, this is probably the best way to do it. Thank you Patrons for supporting the mission! Donations can also be sent via PayPal @: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Skill... Buy less, but buy it through my links! Shopping through my affiliate links generates revenue for me, at no extra cost to you, click links here, or go to my Amazon Store page: http://skillcult.com/amazon-store/ But seriously, buy less, do more. Standard gear I recommend. I either use or have used all of it. Council Tool Boys Axe: https://amzn.to/3z0muqI Bahco Farmer's File: https://amzn.to/3Hbdhij King two sided sharpening stone: https://amzn.to/32EX1XC Silky f180 saw: https://amzn.to/3yZzM71 ARS 10 foot long reach pruner: https://amzn.to/3esETmM Victorinox grafting/floral knife: https://amzn.to/3Jki1E9 Wiebe 12” fleshing tool: https://amzn.to/3sB0qSl Atlas Elbow Gloves: https://amzn.to/3FwB5g6 BOOKS: The Axe Book, by Dudley Cook: https://amzn.to/32kx7sN Bushcraft, by Mors Kochanski: https://amzn.to/32q2rpT Subscribe to my channel for more insightful Self Reliance related content: http://www.youtube.com/skillcult/subs... Click the bell icon to be notified of new content. Subscribing doesn’t mean that much on it’s own. Blog and website: www.skillcult.com/blog Instagram and Facebook @SkillCult