On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 19:27:18 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

What sort of wood do they work with?

Any depends how much effort you expend whacking the log. Knots will
split round, forks forget it.

straight grained that splits. Oak, ash. beech, maple, sycamore all good.
Hawthorn and blackthorn less so. Willow and poplar total nightmare.

For beech (and maybe the others as well) split it green. Seasoned
beech goes very hard. It'll still split but needs far more effort.


--
Cheers
Dave.