Swing Weight & Impact Energy
Head weight on its own tells you almost nothing. A tool swings about the bottom hand, so what you feel is the head acting at the end of a lever — which is why the same head on a haft two inches longer becomes a different tool, and why a 4 lb head can arrive with less force than a 3 lb one. Enter the head, the haft and a head speed for the swing weight, the balance point and the energy that actually reaches the wood.
The bare head on the scale. Stamped weights are nominal — weigh it.
Knob to the top of the eye, measured along the handle.
Left blank, hickory is estimated at 0.036 lb per inch of length.
Use a preset below if you have never measured one.
One hand — hatchet work, kindling, close in · Two hands — full-size chopping and felling · Overhead — a committed maul strike