Wood splitting mauls, that is. The days just before Christmas, I was repairing an old splitting maul. I decided to try a fiberglass handle, instead of the usual wood one. You can see it in the first picture below. It was as rusty as the other one beside it. I’m trying something different with my mauls; I’m polishing the sides, and rubbing them with candle wax, before I use them. So they’re painted on the top, bottom, and back end, but not the sides. I used the parts in the first picture to start a shorter one for kindling wood. 
In the next picture, I’ve used a 4 inch angle grinder with a flap disk to clean the rust, a with a wire wheel to get down into stamped lettering and rust pits, then a small wire brush on a drill to clean the inside of the hole. 
I used my homemade card scarper to remove the old finish and dark wood from the handle.
I’m also experimenting with winding copper wire around the handle at the top and maybe the bottom, to prevent splitting the handle. here’s the finished short maul, and the kindling I tested it on. It works like greased lightening. It’s funny how a simple tool that’s usually disregarded can perform a lot better with a little thought. 
Next, I had a surprise Christmas gift, a new splitting maul! This one is better though. It’s bigger, 8 lbs, it has a fiberglass handle, and the handle is bigger, like a mattocks. When I got it, the sides were rough, but painted. I tore off the paper sticker, ground off the paint and sand cast roughness, then coated it with candle wax. It too works very well.
I’m starting this new tool report, to show what I’m learning about tools, and how beneficial they are. In the book of Proverbs, it says: Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox. (Proverbs 14:4)