Only took 125 or so holes for me to hit my first log in the miss backwaters with my new eskimo mako. As soon as I saw wood coming through the hole I cut it and pulled out. Surprisingly it didn't dull the blades at all, cut the next 20+ holes as fast and as easy as ever. Really surprising, eskimo must use some good steel! It did push me to buy a spare set while I still can, hopefully I don't need to use them for a while!