Ok-
It's not an "axe", it's not a "splitter", too big for a banger, so what is it man!?
A lil of the 3.
Pros: it's does split wood- IF, it's nice and straight, dry, no knots. Splits almost as good as my vintage #4 PLUMB double in clean rounds.
Cons: handle- I have small hands, and the handle is too thin for a heavy wobbler. But it'll do and just takes a few to get used too. It's flexy and vibrates. Again- get used to it. It's coated with cow snot, or something slick. 80 grit and beez wax the stick BEFORE you go out. Trust me. Profile is too long/thin for a splitter. It gets stuck a lot. (beez wax is your friend- again)
Fit-n-Finish: I gota Monday Morning axe. The proud reveal was beat to a pulp and flaking, metal ring wedge all over- so pfft, I used it, after 10 strokes chips were coming out of the reveal on the top eye. Proly wont hurt nothing but, sure ruined that nice touch and makes a new axe look crappy. We'll see. After 300 strokes, it's still tight, even after the wind moved my set and I over-stroked it, hard (real hard), lil chip on the neck, it's still tight (phew). GTG. (sorry new axe, my bad- yeesh! idiot- brand new axe) Poll was not flat, just ground all over the place and it won't rest on the poll. Edge was not sharp and very coarse- like #40 belt or something. Handle grain/hang was straight! Too bad they beat the reveal into paste. Stickers came off no sweat- man I like that. I hate paper stickers. Made prepping the handle SO much easier. Posed to be Made in USA, right? Did they say WHO was making these? CT needs a big wake up call and kick in the arse or stop using Made in USA as a tag line. No really. They will geta call Monday. A hot one.
Expert opinion: not terrible (or great). 3.5 Stars.
Clean rounds: my vintage Plumb Double Bits smoke it, cuz they are light and have that profile, balance etc. I am small and can swing them all day like golf clubs and make big stacks.
I judge the cutting world by those DB's...so:
Light snot: It's marginally better than my DB's when it gets a lil snotty.
More burly: Definitely better when it's really snotty- esp if you O/H chop straight- not wobbly or figure 8, use yer legs to drop-in, but yer gona have to wax it a lot (it's sticks hard) and circle-jerk yer cuts if there's knots in yer rounds. Yer not going through big triples or super stringy gooey stuff- it's still just too much of an axe for "splitting" real stuff. It's just that simple.
Burly stuff: Just use a good, balance #6 maul, so easy to swing and just obliterates the Gnar.
She's also too big for a banger, but, with a lil stick ya could do it if you are a lot bigger than me.
Whada I think? No, it's not a lazer or a light saber is real rounds. But it holds it own.
I think it's an OK tweener between my DB's and my OG #6 "All-Trade", glass handle, **** Steel maul ("Chop-Zilla") for splitting.
I wouldn't use it for falling or chopping all day, but I guess you could if you don't have a real axe and you like a strong back. That's not a chop, it's the truth. No one axe does it all.
And so there ya go- it actually does a bit of it all! And if you get a good one? Mores the better. So why not? Having all the same axes is BORING. And you can have fun at the camp site splitting clean stuff like a Pro Bunyan with your buddies by the fire, flexing yer muscles and impressing the LADIES.....oooo yeeeeeh. Uh-huh....there ya go....
And you thought this was gona be a downer.
Comon now- giver!
YMMV.
Long term: gona shorten the bit, re-profile, stress relieve, normalize, re-quench, shot peen and turn it into a fake "wood-bullet" sorta thing, real handle. Then it'll be wicked fun!
I think I'll call it- "MONGO".
Have fun!