...but the axe work you spoke of is interesting: cutting the cheeks of tenons, etc.
For a cheek cut on a tenon, do you think it matters to have an axe w/ a blade that's wide enough to bridge the timber? (8" axe for an 8" beam), or can you get good results w/ a typical 4-5" axe? Given both axes, which would you choose?
The fact a stray axe mark is more "forgivable" than a stray router mark probably says more for the hand tool arguement than anything.
You really can screw up in a hurry w/ power tools.
