...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?
Don,
When I'm chopping the waste on a tenon or housing, I use either my 2 1/2 lb axe with a 25" handle or sometimes a 4 lb regular felling axe. Just a few strokes and you're down to within 1/4-1/2 of the line and then you clean up with a chisel/slick/plane whatever your preference. Even faster than that on shorter (4" or so) tenons is to split the waste wood off (as long as you have straight grain). Sometimes I use my axe as a wedge to split the tenon waste off, driving it with my mallet while holding the handle with my left hand.
