nice pictures Ken. to avoid tear out at the butt of that tree it looks like switching directions would help. as has been mentioned, with a double beveled axe at least one can come at the timber face from a number of directions. right there, at the butt, you could even turn the log and come at that trouble section with a draw knife.

the old right hand left hand twist question! maybe that depends on whether one has a single beveled axe, such that one kind of twist would be cleaner to cut than the other.

i agree that no score marks should show. but that is the easiest error to make in hewing- a too deep score mark. short of digging at it, a point in favour of axe scoring is that the angled groove can look ok. that and there are always process marks left by the tools. some are just more pleasant to look at or feel than others.

this bears on the multiple axe question. maybe a person gets really close with one axe. but there is a kind of relief for the body in moving from a bigger to smaller, lighter tool. and then the layering of one set of process marks on another.