I have had excellent luck purchasing through antique shops. It helps when you understand what you are looking for, with that in mind, other than concerns of the tools hardness, buying through ebay might not be such a bad option.

As you've already purchased an axe laugh , maybe you will have good luck, none the less, I'll relate what I look for in an axe.

I generally practice a style of hewing that results in a very smooth finish, one which leaves little or no scoring. For this I look for three primary curves in my broadaxe.

The first is across the Bit
The second is acroos the back
and the third is from Bit to Eye.

In a broaxe such as this, no matter how great the face, contact is very limited, except when taking off large amounts of material. The finish these axes produce has often been mistaken for adze work, long, narrow, yet shallow "Trenches" down the face of the stick.

For finishes where scoring is left highly visible, a flatter axe can be quick, and very effective. Where it would tend to require slicing off long, thin strips in the afore mentioned style, in a style, such as this, where the scoring is left for all to see, the flatness of the back is actually an assest, as opposed to a liability.

A great many axes are capable of being hung for both left, and righties, for people other than Will that is, who cannot seem to make up his mind as to which he is! (Definately a cross-hander).

I've always used a 12" + face, and, as I say, due to the curvature of the blade, little of that is in contact at any one time, mainly it has provided weight, and the option of using the tip, the center, or the heel, depending on what the grain is doing, either at the top, or bottom edge (or around knots).

Don't be afraid to vary your strokes, AND, you should be striving for Zero Blowout of the lower edge. Zero. And a slightly concave face (something which almost ALL hewn timbers have in common).

For a felling axe I have generally liked a fairly decent weight (no less than 4 pounds), with a sharply widening bit, and a nice, curved face. The curves of most felling axes are very similar, and often do not vary enough to cause notice. Weight has tended to drop well below 4 pounds, these days, as well as very narrow profiles.

I have hewn with people who, for years, have used new axes almost without exception. Other than when doing two man hewing laugh , the fact that this type of axe tends to stick in the log more than the older, wider pattern, is not generally an issue. when it is, sparks do fly laugh , very entertaining.