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I designed this one!

 

It's the "Forte", and I designed it for Woox under contract. Initial release was with a 22" handle for pack-friendly length, which is the one that was reviewed in the magazine, but a 28" version is also available now. Replacement handles will be available in about two months, and then they can be swapped on the fly as circumstances dictate, thanks to the slip-fit eye. Hardened poll, and the high centerline is made using convergent true bevels so you can't ever sharpen back into thinner zones like on phantom beveled axes.

The reviewer notes that the mask (which I didn't design) doesn't fit well, but he made the mistake of putting it on the axe like the folks at Woox did when taking the product photos, and they messed up and did it wrong. The strap does fit wrapping under the poll, but needs a slight stretch when new for it to reach. A firm tug is all it takes to get it to reach the snap stud and then it sitting on the axe causes the leather to relax pretty quickly and take the right length permanently.

 

Thanks! I'd be happy to answer any questions you have! What process do you mean and what do you mean by "what was important to [me]"?

 

Since I have a million and one things I need to get done today, I'll give ya' a quick overview and if you have further questions just let me know!

Basically since getting my hands on Italian axes and studying how they work and the design ethos behind them, I've come to really appreciate them. Meanwhile, despite the popularity of tomahawks, and the advantages that a slip-fit eye brings to the table, no one in the American market has really done a proper tool version of a slip fit eye axe with features similar to a North American axe. The closest thing in the global market are things like the Jauregi Basque-style axes or Latin American patterns. Similarly we have lots of full-size axes, lightweight axes, and light heads on long handles. We have very very few proportionally heavier axes on short handles despite how useful I've found them when dexterity and packablity takes a priority and you're doing serious work in a remote location--not just cutting up some brush wood for a camp fire and making a few tent pegs. So I drew from both Italian and American classical design and put my own spin on a lot of those combinations.

The beveled cheeks are true convergent bevels, so you're never going to sharpen back into thinner steel, you have a prominent high centerline, a nice hard 57 RC for the bit and ample poll, and you can swap handles on the same head to have multiple lengths whenever needed. The eye is smaller than a standard pick eye so a pick handle can be carved down off the shelf to make a serviceable replacement if you can't get or make a proper replacement right away and have work to do, and it's large enough that you can even use a (very short, like hatchet-length) pine handle if you have to for the sake of getting a job done. At 3-1/4 pounds head weight it's a little lighter than a typical full-sized axe but heavier than a boy's axe, and can do very serious work out in the field.