Hi Hacksaw,

Thanks for the photo's of your new tools, they look neat. Could you post a picture with the gaurds off?

I had a full-sized splitting maul that had horizontal grain and was a mixture of sapwood and heartwood like your kindling axe is, the handle did not last long. The first time I "over-extended" when busting a chunk of frozen maple firewood the handle split lengthwise in my hand.

Mike