Nick,

Congrats and way to put it to work.

Based on observations of the sawdust sized chips, I am guessing your new super-tough knife is in need of some serious re-profiling and good sharpening.

Once you get it well profiled and razor sharp you will enjoy it WAY more.

It is much more enjoyable when you whack a wood target with your blade and it actually bites deep into the wood. You are not getting good deep cuts.

The DM is a great mid-sized SUPER tough knife, but it is a tad small to compare to serious choppers like the Dog Father. The Yard Guard is a decent chopper. The S6 is not really a chopper in my book, but it is still larger than the DM. So, don't expect the DM to be an amazing chopper. But, with a good profile and sharpening, it will chop much better for you.

I am glad to see you practicing some batoning. The DM is much more ideally suited for batoning wood like 1.5" and a little larger wood than chopping.
The DM doesn't need to be as sharp to baton well. That little super-wedge will split a lot of logs. But, even with batoning a good sharp edge will help.

Good luck.

.