Brian< Ive thought about making an axe, I remember my grandfather had a really great axe, seemed like it would chop about anything with little effort, but I never thought more about it than that, until trying to purchase one, and just like you said, from what I can find, they just seem all wrong, almost everything about them, defiantly not the same anymore, So for a while, large blades have become, the norm for chopping for me, and now I'm used to it, or addicted... either way, I'll always love the knife, but wouldn't mind coming across a good axe again.