I just got The S&N 2 1/4 lb boys axe off of Amazon to check out and am sending it back. With the Council boys axe as a reference, I don't think the 70.00 pricetag is at all worth it. The handle says select grade, I'd say it's selected out as second grade at best. The grain is a bit wonky and curves around. The handle curves off center a little in the middle, then back. Certainly no where near the quality and straight grain of my council. The head is mounted off to one side of the handle. The shoulder is 1/8 inch thicker than the axe head.. The saving thing about that is that the handle is so thick that I could reshape it entirely around the mounting point of the head, but I'd rather not, especially considering the price/wood quality. The head is much more finished than the council. It has a more wedge shape than the council which is decidedly hollow ground, and appears to form a wedge without any hollow grind. With the front of the eye as a reference point there is a concavity between the bit and that point, but the thickness continues to grow from the edge all the way back. It's not a fat wedge and doesn't have a lot of taper toward the two sides like what I think people mean when they say high center line. Balance wise, it seems to pretty much want to tip right toward the ground, while the council is pretty close to balanced flat by the poll weight. S&N also claims it to be ground for work right out of the box, which it is not. That is to be expected, but it would be nice if they didn't say it was. It might be a little better than the council, but maybe not, and not much anyway. The head is varnished.
Like I said, the handle is very fat and definitely falls into the modern club-like axe handle trend. Given the rather narrow eye, I think this will put stress on the eye area of the axe handle, more than a more flexible handle would. The top of the eye is painted black with some kind of paint or something. The wedge is metal. not sure if it's aluminum or steel due to the paint, but I don't like the main wedge to be metal and i don't think it's a good idea as it leaves fewer options for re-wedging to take up slack caused by use and weather. It is actually 28 inches long, which I like, since that's as advertised. The shoulder may be 1/8 inch thicker than the axe head, but the main body of the handle is still 1/16th thicker than the axe head, which is one inch thick. The wood is dark. I'm not sure what that means. I don't think it is heartwood, probably a kind of hickory that is not white? dunno.
The sheath is chrome tanned, probably cow hide. The design is not great and not very tight. It has steel rivets and no welt. Not a huge deal to me, but I know it is to some. I'd rather have no sheath and a better handle, but it seems like both could be had for 70.00 if council can make their axe with no sheath for 37.00
My suggestion to Snow and Neally is to find people that use axes a lot to help with design and redesign, including handles. Go back to a reasonably light handle thickness that has some flex to it using actual select hickory and make a lathe pattern that fits this axe head very well, with the thickness at the shoulder no wider than the thickness of the axe head and the handle thickness narrower. Currently the shoulder is more than 1/8 inch wider than the head and the handle at mid point is still about 1/16 inch thicker. Don't say the head is ready to work unless it is, which it isn't. And don't make it ready to work either, because very few factory axes are and it will raise the price too high. How it's ground now is fine. Fix the sheath design so the top corner of the bit can't stick out and cut anyone.
As someone that is looking for an axe to use a lot, I can't justify the price of this axe given the amount of work it needs and the likelihood that the handle will warp further with time.
