So, the other day I finally purchased this puppy. Had been drooling over it for a good while, and was quite anxious to get it. It's an Aberl made felling axe, with tempered poll. I bought it from Garrett Wade. A tad expensive, but I just had to find out if it was as good as it looked.
I'm really happy with it, so far. I chopped a load of firewood with it, to give it a test run. All my firewood gathering is dead or downed trees from local FS land. Around here, that means mostly aspen, with the occasional pine or spruce. Ended up felling 3 small dead aspen, 1 dead pine, and bucking a downed green aspen. It chopped very well on all, with the excpeption of one standing-dead aspen, which was soft/rotting at chopping height. But, nothing works very well on that type wood. You just have to muscle through it and get the tree down to get to the good wood a little higher up the trunk.
Here's a shot of the profile. It's a bit thick at the bit, at least compared to the other Euro-style axe heads I have (an oxhead and a Mueller Biber classic). That thickness showed when chopping the dry/solid dead aspen. A thinner bit works somewhat better on that stuff.
One of the things that attracted me to this axe is the tempered poll. That makes this guy a bit more all-around versatile, what with the ability to drive wedges (at least it gives more versatility on paper - we'll see how that works out in the long term). Here's a shot of the poll.
Just for comparison's sake, here's a side-by-side with a GB kubben axe, or hand axe (the 10" shorty with the full-hatchet-sized head). It's all I had in the house when I took pics. Not the best to compare with, I know. Sorry.
As far as the aesthetics and finish work on this axe, I couldn't be more pleased. It looks and feels like a high quality tool. Nice ring to the steel when you tap the bit. The head isn't overly finished, so it definitely has the made-by-hand look. Of course, I love that. The handle is made in-house by the maker (Aberl). Apparently, they make wagon wheels, too, so they have lots of nice hickory on hand (to make wheel spokes with, etc.) and the know-how needed to turn it. I greatly prefer straight handles, but this is probably my favorite curved handle to date. I don't plan on replacing it, which is normally the first thing I do with a curved handle.
Here's a couple pics showing the finish. See the shot of this axe with the GB. makes the GB look highly finished and refined, huh?
It is a tad bit heavier than I prefer for my felling axe. It's not prohibitively heavy, though (sorry, I don't have good scales at home), so I'm sure I'll get used to it. Plus, the bit of extra weight will come in handy if I do drive wedges from time to time.
It's 29.5" total length, 6 5/8" front to back (bit to poll), and 6" toe to heel. The only complaint (other than the cost) is that it didn't come with a sheath/edge cover. Two bills and they couldn't include a piece of leather? Oh well, I have one that works well, so not too big of a deal.
So far, I'm very glad I bought it. I plan on making it my go-to tool for chopping. After I cut a few more loads of firewood next summer, I'll let you know what I really think about it.
-ben
. In the year 1649 is the first call of that forge. That´s normal for the "old part of world", I think. Many of the old companies go back for about three or four centuries. The also made a metal-lamps and handliners for stairways. 
