Broad axes are special. For splitting wood and dropping trees, even the worst felling or splitting axe will eventually do the job. Broad axes, designed specifically for hewing timber, must be well-balanced, hung just right to a good handle, and sharp to an almost razor edge. The handle and sharpening can be altered. A badly-balanced axe, however, is utterly useless. The precision required by most hewn timbers totally precludes the use of a badly crafted axe.

We tried to bring this formerly useless broad axe back to a useful life. Until we throw it in the forge, it will remain nothing more than a wall hanger. The poll is much too heavy and causes the bit to wobble far too much for precision slicing.

Carving axe handles takes time. Too much time for most of us. In the field, however, when pressed by time, I occasionally need to create an axe handle from nature using little more than a hatchet and drawknife.

The fate of this broad axe remains unknown.