Buchanan-Smith’s Axe Handbook

Book: Buchanan-Smith’s Axe Handbook Shop Now

Authors: Peter Buchanan-Smith, Nick Zdon, Michael Getz, Ross McCammon

Publisher: Abrams Books

I’m a sucker for tools and good design, so Buchanan-Smith’s Axe Handbook was immediately added to my shopping cart when I found out about it. Simply put, it’s a book about axes, written by a person who helped reignite interest in the tool as a symbol of both survival and hipster status. Peter Buchanan Smith, the author, built an entire high-end store around useful, high-quality tools and clothing, and it all started with an ax, painted with purpose.

While he does present a brief history of the tool and its modern-day uses, the bulk of the book is devoted to understanding how axes are made and designed to be used today (including buying and restoring vintage axes, safety and sharpening). The section on axes in use was particularly enlightening, talking through proper form and technique for limbing and bucking trees with an axe, why you should never chop down a tree with an axe (use a saw!) and just how useful and precise a small ax can be.

The real gems in this book come in the restoration portion. The Dudley ax vice, named for the former head of the Best Made ax shop, is simple yet incredibly useful jig for holding an ax during sharpening and restoration. There are some best practices for removing rust while keeping patina (it is a tool, after all), and advice on buying old axes.

The section on adorning an ax was very interesting. There are completely practical reasons to use bright colors on a tool: easy to identify in woods filled with browns and greens and a way to signal ownership of a tool. And there are reasons completely unrelated to practicality. And therein lies what was so inspiring about this book: there’s so much joy tied into this simple object for the author, a designer who wanted to reconnect with the nature while living in a big city. So he painted ax handles.