The Zeiger Family Homestead Blog

Sometimes it takes a boy’s tool to do a man’s job . . . . I’ve found a child’s ax to be a useful tool around my woodpile.

When we moved to our homestead, I sorted through many tools the previous owners left behind. I found an ax head that is smaller than a limbing ax, but larger than a hatchet. I went to the hardware store and found a handle to fit it. I hafted it, and gave it to Aly to use for her chores. Technically, the tool is called a “boy’s ax,” but since I gave it to my daughter (who, I’d bet, could chop circles around your son) I choose to refer to it by a gender-neutral term. Being lighter and smaller, she had an easier time swinging it than my ax when she got serious about splitting firewood 4-5 years ago. I soon discovered that these same qualities made it a useful tool for me in certain situations as well.

The homestead's child ax (l) and my splitting ax (r) (Photo: Mark Zeiger).

Continue reading →