some thoughts on axes

[muttman]

first let me say I am very impressed with the artistry I have been seeing lately regarding upping the appearence standards on axes. They are truly awe inspiring pieces of craftmanship!
That being said, I can't help but wonder..
I have a steel dane axe. almost four and a half feet long, trumpet shaped steel head with no backspike on an inch and a half by seven eighths byfifty inch straitgrained ash. I call it Shieldbrakr.
Just keeping to what I could do inside the ruleset of SCA combat with this axe I could of course strike with the blade. All the axes I see can do this. I could in addition thrust with the lead point of the head, strike with the backside of the poll with the eye of the blade, and I could thrust with the butt end of the haft. Maybe not lethaly but most certainly with enough force to stun or disable long enough for a followup lethal strike.
To make a weapon that addresses all the versitlility of a great axe in the SCA I am forced to build an ugly contraption out of tape and foam that while it works bears only a marginal resemblence to the axe on my wall.
I don't have the skill or artistic ability I see from some of the people here making outstanding axes that come so much closer to looking the part than what I now use but I would love (when money allows) to wield a weapon that gives me all the advantages of a great axe allowable in our game AND looks as awsome as the pieces I see being made. That would definitly be the majic cats ass!
Is it possible to make one? An axe that looks great, hits, thrusts, and buttspikes with authourity and will be sturdy enough to last a long time under regular SCA combat and still be within a reasonable weight and price?
I have as yet never found a way so I will leave this question in the hands of those who have already proven themselves both artisticly and engineeringly (is that a word?) much more capable than myself.
Sadly do to finances I cannot commit to buying such a product were it built at this time but I doubt I am the only one who would love to see such a product made available and when the worm turns again on my wallet I'm sure I would buy at least one!
Thanks
Drefan

[Vitus von Atzinger]

The thing about axes is this-
They must be glued, sewn and taped to the absolute max. They will NEVER hold up or perform perfectly. This is just a fact. Axes will need constant attention of some type. The only SCA axes that are indestructable are usually too heavy to use.

TAPE THE SHEET OUT OF THEM.

[Thorgrimr]

What Vitus said.

I think it's possible to build an axe like that. You'd have to accept some trade-offs, though. The back of the eye would be about 3/4 of an inch thick, in order to allow 1/2 inch of progressive give. I've been thinking lately about how to incorporate a thrusting tip into the blade, and I think it could be done- but the blade would have to be pretty thick, and the angle of the point would have to be so "wide" that I don't think it would look very good- either that, or the point would have to be snipped off, leaving a truncated shape.

I might just have to break down and experiment...