Best Made Co. Axe Maker’s Kit – $140.00
Father’s are notoriously difficult to buy for. When I was 12, I asked my Dad what he wanted for Father’s day. His honest answer was: “I could use some more rope for tying the canoe down on top of the mini van.” …Right. Father’s Day is Sunday June 19th. Expect a different gift idea for Dad each day this week.
Who knew there’d be a thriving market for luxury axes. Best Made Co. began making axe art in 2009, and has continued to push out incredibly well made gear that just so happens to look incredible.
But $350 for an axe? The Dad you’re buying for is likely to thwap you on the head with the handle if you drop that kind of cash on a tool he’d otherwise pick up for $20 at a hardware store.
Instead, let him make his own. The kit, while still pricey at $140, gives the recipient the tool and an experience. Chopping wood is incredibly satisfying. Chopping wood on a brisk fall morning while using an axe you made and customized yourself?
That’s priceless. (Or in this case, $140.00)
$140!!! The already assembled axe sells for $80! and making an axe handle is something that can be done for free, let alone a $60 upcharge
If I bought that for my dad he would tell me to stop wasting money.
Sorry brotha; pet peeve: It can NOT be made for free. It can be made at a very low monetary cost, but a cost of time and previous experience is required. I’m not nit-picking; don’t dismiss the value of time, or how much value someone can place in something “pre-made” (or, here, partially made) when they don’t have experience making it.
The axe kit is cheaper in time, search costs, and anxiety over not doing a part right (is there a BETTER type of wood for a handle? A WRONG one?), and for someone with a high value of those things, 140 is worth it, assuming they want to get their hands dirty a bit. Personally, I could see someone building the axe, getting a sense of accomplishment, and then almost never using the thing, but being a tiny bit happy whenever they see it.
The thing about economics is, once you start learning it, you stop asking “how is someone charging that price??,” and start asking “people are paying that price; wonder why?”
I think one of the best gift ideas is some sort of tree that he can plant. But that’s just me.
I think one of the best gift ideas is some sort of tree that he can plant. But that’s just me.
Throw in a bag of lime and shovel and you have the perfect gift.
I honestly haven’t liked any of 3 father’s days gifts so far. Step your game up!
Seriously? Man…manners.
Hey man, have some respect here please!
Man some of you guys are ornery today. Step outside the box a little bit and it’s all piss and vinegar. This is a reach for sure, but a cool splurge for some. The correspondence cards from AoM are flat out awesome. The wurkin stiffs, I’m wearing a pair now. Can’t make everyone happy, but, c’mon BC, they’re just ideas.
That’s a terrific idea.
“people are paying that price; wonder why?” when for the same money they could get…..a map
Joe….thanks, I haven’t heard the phrase “thwap you on the head,” nor been thwapped on the head, since I was a youngster…
If you don’t appreciate quality tools then this is obviously not the gift to buy.
I happen to be in the camp that appreciates fine hand crafted artisanal tools. Some of us have dads that taught us how to sharpen a knife when we where a kids, enjoy DIY home improvement, and how to maintain a lush green lawn….. Our dads would love a tool like this.-Loki
Exactly, time has a monetary cost. Wetterlings took the Time to forge the axe head from billet to completion, they took the Time to select the wood for the handle, to cut, carve, sand, and fit it to the handle, and they priced their time, their materials, overhead costs, and included a profit margin, and they did all of that for $80.
This kit takes just the axe head, two rough cut pieces of wood, two wedges you can get for a buck at home depot, and is somehow priced $60 ABOVE the price of the finished and assembled axe itself?
How does paying nearly double the price for an unfinished product make it cheaper?
Also, when someone is shocked that a kit is being sold for almost double the price of the finished product, thats not because they need to be bestowed with your apparent mastery of the complex field of economics. Maybe they just shocked that somehow has the gall to do that, or that some people are foolish enough to actually pay it.
tinstaafl.
Easy. It’s just an idea. Dad’s everywhere spend tons of money building model ships in bottles (and other things like that). Let’s move on, okay?
sorry
GO TO YOUR ROOM. (I kid)
YOUR NOT MY DAD
The ax my dad uses is an ancient one he found rusting and rotting in a shed when we first got our cabin. He polished off the rust, switched out the handle, and voila – better than new, for not much money. He did drop a considerable chunk of change to get a local business to make a custom leather sheath with brass buckles for the blade, though.
If your dad is hard to buy for, you might consider getting him “accessories” (like a custom leather sheath) for what he already owns, uses, and loves (like his salvaged vintage ax), rather than getting him something new that he may not need or want. Yesterday’s collar stays are a pretty good example of that kind of gift. In this day and age, it’s pretty easy to go online and do a little research to find out what kinds of “accessories” are the most popular for your dad’s particular hobbies or interests.
There are better axe companies out there, and depending on what you want to do with it, whether take it camping, survival, split wood, or use to clear brush when hiking a quality steel axe from Sears (I have a small cherry handled axe from there guaranteed for life), Friskars, ATC (American Tomahawk Company), and Gransfors Bruk all make excellent axes, hatchets, and wood splitters. In this price range I would recommend something from Gransfors Bruk: http://goo.gl/PEYK1. It is a novel idea to give your dad something to assemble, but this seems a little overpriced for what you can get elsewhere if you’re on a budget.
Great gift idea. Just not for MY dad. He would find a way to end up in the ER. Remember Tim Allen’s character Tim Taylor? I’m pretty sure it was based on my dad.
People who wonder why someone would pay $140 for an axe when they sell axes at the hardware store for $20 deserve a $20 axe. Why buy a BMW when you can go on craigslist and buy a car for $200! Why go to Peter Lugar when you can get a steak at Denny’s for $5.99? Hahaha. Okay so but in all seriousness, this is a very cool product from a great company that knows their axes.
Quality-wise, BMC Axes are right up there with Gransfors. I own one of each. In many respects, I actually prefer my Best Made axe, as it’s got a somewhat slimmer helve and better ergonomics for me. This kit that BMC sells is a Wetterlings head, which are nice. Gransfors actually owns Wetterlings now, though as far as I know, Wetterlings still operates as it did before.