ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Axe manufacturing in Pennsylvania

Okay, imagine you have a toy axe that you love to play with. Now imagine that instead of being made in a toy factory far away, this axe was made by real people in a big building nearby in Pennsylvania!

First, the people who make axes in Pennsylvania need to find the best materials to use. They usually use a kind of steel that is strong and can hold a sharp edge. They also need to find wood to make the handle. Sometimes they use hard woods like ash or hickory, which are strong and won't break easily.

Once they have all the materials, the people who make the axes use big machines to shape the steel into the right size and shape for an axe head. They use other machines to put a sharp edge on the steel so it can cut things well.

Then they attach the steel head to the wooden handle. They do this by drilling a hole in the head of the axe (where the handle goes) and fitting the handle inside. They secure it in place with glue or sometimes with a metal wedge that goes through the axe head and into the handle.

The final step for the people who make axes in Pennsylvania is to test the axe to make sure it's strong and sharp. They might swing it at a big piece of wood to see how well it cuts or chop some small logs to make sure the handle stays attached.

And that’s how a real axe is made in Pennsylvania! It takes a lot of hard work and skill to make a good axe, but the people who do it love making things with their hands and making something that can be useful to other people.