"When a woodchopper breaks a blade he has to reax."
Dear WO'N: Ases could take a lot of punishment, and I never knew of axe head being destroyed. But they dulled rapidly, and until comparatively recently could be sharpened only on a foot powered grindstone which might take a large part of an hour, be very tiring. So much so that "keeping your nose to the grindstone" was and still is a cliché for hard work.