![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Tc0t8CgyXiI/TC8uNlUhTwI/AAAAAAAAE3c/YNQTw1RojQs/s200/SPRING2010_1200px9.jpg)
Peter Buchanan-Smith, owner of Best Made Company, and a graphic-designer-turned-axe-painter, sells hand-for
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Tc0t8CgyXiI/TC8uNXy4DpI/AAAAAAAAE3U/8DLW8EFQr5s/s200/SPRING2010_1200px11.jpg)
Apparently, the fashionable axes are well-made. And people are buying them.
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Tc0t8CgyXiI/TC8uU292PWI/AAAAAAAAE3k/laDuCooZKPU/s200/SPRING2010_1200px4.jpg)
The New York Times wrote an article about it here.
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As woodworkers, what do we think of these? Do we dismiss them as unnecessarily-decorated tools? As croquet mallets with a serious business end? As functional works of art?
Is decorating a tool necessary? No. Have craftsmen decorated their tools for centuries to make them more attractive? Yes.
Think of
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Tc0t8CgyXiI/TC82doTv1DI/AAAAAAAAE3s/jINMie_nFdw/s200/RouterPlane.jpg)
Are some forms of decoration okay, but not others. If so, why?
*The 18th-century router plane image is from Sandor Nagyszalanczy's book "Tools Rare and Ingenious: Celebrating the World's Most Amazing Tools."