This comment by Dougwalkabout in a recent thread caught my eye: " I have genuinely lost count. I sharpen my own, and with antique axes/hatchets, I haft my own, and do so for others."

I recently found a stone axe, in my back yard, of all places and I am intrigued by the possibility of hafting it and trying it out. Any thoughts?

I have pictures, but for some reason, I am not able to copy them and add to this post....I thought i would bring up the subject anyway. This could be a nice indoor project on a cold winter's night....

Nice find! I'm envious. But to haft it? That's a challenge. I've never worked with stone before.

From what I've read, some stone axes were simply used as hand axes and were never fitted with handles. Pretty hard on the fingers though.

Without drilling, I suppose the only way to attach a handle would be a compression fit. Lashings and maybe glue. Notches in the rock would help.

Fiskars basically does a compression fit with their axes, using modern fibreglass, polymers, and I assume adhesives. I have had good luck so far, but others report problems over time. There's a lot of force to absorb.

I guess the question is this: are you a purist, looking only to use materials a hunter-gatherer would have available? Wood, bone, rawhide, plant fibre cord, tendon glue, that sort of thing?

And yes, pics would be lovely.