How to Get an Axe in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Find your first axe and upgrade a flimsy one

Updated on June 27, 2021

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An axe is an essential tool in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You'll need wood to build all kinds of recipes, tools, furniture, and more—and you can't get wood without an axe. You don't start with one, and the first one you get is low quality and won't last long. Read on to learn how to get your first axe in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, how to upgrade your axe, and more.

How to Get Your First Axe in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The axe is one of the first tools you get in Animal Crossing, but there are a few things you need to do to get it. Follow these steps to get your first flimsy axe:

If more than one person is playing the same Animal Crossing game, only the first player will need to do this. After they've done it, the axe recipe will be available to other players.

Go talk to Tom Nook. He'll give you the Flimsy Net and Flimsy Fishing Rod.
Use those tools to capture to bugs and catch some fish.
When you've got a few of each, go to back and talk to Tom Nook again.
Donate the fish and bugs to him and he'll give you the recipe for the Flimsy Axe.
Collect five tree branches and two stones from the ground on your island.
When you've got those, find a workbench, choose the Flimsy Axe recipes, and craft it. Once you've got the Flimsy Axe, you can get wood, cut down trees, and eventually upgrade to better axes.

How to Upgrade a Flimsy Axe in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The Flimsy Axe is an essential first step to getting better tools, furniture, and buildings on your island, but the name says it all—this axe is flimsy! It will break after about 40 uses, and you'll need a new one. Don't settle for another Flimsy Axe, though. If you have suitable recipes, you can instead upgrade to the Stone Axe or metal Axe, both of which last a lot longer. Here's what you need to do:

First, you need to have the recipes for those better axes to upgrade to a better ax. Perform various tasks around your island until you've amassed 3,000 Nook Miles.
When you've got 3,000 Nook Miles, go to the Nook Stop terminal and select Redeem Nook Miles.
From there, buy the Pretty Good Tools Recipe. This contains recipes for upgraded axes and other tools.
Collect the materials you'll need to upgrade your axe. Check out the next section for the kinds of available axes and what you'll need to make them.
When you've got the right materials, find a workbench and use the materials and recipe to craft the axe you want.

You don't have to gather materials and craft a new axe every time you need one. Once you've unlocked the axe recipes, those axes then go on sale at the Nook's Cranny store. After an axe breaks, you can buy a new one if you have enough bells. Of course, you can still craft them from raw materials if you prefer that.

A Guide to All Axes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Screenshot of the Axe tool in Animal Crossing

There are four different kinds of axes in Animal Crossing: Hew Horizons. Here's how to get each recipe, what materials they need, and how long each lasts.

Axe Type	Required Materials	Unlock by	Durability
Flimsy Axe	5 tree branches 1 stone	Talking and donating to Tom Nook	About 40 hits
Stone Axe	1 Flimsy Axe 3 pieces of wood	Buying the Pretty Good Tools Recipe at the Nook Stop	About 100 hits
Axe	1 Flimsy Axe 3 pieces of wood 1 iron nugget	Buying the Pretty Good Tools Recipe at the Nook Stop	About 100 hits
Golden Axe	The Golden Axe DIY Recipe 1 Axe 1 gold nugget	Getting the DIY Recipe after breaking 100 axes	About 200 hits

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