(Photo: Hannah Whitaker)

Starting an ax company in Tribeca might seem foolhardy—rent is very high, ax demand is very low. Yet Peter Buchanan-Smith (above) and Graeme Cameron, the Canadian tandem who launched Best Made Company (bestmadeco.com ) last May, see the city as the perfect habitat for their woodsy brand.

Axes in New York?
GC: It’s actually not as strange as it sounds. Street smarts and bush smarts are both founded on the same principle: being cool and being able to keep it all together.

But are there urban uses?
PBS: One of our customers bought it for her girlfriend so she could chop up some old Ikea furniture. And while I don’t encourage using it as a weapon, it’ll give you comfort when a stranger knocks at your door.

What’s so special about your axes?
PBS: A 100-year-old company in Maine makes them by hand, to our specifications, with Tennessee hickory handles and fine-grained steel heads. We sand, shape, and mask off the handle. Then we prime it and spray on multiple layers of high-quality graffiti paint.

Seems like you’re selling a story more than an ax.
GC: City folks want to hark back to the wilderness. An ax helps them do that.

Related:

• Archive: “Guides”
• Table of Contents: Feb 8, 2010 issue of New York | Subscribe!