At what age should a child use an axe?

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My 11 yr old ds is allowed to use an axe at his dads. This last weekend he was chopping wood and knicked his knuckle with the axe.

I am not happy about it as i think its too young. Maybe 14 yrs should be more the age . I am so worried he will chop his fingers off.
My Ex tells me that as usual, I am fussing about nothing and making a mountain out of a mole hill. Its doesnt matter what I think , with my Ex , he just doesnt care and ignores my wishes regarding Ds' safety.

Any thoughts, advice are greatly appreciated.

1. With care.

Why 9? and what makes you say that?

My youngest is 8 and uses an axe, but it's the appropriate size for her and is used under supervision

A small axe - overseen, at 6 or 7, after a lot of explaining and years of watching.

A longer/larger axe - at 9 or 10.

Obviously depends on how sensible and careful the child is. Any adult or child can hurt themselves if careless, unfamiliar, or silly.

Why were his knuckles near the blade end?

lol... for some reason I didn't think you possibly meant a proper axe when I read the title! Quite surprised me :)

Ummm, obviously they're very dangerous, but as with most things, under supervision there shouldn't be too much of a problem. I don't think I'd let any child use something like this alone though.

14 depending on the child
Unlikely to cut off fingers as they will be on the axe
More likely for the axe to bounce off in an uncontrolled fashion and hit the body,or for splinters to go into the eyes

Never. I'd get them a bow-saw for cutting thinner wood, and a log-splitter (eg LogMatic) for splitting thick logs. Axes are a real pain to use and take a lot of skill to use well! Plus if you don't know what you're doing, its easy to aim wrong and have a and in the way, or even your own leg.

Wow - you guys are hardy! My answer would be never, but I am a townie.

I could use a hand axe at 7 and a felling axe at 10, but I was taught properly and it was for a purpose rather than random barbarian-like wielding.
Depends on the child as well, concentration and coordination are important factors.

scouts can use axes from about 11, but only after being taught knife and axe work...usually on their first summer camp.

I would let my 8yo under supervision.

A chop happy 16 yo is just as likely to chop of their fingers as an 11 yo

Downbythe Riverside - my boys would love an axe to indulge in barbarian like wielding, they are bad enough with toy ones so all tools safely locked away here!!!!!

I know that the scout group that my DH is involved with lets the scouts use axes to chop wood at camp under close supervision. How old are scouts these days? 12+?

My 8 year old has been using sharp knifes for over a year.

My dds use a Canadian Woodsplitter more often than an axe as far easier and safer. They are now 11 and 13 and have been filling the wood shed for at least 2 years unsupervised. They use a small axe for kindling etc.
We live on a farm and I think they are fairly safety conscious about what not to muck around with - it's also their major source of income!

DS has used one this summer at Scout camp (with supervision). He is 10.

Meant to say they have to wear safety glasses when they are chopping wood. They nearly always wear gloves too as both squeemish about spiders and protects against splinters and the odd snake in the wood pile.
Changing the subject a bit here.... they split some wood recently that we had chainsawed into large rounds and left against a fence for a few years to find an enormous nest of brown snakes in the soft rotten core, the snakes went in every direction...the girls are very wary of old trees and wood now!

the "should" in the thread title made me snort, sorry

(as if an axe is something children need to use, like a fountain pen)

have no opinion on what is a reasonable age though

I lived on a remote island in indonesia for two months.. my little adopted sister (i think she was 5) handled a machete with great precision.. its not how old you are is how you are taught to respect tools of any nature and how to use them.

There's no answer to that - I teach forest school and work with children and saws/billhooks/knives/fire from all ages. My DD has been using a knife since 3-4 and helping me saw. It depends on the child, the tool, the situation and the supervision/instruction - every time.

I am baffled as to why he caught his knuckles though. I've caught feet, shins and the like with an axe but why were his hands anywhere near what he was chopping? For that reason alone I'd say he wasn't ready - if nobody is showing him how to split wood, he will hurt himself.

at age 11 we were all doing woodwork at school using potentially dangerous machinery such as electrical lathes and saws and electrical drills

it's about training