Talk:Pickaxe

Content merge
User:Anthony Appleyard merged some info from Talk:Pickaxe/Old version (when it was located at Pick) into this article (Pickaxe).--Commander Keane 04:15, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Pickax is American? Really? Everywhere I've seen it in American writing used "pickaxe", so I'd guess that at best it's a regional variation and should be treated as such. Joshua Kronengold (talk) 07:43, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I have also never heard this spelling and I've lived in the United States my entire life. 75.72.7.108 (talk) 17:23, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Merriam-Websters uses this spelling; Wiktionary calls it an alternative. Cnilep (talk) 07:35, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

Why would British pickaxe handles meet a "3 foot only" regulation. Don't they use the metric system? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.130.11 (talk) 15:16, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Needs serious work
This article is a complete mess. I have removed the factoid section on the pickaxe handles because it was filled with the most minor details, some which were either obviously false or just plain redundant. One such one was "A pickaxe handle is typically wood and 3 feet long" and yet another was "Pickaxe handles have been used to fend off sharks while scuba diving".

Either way the article needs a hell of a lot more work especially the beginning as it is just a bunch of sentences mentioning one off notes about the pickaxe.

I cannot work on it at the moment as I am at work but if anyone else can improve it than go right ahead. Mishka Shaw (talk) 15:44, 8 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, it would seem someone has re-added the bit about sharks and jabbing. It's there today, anyhoo. Mousenight (talk) 14:29, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
 * LOL! Yeah, I noticed that. :) The handle of ice picks have been used to ward off sharks for SCUBA divers, that is actually fairly common, ice picks are light weight, sharp and such. That section should be removed, I think, since there are not legitimate references or citations where a pick-ax is used for fighting off sharks. :) Which is funny. Damotclese (talk) 16:22, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Pick-adze
The picture actually shows a pick-adze, not a pickaxe. The head on the other side of the pick is clearly an adze. An axe goes the other way. Each tool has their uses. My father pointed this out one day. Given that modern men (and women) tend NOT to use tools, the confusion is understandable; I bet most people don't know what an adze is anyway. They probably think it's the American accent mangling the world pick, LOL. However, it's not really correct, and some mention of this should be made.

[minor edit: I normally sign my posts with two equal signs on email, and that makes a section :) So I fixed that ] /s/ Jgwinner (talk) 17:53, 5 December 2015 (UTC)John
 * Ah, interesting. The question is whether the photograph should be corrected. By the way, you could sign with four tildas like everyone else. :) Damotclese (talk) 16:35, 1 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Also called a pick mattock. There are pick-axes, but that's not a picture of one.
 * ~ender 2017-10-07 3:33:AM MST — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.226.31.203 (talk)

I agree. Pickaxe is a misnomer; there is no such thing. There is no axe on a "pickaxe". It is an adze and therefore a pick-adze. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.113.249.200 (talk) 02:37, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
 * The word "pickaxe" a folk-etymological alteration of Old French picois, F.Y.I. Tharthan (talk) 23:01, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

I came here to say the same thing. That picture is definitely of a mattock. (Which, indeed, has an adze on one end.) Interestingly, the word mattock applies whether there is a pick or an axe on the end opposite the adze.Jtrnp (talk) 18:15, 25 July 2018 (UTC)


 * All the picks I have seen in 30 years of construction work had a point on each side, one slightly flat but not broad like an adze.
 * The photo is of a mattock.
 * The article should say that this tool is used for digging in hard gound or soft rock. Using it to pry is done but risks breaking the handle. 174.29.71.91 (talk) 14:35, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 1 April 2018
In the first paragraph under "Etymology", the phrase "a tool with a long handle at right angles to" is written twice. The sentence should read "a tool with a long handle at right angles to a curved iron or steel bar with a point at one end and a chisel or point at the other" but instead reads "a tool with a long handle at right angles to a tool with a long handle at right angles to a curved iron or steel bar with a point at one end and a chisel or point at the other". CleanupService (talk) 04:08, 1 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done –Ammarpad (talk) 08:59, 1 April 2018 (UTC)

in popular culture
It was used as a throwing weapon in Into the Badlands (TV series) by Pickaxe Territory. It was its most prominent use on TV screen. 5.43.173.14 (talk) 22:58, 6 October 2020 (UTC)