The Old Guard - Andy's Axe (Labrys) - Full Size

A full-size sturdy replica of Andromache's iconic double-bitted axe (labrys) from The Old Guard movie. I made this as close as possible to the actual size of the movie prop by analyzing dozens of scenes and Behind the Scenes footage; the only significant size difference is that the axe head on this model is ~50% thicker than the prop in order to fit a ½ inch wooden dowel down the middle for stability. 

 

If you don't have access to buy a wooden dowel then the whole thing can be superglued together without one, but it will only be suitable for display. With the dowel inserted you can swing this pretty forcefully with little risk of it snapping apart, as long as you don't actually hit anything. 

 

All the blade edges and points are rounded for safety. 

 

Bill of materials

Everything in this list is optional but recommended:

• 1/2 inch diameter wooden dowel, approximately ~28in (~71cm) long; DO NOT CUT UNTIL YOU'VE READ THE ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
• Superglue

In total this uses around 600g of filament. 

Printing Notes

I strongly recommend using a smooth build plate. Textured plates will work, but the gap between pieces will be more noticeable. 

 

Make sure you have a clean build plate with good adhesion- especially if you're using a printer with a moving bed. 

 

No AMS required. Recommend Matte Black PLA, Silk Silver PLA, Brown PLA, and a Black PETG filaments for the various parts. 

 

Most of the pieces require no supports. The two main axe head pieces require automatic supports, and the three handle pieces require small custom-painted supports. All of this is taken care of already for you in the provided print profile. 

 

The tolerances on many of the parts is pretty tight, I strongly recommend you make sure your filament is pre-calibrated or uses automatic calibration if you printer supports that. Print the “Tolerance Test” plate first to make sure you have everything dialed in for success. 

 

Print the Tolerance Test profile first to make sure the print is going to fit the wooden dowel you have. Since the tolerances on wooden dowels vary, you can use this plate to determine if you need to increase or decrease the scale of everything to get a good fit on your specific dowel. You should be able to put all the test handle pieces together and run your entire dowel through them without them getting stuck, but still feel small to moderate friction along most of the dowel. 

 

The pommel connectors can be printed in PLA, but PETG is more durable. If you ever need to fully remove them you'll need to use a pair of pliers to get them out, and PLA connectors tends to break or baldy deform during that process. 

Assembly

Dry-fit everything together before you glue anything or cut your dowel.

Axe Head

First, slide the two dovetail brackets into one of the axe head pieces. 

Line up the second head piece so the exposed sides of the dovetail inserts go into the large holes and then slide the pieces together.

 

 

Pick the two best-looking silver endcaps and superglue them onto the bottom part of the head; take your time to make sure these are perfectly centered and correctly match the curvature of the outer dovetail. These are purely decorative, they just help fill an otherwise unsightly gap in the blade edges. Discard the other two endcaps. 

 

Select the two blade parts that are uncapped on both ends and slide them onto each arm, starting at the top. Make sure to orient them correctly as shown. 

Slide the two capped blades onto each arm. For the second one, you will need to overlap the first one slightly when starting it, but there should be plenty of flex and wiggle-room to do this easily. 

The head assembly should friction-fit together tight enough for display purposes, but you may want to use a tiny bit of superglue to hold things in place if you plan to swing this around. Wait until the end of assembly to decide. 

Handle

Take a moment to match each of the three handle pieces with the correct faux-leather wrap pieces. Two of the handle pieces have square grooves in one end that anchor the wrap. During the handle assembly you will need to ensure all the wrap pieces are rotated correctly to align the decorative spiral. 

 

You can also omit the wrap pieces if you want to do a real leather or cloth wrap. 

Identify the first handle piece, which has stop grooves for the wrap but does not have the decorative triangle cut on the outside. 

 

Assemble two mirrored hook pieces into the correct end as shown below. For each one, put it halfway into the center dowel hole, then slide it sideways into the cutout. When correctly inserted their internal side tabs should be flush with the wall of the dowel hole. 

Insert the dowel through the other end until it is flush or slightly behind the end with the hooks. With the dowel inserted, the hooks should be locked in place with very little wiggle room. 

 

If the dowel ever feels stuck during assembly, try rotating it. 

Identify the middle handle piece, which has no wrap stop grooves. Attach to the first handle piece by inserting the hooks into the side with two square holes and sliding down. Then push the dowel through to lock it in place. 

Repeat that process to attach the remaining handle piece, and then again to attach the handle to the head. 

At this point you should have the dowel fully inserted with some extra sticking out the bottom of the handle. Use a pencil to mark where the dowel meets the end of the handle. 

 

If you want to be able to remove the dowel after final assembly, either add another 5mm to the mark before cutting it, or cut it at the mark and drill a pilot hole and insert a screw far enough that it sticks out 5mm or less. My dowel was pretty tight so I opted for the screw method (3mm x 20mm wood screw with a 2.5mm pilot hole), which makes it easy to grip and remove with a pair of pliers. 

Finally, insert two of the pommel connectors into the pommel and then snap it into the end of the handle. 

 

Hanging

A wall hook is included that can be attached to the wall using either a size Large command strip or a small metal picture hanging hook like this:

 

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