How to Get an Axe in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you get your first axe by learning the Flimsy Axe DIY recipe from Tom Nook, then crafting it with five tree branches and one stone. Follow the opening island tutorial, bring Tom Nook the fish or bugs he asks for, and check your NookPhone’s DIY Recipes app. The flimsy axe is enough to gather wood; you can upgrade later if you want to cut down trees.

Get your first axe in three steps

1. Unlock the Flimsy Axe recipe

Visit Tom Nook at the Resident Services tent and work through the early-game instructions. After you learn the basic DIY tools, catch fish or bugs and speak with him again when he asks to see a creature. Choose the creature prompt when it appears and keep following the requests he gives you. The Flimsy Axe recipe is an early unlock, so you do not need to wait for a rare item or a special visitor.

Open the DIY Recipes app on your NookPhone and look for “Flimsy Axe.” If it is missing, talk to Tom Nook again, check “What should I do?” and continue the current island task. Then return to the app after the next tutorial step or creature handoff.

2. Gather five branches and one stone

The recipe uses 5 tree branches and 1 stone. Pick up branches scattered on the ground or shake a tree and collect what falls. For the stone, look around the base of boulders for a small loose stone. Once you have a shovel or another axe, hit a rock to collect stone, clay, or iron. Don’t eat fruit before hitting a rock: fruit-powered strength can break it and reduce the materials you get. Nintendo’s island-life tips explain how to gather branches and wood and warn about breaking rocks while powered up.

3. Craft it at a workbench

Use the DIY workbench in Resident Services or another available workbench. Select Flimsy Axe and choose “Craft it!” If the recipe does not appear, make sure you learned it from Tom Nook; if the craft option is unavailable, check that all six materials are in your pockets or home storage. The current DIY Recipes app shows each recipe’s required materials, as Nintendo describes in its overview of crafting in New Horizons.

Which axe should you make next?

New Horizons has three useful axe types. The difference matters: two gather wood while leaving a tree standing, and the standard axe can fell it.

• Flimsy Axe: Your starter tool. Use it to collect wood from trees, but expect it to wear out sooner than upgraded tools.
• Stone Axe: Craft it from one Flimsy Axe and three wood. The recipe is included in Pretty Good Tools Recipes, sold for 3,000 Nook Miles at the Nook Stop in Resident Services. It gathers wood without cutting the tree down.
• Axe: Craft it from one Flimsy Axe, three wood, and one iron nugget, using the same recipe pack. It gathers wood and fells a tree after three hits, so use it when you actually want to clear space.

If you are building an orchard or keeping shade trees, use the Flimsy or Stone Axe. Save the regular Axe for landscaping; a felled tree leaves a stump behind. A Golden Axe is a later unlock, not a requirement for making your first tool, and golden tools can still break.

If you still can’t get an axe

• No recipe: Return to Tom Nook and continue the opening tutorial, including any fish or bug handoffs. Don’t wait for an axe to drop from a stump or a beetle; those are not ways to obtain axes in New Horizons.
• No stone: Before you have a tool for hitting rocks, look for a loose stone near a boulder; a tiny fish shadow can sometimes yield one too. Once you unlock a shovel or axe, hit rocks for more materials. Avoid eating fruit first, because a powered-up hit can break the rock.
• You’re a second resident on the island: Some early story progress is controlled by the island representative. Ask that player to advance Tom Nook’s requests, then check the shop’s tool or DIY selection once it is available.
• You want a quick replacement: After Nook’s Cranny opens, check its tool cabinet; it can stock a Flimsy Axe or its recipe. Shop availability is an alternative to crafting, not a random tree or insect reward.

For a first axe, focus on Tom Nook’s instructions, the six recipe materials, and a workbench. Once the Flimsy Axe is crafted, you can start collecting wood and decide whether the tree-preserving Stone Axe or tree-cutting regular Axe fits your island plan.