As for Hand axes, I have seen them made two ways.  The way I made mine
was to wrap a pvc in pipe insulation, put one more cut strip of pipe
insulation down either side of the shaft, and then put an axe head carved
out of a dense squish foam over the end of the shaft:

         =    ==
       =|"|=====
    <===|"|=====
       =|"|=====
       ||"||  ==
       ||"||
       ||"||^
       ||"||

= Squish foam
|   1 layer of pipe insulation
||  2 layers of pipe insulation
"   PVC

The other way was to attach a 1" or 2" thick section of marine foam or 
thinsulite to the end of a pipe insulation covered PVC, but this resulted 
in an axe which was way too light to be realistic, and which more resembled 
a tooth-brush than an axe.