Find a good handle wood. For this project I am using elm, a tough flexible, thready wood. Pick an interesting handle; it need not be streight  After shaping, rasping, and filing down the wood, I split the wood with a jigsaw to the depth the old axe head will sit.  Three holes were drilled into the wood to hold the tough 6 inch nail stock pins; these must be tough iron pins as they will take all the abuse from the axe use. After the pins were set, the wood was clamped tight in a bench vice at the end and wrapped with pre stretched, wet hide. You can use leather, or wire. Just don't use rope as this may not be tough enough. Store bought is for chumps. This was an old un heat treated, high speed, soft steel, circular saw.