It was 4/1 when I got the Axe, it went down to 3/1 after a battle in the Caves. So there was never a way to repair the axe or the shield when you get it or an I wrong?
That wepons/shilds are never ment to be repaired, are very powerfull so either take care of them or lose them.
On a personal lvl, i had both red wepons from fair, for Doger, was kind of a noob lost one and still have one at 1/1, teling you this, they made a huge diference, helped me get 3 feats done and got me over 100 kills. The one left at 1/1 is making me allmost invicincible in arena becouse now i know when to equip it and use it.
So cheris your wepon and dont use it when you plan to die or you might die.