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I've wondered sometimes why certan weapons have been made cultural for certain races.
Axes for dwarves seem to have no rational basis other than Gimli from Lord of the Rings. It's interesting that this has resonated so strongly since none of the dwarves in The Hobbit carried an axe. They all had swords and bows, IIRC.
If dwarven culture is so wrapped up in mining, smithing, and stonework -where does the axe come into play? It is not a tool used in any of those professions.
It would make more sense if the dwarven "axe" bore a closer resemblence to a shovel or spade. In the trench battles of WWI, soldiers often fought hand-to-hand with sharpened camp-spades, using them in the same manner as a hand-axe. I could see dwarves developing a weapon in the same manner. After centuries of close-quarter run-ins with goblins, kobolds and the like (usually while working) they would have learned to defend themselves with the tools at hand, and preferentially developed those tools into more effective weapons.
In game terms, a war-spade would probably function the same as an axe (slashing), but the true finghting style would be different, as it probably wouldn't be quite the crushing blow that a heavy axe head would deliver. (Perhaps some modification to the crit range would be in order).
Hammers have already been ensconched as dwarf weapons, but it also makes sense that picks would be dwarven race-preferred weapons, for the same reason (tool-made-weapon).
I would even go so far as to re-imagine the urgrosh as a sharpened spade with a spearhead on the back haft. the short-spear thrusting motion would make sense in close combat in a narrow tunnel.
I only bring this up because, it would be a minor change that could be made to dwarves that would be sensible, rational, and yet at the same time move them out of the unniversal Gimli-cliche.