Adze recommendations

[Thomascraft]

Hi guys,

I hope to tap into the wealth of experience here. I'm looking to purchase a new adze and want some recommendations! I've used the Hans Karlsson small 5cm one before and found it to be an excellent tool, however I've nothing to compare this with. Can anyone provide a comparison with the Gransfors Bruks or Svante Djarv versions for example? Any other toolmakers I'm missing?

Primarily I will be using this for the hollowing of small to medium sized bowls.

Thanks guys!

TJL

 

[mr dazzler]

kestrel tools
north bay forge
Preferred edge tools

They all produce good elbow adzes. If you have never used one, you dont know what you are missing

 

[Gary Elson]

Hi
I have a Hans Karlson which is excellent for bowls etc not tried any others so that's about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike!!!
Happy carving

Gary

 

[Hammock Hamster]

I have the gransfors small gutter adze that I use for the same kind of thing and find it excellent but don't have any experience with other brands.
The head has a good weight to it and is quite comfortable to use for long periods and works well for heavy material removal and finer finishing work alike.

On a similar note I have several GB axes and the hans karlsson sloyd axe and I find both brands are on a par for quality.

Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Thomascraft]

Thanks Dazzler, i'm planning a trip to the PNW mid next year and am really hoping to try the traditional elbow adze's used in the First Nation carvings, i imagine i'll be traveling home with a straight adze for larger, external bowl work!!

Can you comment on how the curved / sweeping versions perform against the short handled adze's i'm looking for below? it looks as if the handle would get in the way for some smaller scale hollowing work?

 

[Thomascraft]

Great! i know GB are in a league of their own for axes, good to know HK match this, i vaguely remember hearing some feedback that the GB adze grind is not the most user friendly, but i can't remember the specifics of this as it was a couple of years ago and don't want to make a decision based on this. If you rate the GB one then i guess its back to neutral rating.

 

[Robson Valley]

Kestrel Tool is the best known bladesmith for the adzes and carving knives in the Pacific Northwest.
Kestrel and North Bay Forge will sell adze blades. Plus, they supply the instructions for hafting elbow adze blades.
I use both the Kestrel elbow adze (Baby Sitka) and the D adze. My elbow adze is 55 degrees, I have not tried 45 degrees.

Striking accuracy comes with practice. I chipped up a lot of wood and I'm still very much a beginner.
For some reason, I am more comfortable with the D-adze.

Inside work = gutter profile. Outside work = straight profile.
Just remember that these are not finishing tools. With perhaps the exception of texturing surfaces.

Scandinavian adzes don't quite share the versatility of the PacNW designs as they don't get used for
such things as boats, totem poles, story poles, kerf bent boxes and so on.

 

[mr dazzler]

Thanks Dazzler, i'm planning a trip to the PNW mid next year and am really hoping to try the traditional elbow adze's used in the First Nation carvings, i imagine i'll be traveling home with a straight adze for larger, external bowl work!!

Can you comment on how the curved / sweeping versions perform against the short handled adze's i'm looking for below? it looks as if the handle would get in the way for some smaller scale hollowing work?

Before I got into the wonderful world of elbow adzing and the associated carving method of moving the workpiece around MORE than the tool itself, I used a conventional sheffield made henry taylor curved adze. It was "OK" with its short 8 or 9 inch handle, but became MUCH better and more usable simply by refitting a longer 18 inch handle on it. The 2 elbow adzes I use at present I made myself. They are just as manouverable as the henry taylor one ever was. In fact I prefer the elbow adze, still using them regularly after 6 years....they are lighter, less tiring you can work comfartably for long periods of time, and its far easier to do VERY precise cuts right down to splitting a pencil line if necessary. I have carved inside kukksa forms, deep ladles etc with no bother. Dont forget elbow adzes do the donkey work, the crook knives finish it off.

 

[Robson Valley]

Get into the Kestrel Tool website and order the booklet called "Adzes and Ends."
It has the templates for adze handles, both the Baby and the full Sitka as well as for the D-adze.

Study the concept known as the Holm Constant.
That explains a lot about the elbow adze handle length.
The Kestrel Constant defines the optimum handle diameter.
Here in the PacNW, you can be swinging a carving adze for days on end.
Might as well be comfortable.

Listen to your heart. Never strike faster than your heart rate.
You can go all day like that.

 

[Robson Valley]

Down in the Edge Tools Forum, there's a thread called: adze? You will see my elbow and D adzes in post#25.

 

[Thomascraft]

Thanks, will check it out!! Managed to a Hans Karlsson 60mm gutter adze today. Trying to find out how to get a Kestrel tool when I'm in the PNW next year but they're States based and don't have stockists in BC.

 

[Robson Valley]

Buy the Adzes and Ends 12-page booklet.
You should email Charlie at Kestrel Tool.
He's pretty good at fast replies. Ask him what to do next.
I'll suggest that he advises you to simply mail-order the blades you want.
Get them sent to some place that you will be (that's all I've ever done.)

In the meantime, start looking for some flat-sawn (parallel to the growth rings) hardwoods, at least 1.5" thick, minimum 6" wide and 30" long .
That will be your handle stock material for either adze.
It's a whole lot easier to make 3 or 4 handles at a time.
That way, you will never crack #1 but that logic normally fails.

The Kestrel Constant defines best handle size for you = Palm up, fist grip, the tips of your second and third fingers
should just touch the fat ball part of your thumb. From a dozen tests, I know for me that's a starting blank of 7/8" x 7/8" is best.
3/4" is too skinny, I can manage 1" square but it feels a little fat. This applies to PacNW crooked knives as well.