Another one of my slightly stupid questions but what in Gods name does an adze do?? Just saw a gransfors one online and can't for th life of me think how it works or what it's used for!
Cheers
Wilderbeast will
Cheers
Wilderbeast will
Adze?
- Thread starter Wilderbeast
- Start date
Sometimes used in traditional canoe building:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHMjuL3GaLk
I'm sure one of the boffins will give you a more detailed response, though wikipedia is useful too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHMjuL3GaLk
I'm sure one of the boffins will give you a more detailed response, though wikipedia is useful too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adze
And adze is similar to an axe, but with the blade rotated 90 degrees. Like an axe, you use it to chip out chunks of wood. But the adze works more like a large wood plane. You use it to dig into the wood, and pop out chunks of wood. Like using one with a curved blade to "hollow" out things - like making a large spoon, a large wood bowl, or even a dugout canoe. The adze with a straight blade was used to finish squaring up a log. The Broadaxe to the main job of getting the log into a roughly square shape, and the adze then was used to "smooth" up the rough sides. It would leave a slightly wavy look on the log.
The other way to think about it would be to compare the axe and adze to the whittling knife and crook knife. The regular whittling knife cuts mostly straight/flat, while the crook knife is used to dig into the wood to hollow out certain areas.
I hope this helps answer your questions.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
p.s. I've made a few small "bowl" adzes over the years. They are being used by several friends to chop out large bowls and troughs from logs.
The other way to think about it would be to compare the axe and adze to the whittling knife and crook knife. The regular whittling knife cuts mostly straight/flat, while the crook knife is used to dig into the wood to hollow out certain areas.
I hope this helps answer your questions.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
p.s. I've made a few small "bowl" adzes over the years. They are being used by several friends to chop out large bowls and troughs from logs.
The adze is also one of the basic tools for building a log house -- handy for cutting the corner...
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
flat adze is a finishing tool. In Germany and Japan it was extensively used to finish the surfaces of hewn timber though in the UK nearly all surfaces were finished with a side axe. Here it was primarily used in shipbuilding until Robert Thompson started using them to make his furniture look rustic in the 1940's.
Curved adzes are used for hollowing, again not used as much in the UK where most of our bowls historically were turned but much used in Scandinavia and eastern Europe where many bowls were carved. I forged a curved adze from a straight one last week.
Curved adzes are used for hollowing, again not used as much in the UK where most of our bowls historically were turned but much used in Scandinavia and eastern Europe where many bowls were carved. I forged a curved adze from a straight one last week.
BOD
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
In bronze age and Neolithic adzes were as common as axes. Here is an Egyptian one From Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, Egypt
Reign of Hatshepsut, 18th Dynasty, 1479-1425 BC
Reign of Hatshepsut, 18th Dynasty, 1479-1425 BC
hmm I never realised it was a tool in its own right. Always assumed it was just the strange name the bit on the non-pointy end of an ice axe had. Uses for that (and I suppose the individual tool too); cutting steps in snow / ice, building snow shelters, scraping snow of the bottom of crampons, causing facial injuries when the pick comes out of ice unexpectedly easily....
The other way to think about an adze is that it is a wood chisel with a handle that you swing instead of hit with a mallet on the end.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
p.s. Where it is now -8 (F) with high winds!
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
p.s. Where it is now -8 (F) with high winds!
I'd love to see the size of the spoon hollowed with an Adze !! ( onless it was a tiny adze )
BOD
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
In bronze age and Neolithic adzes were as common as axes. Here is an Egyptian one From Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, Egypt
Reign of Hatshepsut, 18th Dynasty, 1479-1425 BC
Robin,
Is that a replica or a real one? How did the bindings survive?
Is the handle complete? What would such as style have been used for if it is a complete handle?
Sory for all the questions?
Similar threads
