John Keeton
12-12-2020, 10:35 AM
I previously purchased from Mike Henderson a small hand forged adze head and fashioned a handle for it. Some of you may have seen that post in the Classified forum. It was a really neat tool, and handled well, but I felt it just didn't have enough mass to do some of the deep seat hollowing I do on the Windsor chairs I am building.
Most all of the current hand forged adzes run in the $300-350 range. Not knowing if I can even develop the skill set to use one effectively, I just couldn't justify that cost. So, I purchased the small Narex adze. I own a couple sets of their chisels and like the metal. Their tools seem to be good value.
I read all the reviews, posts, etc. that I could find and expected it to be pretty rough when received. I also knew the geometry of the handle wasn't right. But, upon receipt I was presently surprised. The inside of the blade was cleanly ground with no bevel. It was a fairly quick job getting it to a polished surface. The outside had a decently formed bevel and the edge wasn't too bad, but I wanted a more "rolling" bevel that I felt would work better and still give me the lever effect so I could pull out of a cut. Again, I have never used an adze - just going from everything I have read and watched. It seems the proper technique is kind of a circular movement, at least to clean the surface. Pete Galbert takes a series of chops with the grain and then scoops them across the grain. That technique seems to work well.
Given all of that, I carefully ground the outside bevel to produce a nice rolling bevel, then worked it to a nice, clean edge.
But, the adze had just a bit more weight/mass than I was hoping for. I wanted something closer to 20-22 ounces, so I removed about 7/16" from the length of the throat at the same time I cut the handle off so it could be removed. One cut - two results!
Next would come the handle. On the small adze from Mike I copied the style I have seen on Jason Lonan's adze. That style is used by other blacksmiths, including some popular ones from Europe. Assuming they know what will work, I fashioned a handle from some ash I have and proportioned it so that I achieved the "right angle" geometry suggested by bowl maker David Fisher.
I just finished it up yesterday and haven't attacked a piece of wood yet, but here are pics of the before and after.
Most all of the current hand forged adzes run in the $300-350 range. Not knowing if I can even develop the skill set to use one effectively, I just couldn't justify that cost. So, I purchased the small Narex adze. I own a couple sets of their chisels and like the metal. Their tools seem to be good value.
I read all the reviews, posts, etc. that I could find and expected it to be pretty rough when received. I also knew the geometry of the handle wasn't right. But, upon receipt I was presently surprised. The inside of the blade was cleanly ground with no bevel. It was a fairly quick job getting it to a polished surface. The outside had a decently formed bevel and the edge wasn't too bad, but I wanted a more "rolling" bevel that I felt would work better and still give me the lever effect so I could pull out of a cut. Again, I have never used an adze - just going from everything I have read and watched. It seems the proper technique is kind of a circular movement, at least to clean the surface. Pete Galbert takes a series of chops with the grain and then scoops them across the grain. That technique seems to work well.
Given all of that, I carefully ground the outside bevel to produce a nice rolling bevel, then worked it to a nice, clean edge.
But, the adze had just a bit more weight/mass than I was hoping for. I wanted something closer to 20-22 ounces, so I removed about 7/16" from the length of the throat at the same time I cut the handle off so it could be removed. One cut - two results!
Next would come the handle. On the small adze from Mike I copied the style I have seen on Jason Lonan's adze. That style is used by other blacksmiths, including some popular ones from Europe. Assuming they know what will work, I fashioned a handle from some ash I have and proportioned it so that I achieved the "right angle" geometry suggested by bowl maker David Fisher.
I just finished it up yesterday and haven't attacked a piece of wood yet, but here are pics of the before and after.