Adze facts for kids

WLA brooklynmuseum Boat Building Scene 2

Adzes, Marshall and Yap Islands - Pacific collection - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC05732

Japanese adze.

An adze is a very old tool used for shaping wood. It's been around since the Stone Age, which was a very long time ago! People use adzes to smooth wood or carve it by hand.

What is an Adze?

An adze looks a bit like an axe, but there's a big difference. On an axe, the blade is in line with the handle. On an adze, the blade is attached at a right angle (or perpendicular) to the handle. This special design helps people carve and smooth wood surfaces.

A Tool from the Past

The adze is one of the oldest tools known to humans. It dates back to the Stone Age.

• In the Mesolithic period (Middle Stone Age), the cutting edge of an adze was made from chipped flint.
• Later, in the Neolithic period (New Stone Age), people learned to polish stone to make sharper and smoother adze blades.
• As humans discovered metals, adzes began to be made from metal, making them even stronger and more effective.

How Adzes Shape Wood

Adzes are mainly used in hand woodworking. They are great for:

• Smoothing wood: Removing rough parts from logs or planks.
• Carving wood: Shaping wood into specific forms, like boat hulls or large bowls.
• Hollowing out: Creating hollow spaces, such as in canoes or troughs.

The way the blade is set allows the user to pull the tool towards themselves, scooping out wood in a controlled way. This is different from an axe, which is usually swung to chop.

Adze vs. Mattock

You might have seen a tool that looks very similar to an adze, but it's used for digging. This tool is called a mattock. The main difference is that a mattock has a blunt, strong blade designed for breaking up hard ground, while an adze has a sharp edge for cutting wood.

Images for kids

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  Adze

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  Native Alaskan boat builder using an adze

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  Contemporary stone adzes from New Guinea

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  Cooper's adze

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  19th century knowledge woodworking adze and axe

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  Micronesian of Tobi, Palau, making a paddle for his wa with an adze

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  Rye Shipyard- the Construction of Motor Fishing Vessels, Rye, Sussex, England, UK, 1944 D22783

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  A craftsman uses an adze to square beams, and to recreate 17th-century colonial life.

See also

In Spanish: Azuela para niños