A very unusual adze......

[B Halverson]

I almost never come across a tool that I can not find on the internet, in old catalogs, books etc.. But this one has defied me so far. It is an adze with a single-bit axe-eye instead of the usual adze-eye needed for the common adze handle that can be easily removed to make sharpening the adze easy. Whoever "D. Cooper" was, he turned out this unique adze for some reason that can only be guessed at. I do not think a blacksmith could get through an apprenticeship without learning what sort of eye an adze handle needs, nor could a worker in a factory make a tool with so much hand-work involved and not notice it had the wrong eye for it's handle. Likewise if some ignorant plant owner or manager told workers skilled in toolmaking to produce an adze with a single-bit axe-eye they would have received loud and clear feedback about why it would be a bad idea. Anyway, here it is, an otherwise normal looking carpenter's adze with an eye for a single-bit axe handle;

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I almost never come across a tool that I can not find on the internet, in old catalogs, books etc.. But this one has defied me so far. It is an adze with a single-bit axe-eye instead of the usual adze-eye needed for the common adze handle that can be easily removed to make sharpening the adze easy. Whoever "D. Cooper" was, he turned out this unique adze for some reason that can only be guessed at. I do not think a blacksmith could get through an apprenticeship without learning what sort of eye an adze handle needs, nor could a worker in a factory make a tool with so much hand-work involved and not notice it had the wrong eye for it's handle. Likewise if some ignorant plant owner or manager told workers skilled in toolmaking to produce an adze with a single-bit axe-eye they would have received loud and clear feedback about why it would be a bad idea. Anyway, here it is, an otherwise normal looking carpenter's adze with an eye for a single-bit axe handle;

That is unusual. What is the weight? I don't think it would take much digging until it shattered. A lot of prying back and forth when digging. Someone will find this D Cooper in time.

 

[2oolhound]

That's a beauty! It's very well made. I was a log builder in the early 70's to about 85 and have at least a dozen adzes of various types and sizes but I've never seen one like that. The last 5 years I'm learning blacksmithing and have thought of making an adze (likely never will because I own enough) but I wouldn't hesitate to make one with an ax eye, so what, it'll still do some work and handles are easy to come by.

I'm curious how it was made. There are wrapped eyes and there are punched eyes. Axes usually are wrapped and if you look at the front of the eye at the bottom you can see a slight crack which is common on wrapped eyes but then I wonder how he forge welded the eye to the blade at the top side.

Usually there is 1 -2" of tool steel forge welded on the cutting edge. try cleaning the blade at the front to see if you can find the welded join.

Nice find!

 

[B Halverson]

That is unusual. What is the weight? I don't think it would take much digging until it shattered. A lot of prying back and forth when digging. Someone will find this D Cooper in time.

Pssssssst... An adze is not a digging tool, it is a wood-working tool, easy to look up.

 

[B Halverson]

That's a beauty! It's very well made. I was a log builder in the early 70's to about 85 and have at least a dozen adzes of various types and sizes but I've never seen one like that. The last 5 years I'm learning blacksmithing and have thought of making an adze (likely never will because I own enough) but I wouldn't hesitate to make one with an ax eye, so what, it'll still do some work and handles are easy to come by.

I'm curious how it was made. There are wrapped eyes and there are punched eyes. Axes usually are wrapped and if you look at the front of the eye at the bottom you can see a slight crack which is common on wrapped eyes but then I wonder how he forge welded the eye to the blade at the top side.

Usually there is 1 -2" of tool steel forge welded on the cutting edge. try cleaning the blade at the front to see if you can find the welded join.

Nice find!

I am sure you know why adze handles are easily removable, so that the bevel of the adze can be easily sharpened on a grinding wheel once the handle is off.

I can easily see that this is a wrapped eye joined at the front, and I can easily see that the poll was added to the back, and I can see that the tool steelcutting edge iswelded on the bottom going all the way back to the body. My guess is that it looked like a single-bit axe at one stage but instead of forging a bit of tool steel between the to "flaps" after they were folded or wrapped around a mandrel, they twisted them up ninety degrees then hammer welded the blade-shaped tool steel onto the underside. The top sure looks like it was always a part of the body. However it was done it sure is an oddball and apparently it was not done too many times before someone figured out their adze did not look like any of the other's at the local hardware store.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Pssssssst... An adze is not a digging tool, it is a wood-working tool, easy to look up.

Oh yeh. But still not strong enough.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

That is unusual. What is the weight? I don't think it would take much digging until it shattered. A lot of prying back and forth when digging. Someone will find this D Cooper in time.

 

[Pexto]

Someone will find this D Cooper in time.

The FBI has looked pretty hard, and they haven't found D Cooper yet.

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/db-cooper-hijacking

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

What is the weight of the thing?

 

[RTM]

Pssssssst... An adze is not a digging tool, it is a wood-working tool, easy to look up.

That depends, if stupid grabs it from the garage, and works in the garden, it is a digging tool. I got my first one cheap for that reason, renter abused it. Took a lot of work to recreate the edge. Still my favorite to use.

 

[Provincial]

When used for fighting forest fires, an adze is called a "hazel hoe" and is used to grub out brush and undergrowth to clear mineral soil, which will not support the fire. Most hazel hoes have straight cutting edges, either made that way, or reground from curved edges.

For over 100 years, the hazel hoe has been the preferred tool for this task.

 

[RTM]

For over 100 years, the hazel hoe has been the preferred tool for this task.

And as we talked elsewhere, the damn Hazel hoe comes with an adze eye, fouling up my “rounded eye= garden tool” mantra

 

[B Halverson]

That depends, if stupid grabs it from the garage, and works in the garden, it is a digging tool. I got my first one cheap for that reason, renter abused it. Took a lot of work to recreate the edge. Still my favorite to use.

What stupid does with tools or internet forums has nothing to do with researching the history of an antique tool. They are just something normal people have to, and do, factor in while accomplishing things in their daily lives, as they do with fleas and tics while hiking for instance. So enjoy the hike.

 

[grannyknot]

Hate to admit it but I have dug hundreds of feet of drainage trench for Big O pipe with this adz and it is the perfect tool for the job. I doubt I'll ever square up a timber with it but it does get used.

 

[no704]

Would probably work pretty good for dismounting tires.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

When used for fighting forest fires, an adze is called a "hazel hoe" and is used to grub out brush and undergrowth

Interesting, Jock. In a similar category..., when an adze blade is combined with either a vertical axe blade or a pick, it's a mattock. Mattocks, called "grub axes" in many armies and other circles, are still an essential "pioneer" tool on military vehicles, used for digging, prying, chopping, and clearing brush and other debris from roads or freeing trucks mired in rough terrain. Although never issued to 1/4-ton reconnaissance vehicles (i.e., jeeps), which carried only an axe and a D-handle shovel, mattocks were mounted in racks with axes and D-handle shovels on many trucks from 3/4 ton up during WWII and they remain a popular wartime collectible.

The FBI has looked pretty hard...

Snerk.

 

[B Halverson]

Mystery solved. Someone on another forum found these in a catalog page from England. It is listed as being a wheeler or fencer's adze, for use in making wagon wheels or some sort of fence. I am guessing that in these situations maybe the adze was used in a manner where if it had an adze-eye the head may fall down the handle and hit the worker's hands, so it was put on a regular single-bit axe handle and wedged on tight. I found another reference which actually referred to the tool as a "wheelwright's axe". And it was used to hollow out the inside of a wagon wheel's wood rim, but was made obsolete when they started steam-bending the rims of the wagon so the grain of the wood stayed continuous and intact and was thus much stronger than the same part that was cut out of wood so the grain was interrupted.

 

[2oolhound]

Interesting, Jock. In a similar category..., when an adze blade is combined with either a vertical axe blade or a pick, it's a mattock. Mattocks, called "grub axes" in many armies and other circles, are still an essential "pioneer" tool on military vehicles, used for digging, prying, chopping, and clearing brush and other debris from roads or freeing trucks mired in rough terrain.




Snerk.

The big difference in adzes from mattocks or grub hoes is the latter used a common pick handle while the adze eye was squarish for it's own unique handle (in most cases as evidenced here in this thread.)

Mystery solved. Someone on another forum found these in a catalog page from England. It is listed as being a wheeler or fencer's adze, for use in making wagon wheels or some sort of fence. I am guessing that in these situations maybe the adze was used in a manner where if it had an adze-eye the head may fall down the handle and hit the worker's hands, so it was put on a regular single-bit axe handle and wedged on tight.

Very cool, thanks for posting this info. This brings back memories of how annoying it was when an adze head came loose in use. Lucky for me I always used them where I was hewing downward but it was still annoying. The 1st new adze handles I bought came with thick wedges that as I recall you inserted from the bottom of the head. I'm pretty sure I don't have any of those handles left but I should check.

I found another reference which actually referred to the tool as a "wheelwright's axe". And it was used to hollow out the inside of a wagon wheel's wood rim, but was made obsolete when they started steam-bending the rims of the wagon so the grain of the wood stayed continuous and intact and was thus much stronger than the same part that was cut out of wood so the grain was interrupted.

Here is a hand held cooper's adze I picked up 5 or 6 years ago ($50!) just because I had to have it. Now, I only buy this stuff because I want to use it (but reality is starting to catch up on me). This tool has a round eye with a through bolt. I think it's near 100 years old but I've never researched it.

 

[Blueshound_GJ]

The FBI has looked pretty hard, and they haven't found D Cooper yet.

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/db-cooper-hijacking

My thoughts exactly. This tool is designed to dig for buried in treasure!

 

[Provincial]

The big difference in adzes from mattocks or grub hoes is the latter used a common pick handle while the adze eye was squarish for it's own unique handle (in most cases as evidenced here in this thread.)



Very cool, thanks for posting this info. This brings back memories of how annoying it was when an adze head came loose in use. Lucky for me I always used them where I was hewing downward but it was still annoying. The 1st new adze handles I bought came with thick wedges that as I recall you inserted from the bottom of the head. I'm pretty sure I don't have any of those handles left but I should check.

Often I see a Hazel Hoe with a small nail or brad hammered in from the side to keep the head from falling toward the small end of the taper. Wooden handles tend to dry out and shrink when around a big fire!

 

[john.k]

If you want to see skilled adze work,check out the movie of torpedo boat building .......they brought over some skilled wooden boat builders from Norway ,and two guys working together carved the keel plate of the boat in maybe 15 minutes ..........just like it was machined..........razor sharp adzes cut a chip like a wood plane does ,not heavy chips like an axe.

 

[john.k]

Incidentally,cooper is a man who makes barrels ,its a coopers tool ..........in the list shown ,CS stands for cast steel .........a very high quality high carbon steel used for edged tools,springs etc....the last cast steel was made in Sheffield in the 1960s .

 

[B Halverson]

Please tell me there are not actually people here who think this adze has something to do with making barrels because the guy or company that made it is named Cooper.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I let these different of opinions up to others. I belong to way too many other forums to get involved.

 

[RTM]

Please tell me there are not actually people here who think this adze has something to do with making barrels because the guy or company that made it is named Cooper.

Da Bears, D Cooper, no real difference?

 

[2oolhound]

Please tell me there are not actually people here who think this adze has something to do with making barrels because the guy or company that made it is named Cooper.

I hope not. I debated posting my cooper's adze because I didn't want to divert your thread but it seemed it was diverting on it's own and becoming more about odd and different types of adzes. For instance I'd never heard of a "Hazel Hoe" until Provincial's post. I merely posted my cooper's adze because of the unusual method of attaching the handle and that it was unique and designed for a specific use. I had not even realized it was the same name/style as the name of the maker of your adze above until I came back and saw this.

If you want to see skilled adze work,check out the movie of torpedo boat building .......they brought over some skilled wooden boat builders from Norway ,and two guys working together carved the keel plate of the boat in maybe 15 minutes ..........just like it was machined..........razor sharp adzes cut a chip like a wood plane does ,not heavy chips like an axe.

Hey John, can you post a link to this video? I searched on line to no avail and would love to watch it.

In my search for the torpedo boat vid I learned quite a bit about the origins of adzes. They date back to around 1400 BC!

As mentioned above I have quite a few adzes ranging from the more delicate ship builder's adzes which were plentiful in the 70's to the heavier adzes used for rough timber work and scoop adzes for gouging out troughs for carving and canoe building etc.