Poor mans adze

A

aikonen

Joined
Feb 8, 2015
Messages
244
I usually buy myself a nice plane when it comes my way, but some planes are too bad to even try to restore - I have ended up with a couple of good steel plane blades, which I thought could make a nice little adze or something.

Went out yesterday to find myself a good handle for my project - the handle isn't ideal for this application, because it's a little too 'closed', which makes it uncomfortable to use, but it's workable.

Didn't cost anything and it was a fun project.

IMG_2248_zps0yoeil8r.jpg


IMG_2249_zpsyg4e6enm.jpg
 
jake pogg said:
Hey,good job,mate.I'd try turning it bevel down,it'll open the configuration(though for some stuff you may have to countersink that screw).
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Thank you Jake, that's some good advice. I harvested three potential handles yesterday, might make a new one and see how that works with bevel down. Might work better with a new handle with a little more curvature in the handle. I got to say that the screw isn't pleasing to the eye lol might have to do something else about that
 
Right on,man,sounds good!

Just in theory....Many similar adzes were built that way(with an easily-dismountable blade)because they had the bevel on inside.....so tough to sharpen otherwise....

You do such neat job....I'd bet you could figure out some type of "strap-adze" configuration,maybe narrow down the material around the slot?(strap-adze depends on that "male" shank protruding....though some are just friction...)..

Again,neat idea,and great execution!
 
Here is some stuff on Cooper's adzes:
rjdankert said:
Stortz cooper's adze.
edit: forgot I had a before picture:

​






Approximate dimensions: Height 8", Length (straight from bit to poll) 7", Width of bit 2 1/4".

John Stortz Founder:
john_stortz.jpg

Company History:
https://www.stortz.com/about-us/our-history/


Thanks for looking,

Bob
images.jpg
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rjdankert said:
Thanks.

I am not sure what the handle on mine is made of. Here are a couple of ads from other manufacturers with Apple:




I don't remember if using a bolt to attach the head was intended to allow easier sharpening or it was just some person's observation. Also, not sure how the original bit was shaped, but mine followed me home hollow ground. Right or wrong that is how I start with chisels and plane irons if they are at a point where they need it. Let me know if you want any details from my handle.


Bob
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I would refer to them as bevel up in use since the bevel is on the opposite side of the work, but YMMV. Also, because the bevel faces the handle, a detachable head does give a lot more clearance if you need/want to establish the bevel on a grinder.


Bob
 
aikonen said:
Thank you Jake, that's some good advice. I harvested three potential handles yesterday, might make a new one and see how that works with bevel down. Might work better with a new handle with a little more curvature in the handle. I got to say that the screw isn't pleasing to the eye lol might have to do something else about that
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Perhaps a carriage bolt would do the trick.
 
i almost did one myself...
i cut the wood, had a plane blade, and let it vanish ...
good idea and nice making aikonen!
 
Canadian Mojo said:
Perhaps a carriage bolt would do the trick.
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That would probably be better, and a bit more pleasing to the eye.
I got a whole box of old carriage bolts but I have not found a single nut that fits. The struggle for metric standards continues... lol.
I could buy a new bolt and nut that fits, but then again, I'm a poor man ;-)

flexo said:
i almost did one myself...
i cut the wood, had a plane blade, and let it vanish ...
good idea and nice making aikonen!
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Thank you friend, good luck in finding yours again!
 
Square_peg said:
Aikonen, you need a tap and die set, both metric and SAE.
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Befriend a high school shop teacher or community college instructor. When I was running a high school wood shop a few years ago it was common to have simple requests from staff, parents and members of the community to have something run over the planer or jointer or drilled accurately. Most shops have tap and die sets.
 
Aw,c'mon guys,this ain't no Machinist forum!:)

Aikonen,liberate thyself,shake the dust of the Industrial Age off your feet!:)

Think lashing,a good hardwood wedge,some way to Jam the thing in there:)......If you Must have iron,look up some Strap-adze designs...(the Middle Ages were more fun,bro!:)
 
Here's a nice old strap job:https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-hand-adze-adz-strap-adze-3-7-8-cutting

One thing worth mentioning(in all this unsolicited advice:) is that most adzes were fairly heavily polled tools.
Seems like they needed it.(even a cooper's adze has a long,weighty poll).
Gaining that mass with the wood of the handle may be awkward,iron parts help with mass efficiently,less space.

The Japanese plane has that sexy,fat wedge locking it.Something like that,maybe,jammed under a primitive strap,holding the blade?
Maybe the wedge can be screwed to the plane iron,using the original screw,even...But then you're back to machining...:)
 
This is brilliant and I may make one with a rounded blade (ruin a plane blade to do that). I've always wanted to make a wooden dough mixing bowl. But spending $40-$100 for a rounded adze (I think they call them scorps?) put me off.
 
Pondoro2310 said:
This is brilliant and I may make one with a rounded blade (ruin a plane blade to do that). I've always wanted to make a wooden dough mixing bowl. But spending $40-$100 for a rounded adze (I think they call them scorps?) put me off.
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I frequently see plane irons / blades on ebay, You could get a perfectly usable blade for not much money.

A scorp (also called an inshave) is also a hollowing tool but different from an adze:



These are, IMHO, a little on the pricey side too.


Bob
 
Pondoro2310 said:
This is brilliant and I may make one with a rounded blade (ruin a plane blade to do that). I've always wanted to make a wooden dough mixing bowl. But spending $40-$100 for a rounded adze (I think they call them scorps?) put me off.
Click to expand...

Doesn't sound like a very good idea,frankly...I very much doubt that a plane iron would distort cold without fracturing the edge.
A "scorp",most commonly,is a radiused drawknife.
For someone inexperienced the best(most natural to grok)type of tool for spherical work would be a Gouge,a radiused-edge chisel.
But this too will run you about the same...(and i'd not undertake to modify a flat one either:).

An adze is an intermediate type of a tool that would require other,similarly shaped/more controllable tools to finish the surface anyway,wether a gouge could give a close to finish surface.

Frankly,the stated sum-a price of a jug of decent whiskey-is not too much for a tool that would last a lifetime,practically...But,each of us has their own budget...(and that applies to money and our time in equal measure...)

(Aikonen,i'm ever sorrier about your thread here....)
 
The big question that remains to be asked: how well is it working?
 
jake pogg said:
Doesn't sound like a very good idea,frankly...I very much doubt that a plane iron would distort cold without fracturing the edge.
A "scorp",most commonly,is a radiused drawknife.
For someone inexperienced the best(most natural to grok)type of tool for spherical work would be a Gouge,a radiused-edge chisel.
But this too will run you about the same...(and i'd not undertake to modify a flat one either:).

An adze is an intermediate type of a tool that would require other,similarly shaped/more controllable tools to finish the surface anyway,wether a gouge could give a close to finish surface.

Frankly,the stated sum-a price of a jug of decent whiskey-is not too much for a tool that would last a lifetime,practically...But,each of us has their own budget...(and that applies to money and our time in equal measure...)

(Aikonen,i'm ever sorrier about your thread here....)
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I don't intend to bend it, rather grind it to a half-round profile when viewed as it would lay flat on a table. So it would look like a shovel with no curvature. Just to hog out a bowl from green wood.
 
Ah,i see...Well,i hesitate to say how well it may work on bowl-shape...
I Theory it's possible,and the chairmakers did have a type of a plane used for chair seats that functioned on similar principle...
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The big question that remains to be asked: how well is it working?
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It's actually working as it should. It removes wood, it took me a while to get the hang of it but now that I do, it's pretty amazing how functional a simple homemade tool can be.

Thank you all for the input and ideas by the way, I have been away from the forum for a while. I'm happy to see such a good and productive conversation going on!
What will the next poor mans tool be...? :)
I have made a couple of poor mans Mora knifes, on my work there are thousands of used old Moras, my coworkers dump them in a pile after deburring pipes and scraping concrete or other crazy tasks with them.

So I take one home with me now and then, split away the plastic handles and epoxi them into a piece of nice birch or something. Grind them shaving shard and they make good users.
That's a real poor mans Mora..

My co-workers must think I'm a real poor fella, taking abused old Moras home with me when I could buy a new one for less than $10 LOL
 
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