Anyone know the correct way to sharpen an adze?

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 15, 2000

Answers

Hi Stan, very carefully. You want it sharper than a splitting maul, duller than a knife, about the same as an axe. Sharpen ONLY the inside edge. That means the edge that would be up if you were using your adz. Or think of it as the inside edge, under the curve.

If you can easily get the head off (usually the handle is tapered) and have a bench grinder, use that. If you can't get the head off or don't want to do that, use a small angle grinder. In either case work very carefully and slowly-use eye/face protection-watching that you don't heat up the edge.

If you are doing it by hand, get a bastard file. A good clerk at a hardware store or lumberyard will be able to help you.

Whatever you do, work slowly and carefully. I'm no good at estimating angles, but there's maybe 1/2-3/4inch of taper between the edge to the body of the tool. Unless the adz has been mangled through misuse or mis-sharpening, just follow the angle that's there. If the head is damaged or this is something you've just forged, wouldn't hurt to look at a picture or two, or check lumberyards near you to see if they have any.

I'm assuming that you haven't done a lot of sharpening, so probably the file is the best choice. In any event, you should have a bastard file or two around. Keep after the adz when you're working, it is an amazing help. Also when you are using a hoe in the garden, keep a file with you and keep touching up the blade. Really helps. (On most hoes, follow the existing angle which will be the inner edge.) Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), January 15, 2000.

Hate to disagree with Gerbil, but you want to sharpen your adz razor sharp or sharper, just like any tool used for cutting wood. It has been a while since I sharpened an adz, but I think that the technique that Gerbil mentions sounds like it would do the job.

-- Jim (jjiminwis@yahoo.com), January 15, 2000.

Well, Im going to disagree with Gerbil also. You want that thing nasty sharp. I run a sharpening shop , and I use a 1" belt sander or a large dremel style grinder, then buff it out on a polishing wheel. Bastard files are great to rough things in or if you ding it out in the field, but their not the greatest at a fine edge. Good Luck

-- kevin beckey (Kevcin@bemail.com), January 19, 2000.

The proper way to sharpen an adze is on a wet sandstone grinding wheel. That is what wss used when adzes were in daily use. The wheel must be kept wet by turning in a water bath or with a drip arrangement, and turned slowly. The adze head must be removed from the handle for grinding on a wet sandstone wheel. The edge should be ground down to a sharp edge on the wet grindstone and then whetted with a whet stone to remove roughness from the grindstone marks. Whet the bevel side at an angle very near the angle of the ground edge, then polish the back side of the edge vewry carefully to remove the burr from previous sharpening. On the backside, the whetstone must be flat on the adze blade so that NO BEVEL is produced on the back surface. The result of all this will be an edge that is very sharp and smooth. Keep it that way by frequent touch=up whetting with a fine-grain whetstone. Use the adze as a cutting tool only - not for prying off chips or splitting.

-- William H Hunley (billhunley@AOL.com), April 06, 2002.