adze

adze, tool similar in purpose and use to an axe but with the cutting edge at right angles to the handle rather than aligned with it. The details of construction of a particular adze will depend on its intended application. Some types have a single cutting edge with the rear side of the head formed into a hammer or a picklike tool. Other types have a head with two identical cutting edges back to back. The principal use of the adze is in dressing and squaring large timbers. However, since these two processes are now usually performed by machine tools in factories, the adze is no longer commonly used.

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adze

 or adz

Hand tool for shaping wood. A handheld stone chipped to form a blade, it is one of the earliest tools, and was used widely in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. By Egyptian times, it had acquired a wooden haft (handle) with a copper or bronze blade set flat at the top of the haft to form a T. In this form but with a steel blade, it continued to be the prime hand tool for shaping and trimming wood; the carpenter stands on or astride a log or other piece of timber, swinging the adze like a pick, down and between the legs.

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adze (US), adz

a heavy hand tool with a steel cutting blade attached at right angles to a wooden handle, used for dressing timber

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adze

British term for adz.