NW Coast Gutter Adz...a woodworking tool project

One of the primary reasons I love my G9 so much is the ability to capture images easily and quickly on projects that I really like doing with the intent of later putting together a story.

In this instance I captured a series of shots over about 2 months attempting to document putting a handle on a woodworking tool. I am not so much worried about the technical aspects of the images (as can be seen from the color cast of those taken in my garage) but am concerned with clarity of the technique and my ability to easily and quickly grab decent shots within the project.

Most of the time I need all my hands and even more for the project itself, so a quick, easy excellent quality camera is my biggest assistant. The G9 fills this role well.

So with that preamble....or amble, here is the project.

A NW Coast Gutter Adz handle.


Almost 6 weeks ago we had a brief but relatively strong windstorm. Out on our walk we were dodging several fallen limbs that had fallen across the trail. In one of the branch piles I spotted a nice crook that looked like it might work out for my NW Coast Adz handle.

Much earlier this summer I had bought a North Bay Forge small gutter adz iron with only a glimmer of hope that I would actually get around to putting a handle on it.

Anyway with this necessary crook found I was ready to start.



This is an alder branch, not my first choice in wood for the handle but a reasonable one to at least practice on. The handle part was a bit skinny but I figured it was worth working up anyway.



I peeled off the bark with my Mora worker….note the red stain of the wood. Alder bark “bleeds” a nice red stain when fresh.



I used my drawknife to flatten each side to be nearly ”square” with the limb handle, leaving about a quarter inch extra for shrinkage as it dried.



I decided on a 47 degree angle on the handle to adz blade, which I marked for flattening of the top of this crook.



I then peeled off the top surface flat for the adz iron. I left both the head and handle very long to allow adjustment in adz iron angle and position and to minimize any end grain check issues.



I brought this into the house to neaten up a bit with some smaller carving tools, then wrapped it in saran and in 3 plastic bags I put it into the refrigerator along with a handful of semi-moist whittlings. I needed to dry this slowly hoping it did not split.

I pretty much followed an article from Gregg Bloomberg, in Fine Woodworking’s Bench Tools.

I was worried that the wet alder may split if dried to fast, so each night I dump the chips out into a bucket and let them air dry for a couple of hours, also allowing the handle to dry some too. For about two weeks I followed this routine of drying. After a couple of weeks I more finely carved it to shape and rubbed it down with flaxseed oil, then immersed the head and a good portion of the handle in flaxseed oil for over a week.



After the head soaked for a week I submerged the handle in flaxseed oil for several days.

To find the sweet spot I fixed the adz iron to the head with radiator clamps. I moved the iron back and forth on the head while working a piece of birch (hollowing for a shallow bowl). I tried slightly increasing the angle with a thin wooden wedge also, but settled on the original angle with the iron quite far into the head.



I then trimmed the front of the head, cut the mortise stop into the head and cut out the mortise with my drawknife. Thinned the sides with the drawknife, carved the seine twine groove in the underside of the head and then whipped the iron in place with seine twine.






I decided to carry the whipping down the adz shaft using a French sennett pattern (multiple half hitches). This may be a bit rough on my hands with the spiral but I will give it a go for a while to see.






Overall I like the way this one turned out. It has a nice spring to it and cuts chips quite well.

Hi schwert,
Well done, another outstanding “schwert article” with great photos.

I've seen some similar chipping tools in the hills region up north of Thailand and also here in the Alps at my Grandfathers, but although not “schwert style” finished. That's a wonderful job you made, thanks for sharing with us.

It seems that the wood drying process is very important. I must try that out one day, because good handles are always handy to have.

BTW: You could make a good canoe next and send it to Herman as a Christmas present. He would love that idea!
BTW1: What is your real Name, I wonder? Do you know what schwert means in German?
Best regards
Pius

What a pleasure to read and look at.
Great craftmanship.

Schwert==Sword, I took my forum name from Lohengrin. Real name is Randy.

Thanks. This story is not exactly my usual for this site, but the document style capabilities of the handy G9 just seemed to lend itself well for this post.

Pius....watch for that canoe sometime in 2015 or so....if it is like any of my other projects

Drying wood is the key to keeping it from splitting. I could not risk the head on this having any stress fractures or it would not have been stable. The handle I could have had small splits maybe as the stress is lower in use, but I did not want any that is for sure.

The first thing my eye catched is your nice Japanese saw witch I like to use! The pictures are nice and your workschop is very clean. I don't dare to show up pictures from my work place Relative order! I dream already a liftime about bulding a vessel but photography is taking over those deams.
Herman