AXES AND HATCHETS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 195 



of the straight part of the blade, and to counteract the tendency of 

 the wedge-side pressing the hatchet out of its true plane. 



Ox Adzes. Those whose business requires the forming of lengths 

 of wood into curved shapes, and who rely upon the adze for the prelimi- 

 nary operation, use an Indian form of adze. In India it is held so near 

 the metal that the workman's hand touches the metal. He accomplishes 

 blows chiefly by acting from the elbow. This very general mode of 

 holding gives a pretty uniform length to the radius of the swing, hence 

 the form of the adze in the plane of the swing is nearly that of the cir- 

 cle described. The angle of the handle and the adze is very much the 

 same as that of the handle of the file-maker's hammer and the head. 



The Two-haxded Adze. When we look at the adze as used by 

 English wheelwrights or shipwrights, we may well shudder to see 

 how it is handled, especially when the cutting-edge is taken into ac- 

 count. The operation, briefly described, is the following : The work- 

 man stands with one foot upon the wood, this foot being in the line 

 of the fibre. He thus assists in steadying (say) the felloe of a wheel. 

 From this felloe much of the wood on which the sole of his shoe rests 

 has to be removed. It will be noticed that the long handle of the 

 adze is curved the object of this is to permit an efficient blow to be 

 given, and the instrument brought to a stop before the handle strikes 

 any part of the workman's body ; in fact, caused to stop by the ex- 

 haustion of its impact energy in and among the fibres of wood to be 

 separated. The edge is often so keen as to cut through a horse-hair 

 held at one end and pressed against it. 



This instrument is raised by both hands until nearly in an horizon- 

 tal position, and then not simply allowed to fall, but steadily driven 

 downward until the curved metal, with its broad and sharp edge, 

 enters near to, if not below, the sole of the workman's shoe, separat- 

 ing a large flake of wood from the mass ; the handle is rapidly raised, 

 and the blows repeated. This is done with frequency, the workman 

 gradually receding his foot until the end-flakes of wood are separated. 

 It is fearful to contemplate an error of judgment or an unsteady blow. 

 "William Tell and the apple on his son's head are, in another form, 

 here repeated. 



Fig. 12. 



So skilled do men become in thus using the adze, that some will 

 undertake, with any predetermined stroke in a series, to split their 

 shoe-sole in two. 



Curvature op Adze. Clearly the adze must be sharpened from 

 the inside, and, when the action of it is considered, it is also clear that 

 the curvature of the adze-iron must be circular, or nearly so. 



