In this video: using the assymetrical welding technique to reproduce the adze from the Flixborough Anglo-Saxon tool hoard. If you enjoy these videos, please consider supporting me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/rowantaylorblacksmith
Tools must have had great value, and I imagine blacksmiths and woodsmen were revered trades. thank you Mr. Taylor, I really enjoy your videos. keep well
From the stone age all the way up to about a century ago, pretty much everyone knew what an adze is used for. Well, not anymore. Really nice work. A beautiful and useful piece.
RowanTaylor My Grandfather, Father, Uncles and Godfather all used adzes building structures, contouring boats, etc., but now you've mentioned a tool I've not heard of. Perhaps we have a different name for "thicknessers" here in North America. Would they be what we refer to as 'planers'?
+John Ratko I think I may be - we have hand planers, electric planers (hand held but with a rotary belt) and thicknessers, which basically sit on a stand or workbench and you just set the thickness you want on it, feed the wood in one end and collect the board the other side. They are wonderful pieces of equipment. The canal carpenter next to the forge have one which they use for all sorts from stop-planks to gates.
RowanTaylor Here in North America the tools you are speaking of are called : a hand plane, a belt sander, and a thickness planer(sometimes just a planer). There are also available electric planes that have a blade mounted on a revolving shaft these are a hand tool similar in appearance to a sander. Another nomenclature difference is the "linisher" over here that would be called a belt grinder.
+shadowcastre Thanks Shad, the whole video-classroom thing is what I'm going for :) Though mostly I'm just chatting about what I'm doing. There are guys on here who know far more than me!
good on ya mate. I like that you talk thru mistakes and how to do it better next time. your experience and practice are second to none but I feel like we're learning together.
+Sean Reynolds Thanks for the kind words :) Always learning. I've figured-out some power hammer tools to make these a bit more easily too! One day I'll make the practice piece before the video and then there will be fewer mistakes lol.
Thanks Brady :) All it takes is a bit of practice, and I forge-weld pretty much almost every day so I don't really have an excuse when it goes wrong, lol. Whether you want to do it as a hobby or as a profession, good luck :)
Watched, and watched again. And again. I like the projects you pick to put out. All the kinds of things I want to and do build myself. Great work, videography and content. Thank you very much for all your effort and sharing your skills.
I built one of these today from an old hammer head I got at a carboot. Then came home to your video. Great work. Your video really help a student like me with the tiny details.
Clearly, one big advantage of a bottom draft forge is the clinker-breaker. Saves a lot of time and guesswork when cleaning out the clinkers. Very nice video! I believe there are a few axe-like weapons, as well as many tools, that were made using this exact method. Oh, and a hot beeswax finish is perfectly authentic.
I've never used an adze, but I would kind of like to have one, so maybe I'll buy one from you. I'm not exactly a traditional woodworker because I use some machines and power tools, but I've become more appreciative of using hand tools since I've been watching Paul Sellers here on RU-vid, he's really great.
+Cadwaladr A couple of people have been interested so I'll try and do a few next week. They'll be better than this prototype one! I'll stick them on my facebook page. I've not come across Paul Sellers but I'll go and look him up now as I quite enjoy woodworking videos - though I mainly watch boatbuilding ones. If I had the time, space and money that would be my hobby, lol.
Congrats Rowan. It is a great video and even better blacksmithing. I may be wrong, but I guess the high carbon steel insert goes in the other side of the axe blade. Kind regards.
oooooooh matron I've a cunning plan, 60% of the time it works every time. In all seriousnessnessneeslyness. Could you comment more on why forge welding mild steel needs no flux capacitor?
Hi Rowan! Have you ever thought about forging a Finnish style forest ax? It would be fascinating to see how the socket and strike plate on the poll are forged!
Thanks for the video Rowan. I actually plan on making an adze too. Btw, could you make a video on how to make a timber framing chisel ? I've some trouble getting the socket done perfectly.
Great video,though I wonder if they would make a variety of adze blade shapes(for example they could make the blade curves into a gauge) in the olden days?
They did, yes. There are different shapes for different functions even to this day and bak then the styles of the adzes, like axes, varied not only from country to country but also from village to village and from blacksmith to blacksmith!
Very good video. One thing I would like to ask is why you prefer to use millimeters when talking about length even when it could be used in centimeters as well? (120mm = 12cm.) Of course, it is easier to say "mil" than "centimeters", so . . .
Thanks mate :) Purely because that was how I was trained to measure stuff (I work mostly in Imperial mind, but I tend to skip between the two). I think it's more instinctive to say 127 mil rather than 12.7 cm. There's probably an actual reason we're all taught that way but I don't know it!
Rowan, thanks mate, just a question on the carbon insert. Did the Anglo Saxons actually have carbon steel and did they use in in this fashion. That would go for the period all across? Thank you for your time.
+Nihil0s I have a business page, which is facebook.com/Rowan-Taylor-Blacksmith-South-Saxon-Forge-258594024181895 I use it as a website. I also have an online store on Etsy www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SouthSaxonForge
Hi Rowan love your Adze. I recently had an Bowl carving Adze made for me by a young Blacksmith. loved it but after using for a while I found that the angle was too acute. please how can I bend it back. I don't want to send it back. thanks.
+Hot Iron Art A blended-in weld is usually a weld which I know for sure has fully fused, however you can have a fully fused weld and still have a little mark left. I like to blend mine in mainly for cosmetic reasons.
Master, I am really fond of your work hahah I am building for me an workshop, while searching and searching for techniques to try, and this one you use in this video and the one of the trade axe really interessed me, but I didn't find much stuff about this. Could you give me a tip for this? Like where to find more stuff about this technique? Thank you very much
The very edge is carbon steel as he did it, and when in use, the surface that will take the roughest abrasion is the top. The bottom only needs to direct chips away.
Perhaps not faster, but you get to control the shape of the eye easier. It's so easy to have a punch and drift go slightly off center and then one side of the eye is thinner than the other. Just my 2c...
Couldn't you have welded the carbon steel when you were making the eye? Then when you drew out the rest of the blade you wouldn't have had to balance it on the edge. #Backseatblacksmithing
Can you perhaps expand your mock into a more descriptive critique for those who don't see an obvious mistake. There's a self sharpening reason to be expanded if indeed that's your reasoning...
Scott, examine the video at 18:57 An adze should be hardest at it's edge that edge is always on top. steel is welded to the under side on this particular adze leaving the poorest material at the edge (the top). I hope my comment was constructive this time around mate.
I just finished watching this video. I also noticed that the steel was welded to the wrong side. Mild steel will always be at the cutting edge....spring steel will be the waste material when sharpening.
Great cideo content but you are insufferably boring to. Your voice commentary is distracting, at best. You should consider scripting to subtitle all future videos.
we use both in the UK hes not catering for Americans he was working in mm,s for width as well its a common thing here not sure why but i cant forge for a day without using both systems lol
Hi Rowan love your Adze. I recently had an Bowl carving Adze made for me by a young Blacksmith. loved it but after using for a while I found that the angle was too acute. please how can I bend it back. I don't want to send it back. thanks.
You probably won't be able to bent it back without breaking it, assuming it was heat treated. You could heat it up and anneal it, but then you'd have to harden and temper it again.