An adze or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in hand woodworking, and as a hoe for agriculture and horticulture. Two basic forms of an adze are the hand adze —a short-handled tool swung with one hand—and the foot adze (hoe)—a long-handled tool capable of powerful swings using both hands, the cutting edge usually striking at foot or shin level. A similar tool is called a mattock, which differs by having two blades, one perpendicular to the handle and one parallel.
Native Alaskan boat builder using an adze
Contemporary stone adzes from New Guinea
19th century knowledge woodworking adze and axe
Micronesian of Tobi, Palau, making a paddle for his wa with an adze
A cooper is a person trained to make wooden casks, barrels, vats, buckets, tubs, troughs, and other similar containers from timber staves that were usually heated or steamed to make them pliable.
Assembly of a barrel, called mise en rose' in French
Cooper's workshop, Roscheider Hof Open Air Museum
Cooper's brands from 1518 as recorded in a civic register from Bozen, South Tyrol