These photos are a selection of shots of my work with wood for my upcoming book on woodcarving where I have re-introduced the hand adze to the contemporary wood carving scene. I first experienced this tool while traveling through Papua New Guinea in 1982 and was so impressed with them that i made my own when i returned and have been working with them ever since. I am convinced that they are such a valuable tool that they need to be more appreciated and will document my work with them in the book. The canoe form (Waka) is one of the projects that feature in the book to illustrate the wood working tools I use.
I hope you find the images interesting and the full range with text is of course in my new book, ‘Wood Carving: Tools, Tecniques & Concepts” (2025, Published by Oratia Books, New Zealand).
Most of the old pre-European wood carving of Maori in Aotearoa, New Zealand, was done with adzes, and mallet and chisel work was mostly just used for the surface decoration, Kowhaiwhai. In contemporary Maori Carving the mallet and chisel is used for most cuts and only the larger two handed adze used for roughing out. I would like to see the small hand adze regain its place in the tool box.
