Axes vs.Adzes

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

To make a Long Story short

this demonstration involved revealing a series of very tiny grooves. Grooves made by the nicks inherent in every tools edge; Tools pass over imbedded bits of silica, stone, or through particularly dense knots, and whatnot, and, as a result are nicked.

The nicks then leave evidence of their passage upon the surface of the timber, in the Form of slightly raised "tracks" of wood, often to faint to see with the naked eye. A simple rubbing reveals these tracks, in abundance, as well as other marks, such as the termination of the tools stroke -- the Edge.

One thing to bear in mind here is that recording where the Edge of a tool landed, does not inform one as to it's motion relative to the surface of the timber. That is, the edge of both a broad axe, and an adze, may land in exactly the same orientation, but, it is the tracks produced by the nicks which reveal the path of the tool.

The tracks made by the nicks in an Adze tend to be perpendicular to the edge.
The tracks of a broad axes nicks are almost always tangental to the edge.

This simply reflects the different nature of these tools, and how this nature dictates the tools be used.

Almost every timber you will find, which looks as though it could have been surfaced by an adze, in fact, exhibit tracks which are tangental to the edges of the tools which made them.