Adze

Nathan Gilles created this adze specially for The Gifts of Trees Exhibition (June 2011). From handle to blade, Gilles crafted or re-worked every portion with meticulous care.

Gilles re-forged a block of Damascus steel for the powerful blade. This pattern-welded steel bears a wood-like grain, reminiscent of the annular rings (growth rings) in trees. This effect is from its forging, when it is folded 250 times before cooling.

The adze handle was carved from a Pacific western dogwood tree crook Gilles found on the Olympic Peninsula. He then stained it with a home-made recipe of oil-based pigment.