Don,
around here, it was never used. that I can say with confidence. I don't debate whether or not it was used in Holland or elsewhere, but never in Indiana for this purpose. I also know that it is not ever used for this purpose in the German traditions that I have studied.
And I have to wonder, if we can achieve a smooth clean face with a broadaxe, why worry about the adze at all? Certainly it does not save time or effort. I wonder if this was perhaps a technique that may have been used at times when the large broadaxes might not have been available, and the technique was then passed down as 'another way you can do it'. Just a thought, no real evidence to support this so it's just a musing I suppose...
DLB
