In my “Bowl Adze Primer” article (Part of the Adze Owner’s Manual materials), I discuss adze bevel geometry. After receiving a good question via email yesterday, I’ve just added this illustration to clarify the geometry that has worked well for me. So, while (as I explain in the article) there may be situations where deviating further from this would be advantageous, this is a good general guideline. I’ve added this illustration to the sharpening slideshow as well, because it fits in with the rest of the material there about how to establish/shape these bevels.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
Thank you David, really useful information for re-profiling an old adze I have on hand. Does the thickness of the adze blade make a difference, you think?
I’m also wondering about the relationship between the bevel and handle angles. I suppose it would make the most sense to get the blade’s bevels right, and re-work a handle to match it (rather than adjusting the bevels to accomodate a certain handle geometry).
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That’s an interesting question about the thickness, Drew. I think you could use the same angles regardless of the thickness of the adze blade, excepting pretty extreme circumstances. The appearance of the bevels will be affected by varying blade thickness; the thicker the blade, the wider the bevel will be, given the same angles. In fact the width of a bevel may vary because the steel is thicker in one area than another due to irregularities from the forging process. On the adze I use most, the outer bevel is about 1/2″ wide, and the inner bevel is about 1/8″ – 3/16″.
Regarding the handle relationship, I think your thoughts are correct in most cases. The shape and orientation of the head in relation to the handle is the biggest variable. Head shapes can vary so greatly. The bevels could be tweaked a little bit to enhance that relationship and make it a little sweeter, but that’s a finer adjustment range.
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