Adz making in old Hawaii was much more than child's play or casual activity of the ordinary worker.  Along with the Hawaiian canoe, the adz was of great utility and beauty, perhaps the highest expression of the culture.  The right basaltic material was necessary and Mauna Kea was the best source of raw material in the Hawaiian Islands.   A blank was formed and many blanks were ruined or judged unworthy and discarded.  There are heaps of chips and blanks on MaunaKea.  Later, the blanks were further chipped, ground and polished to create the adz, and a wooden handle lashed to the finished stone.  Protocols were observed.  Adz were traded throughout the islands.  

The closest comparison might be to the Japanese sword and sword making.  Utility, beauty, technology with spirituality.