The adze is a great tool for creating smooth reductions quickly, or for simply making a flat area on a log. Framers used to drop joists into their beam pockets upside-down and adze them flush with the top of the beam. Then they would flip them over and drop them in rightside-up, and they would be flush.

Here's a video of Brad and Jim adzing joists the old-school way, and it illustrates the importance of dropping the joist into the pocket first.