Japanese Tools

[tomsworkbench]

A few years ago, I discovered the joy of Japanese tools. In fact, I have a Japanese smoothing plane that I love to death and would bring into my bathtub like a rubber ducky if I could.

Something about these tools makes me want to pay more attention to my work. The pull of a dozuki as it crosscuts... the keen edge of a chisel blade ... the wood-on-wood feel of a smoother. And the simplicity of the planes is another strong point for me. I have a Veritas jointer plane, and it's the cat's pajamas. But, there's something kind of elemental about tapping the iron deeper or tapping the heel of the body to retract and get a lighter cut.

Anyone else goofy for Japanese tools?

[Vic]

I haven't bought or made any planes, but I very much prefer Japanese saws over western style. I'm too uncoordinated for western style saws, I guess.

[Mqutkingdom]

I have only used one japanesse back cut saw one time and I love that saw it got a good feel, look. And duribilitie to it I would get one but I just wouldn't use it all that much

[thewoodwhisperer]

I tend to live in both worlds. But my favorite set of chisels, hands down, is my Japanese set. I find that I reach for my western saws more than my dozuki, and I don't own any Japanese planes. I should remedy that.

[wilburpan]

I have a thing for Japanese tools. I've been blathering on about it here on my blog.

Visual proof, although there are some western tools among this mess.

[WeilWorks]

I've used the basic dozuki (I think that's what it's called) and love using it. I don't know much about any Japanese tools or benches. Are there books or other resources that I can get my hands on dealing with Japanese tools and/or benches? Because the market is so swamped with Western toolage, I haven't been able to material on anything else.

Can anyone help?

[tomsworkbench]

Weil -

Toshio Odate wrote a great book about Japanese tools and their use. Great read.

Oh, and Wilbur... I want you to know I needed a towel to wipe up the drool at my keyboard. What a collection of planes!

Oh, and here's a little video I shot of Toshio working last year at the Woodworking in America conference:

[WeilWorks]

I have a thing for Japanese tools. I've been blathering on about it here on my blog.

Visual proof, although there are some western tools among this mess.

It all looks beautiful! Where/how did you build your tool set?

[wilburpan]

Hi Tom,

I hope you make it to WIA. I think I figured out that we were at the same Toshio Odate sessions at the last WIA, but I didn't figure out who you were until the conference was over.

I should fess up and admit that many of the planes I have are not fully set up yet the way I want them to be. The plane on the left side of that rack is my go to plane, and works just great.

[tomsworkbench]

Well, crap, looks like I'm gonna have to book a flight! :-)

Can you bring one of those babies with you? I'd love to handle a nice plane like one on the rack... Those are gorgeous!

[wilburpan]

It all looks beautiful! Where/how did you build your tool set?

Chisels were pretty much all from Hida Tool, under the Fujihiro brand. They are made by a blacksmith named Chutaro Imai, and they kick butt. I think they represent the best bang for the buck for any chisel, western or Japanese.

Saws mainly from Hida Tool and Japan Woodworker, except for one hand made ryoba that I had got directly from a sawmaker in Japan -- the equivalent of getting a Wenzloff saw straight from the source.

Planes I picked up on eBay over time. It's odd -- I have no issues getting used Japanese planes and trying to fix them up, but I want all my chisels to be new.

[wilburpan]

Well, crap, looks like I'm gonna have to book a flight! :-)

Can you bring one of those babies with you? I'd love to handle a nice plane like one on the rack... Those are gorgeous!

Sure thing!

I noticed on your blog that you have shots of Cape May. You didn't happen to be here in NJ recently, did you?

[tomsworkbench]

Sure thing!

I noticed on your blog that you have shots of Cape May. You didn't happen to be here in NJ recently, did you?

Sure was. Just last week. Prettiest part of the Jersey Shore...

[wilburpan]

Dang. You could have stopped by. We were in Cape May this past weekend.

[tomsworkbench]

Dang. You could have stopped by. We were in Cape May this past weekend.

Small World!

[Timberwerks]

I'm addicted to Japanese tools, kanna is my main weak spot.

[WeilWorks]

to make the world an even smaller place, I'm currently working on Long Beach Island this whole summer, just under 2 hrs away from Cape May. Yeap very small world

[offseid]

I would love to get into Japanese chisels and hand planes, but my budget only lets me buy saws for the time being. And I love my dozuki and ryoba!

[Timberwerks]

I posted this video upstairs but I feel it would fit here as well since Japanese chisels, planes, spokeshave and knives are being use in some scenes:

[kesac]

A few years ago, I discovered the joy of Japanese tools. In fact, I have a Japanese smoothing plane that I love to death and would bring into my bathtub like a rubber ducky if I could.

Something about these tools makes me want to pay more attention to my work. The pull of a dozuki as it crosscuts... the keen edge of a chisel blade ... the wood-on-wood feel of a smoother. And the simplicity of the planes is another strong point for me. I have a Veritas jointer plane, and it's the cat's pajamas. But, there's something kind of elemental about tapping the iron deeper or tapping the heel of the body to retract and get a lighter cut.

Anyone else goofy for Japanese tools?

I like wooden planes, Japanese and European. I have some Ulmias and ECE's that I really like. The wooden wedge, high angle, and and the different way that each needs to be held all apeal to me.

[HoboMonk]

I love Japanese tools and woodworking techniques.

I have more than 40 years experience in woodworking - a curious blend of traditional Japanese and Appalachian (from my family) techniques.

My current focus is on using modern hybrid Japanese tools, while maintaining the traditional ways.

My goal is simple and frugal artlessness.

[Bombarde16]

Anyone else goofy for Japanese tools?

I was for a while. I majored in Japanese and spent an entire year in Kyoto as an undergraduate. Among other things, I had the fortune to take an architecture course. Part of the class involved hands-on demos with a master carpenter, mostly studying some of the insanely complex joinery they've come up with for timber frame buildings. Certainly a lot to drool over.

Since getting into woodworking as a hobby, though, I've come to keep Japanese tools in a bit more perspective. (Maybe it's because I married a Korean...certainly no love lost across Tsushima Strait.) Hand planes are a perfect example: The first time you witness a master peeling off micron-thin shavings is a Wayne's World we're-not-worthy feeling. Then they start yammering about the cosmic Zen of why bringing a tool towards you is more in keeping with the harmony of the universe than pushing a tool away from you...

But then you start thinking. Apart from the novelty and exoticism of seeing a plane cut on the pull stroke, you're watching a.) a skilled craftsman b.) using a sharp blade c.) on a predictable, mild softwood. Nothing magical there and any western smoothing plane will perform equally well under such circumstances.

The one thing that Japanese tools have going for them, however, is that they didn't suffer the indignity of an industrial revolution. European planes entered the 19th century very much like their eastern counterparts: Solid wood body, all adjustments done by gentle taps of a master's hammer.

Enter Leonard Bailey in the 1860s. Western planes emerged from the 19th century encrusted in a cyborgesque labyrinth of screw adjustment mechanism. The pendulum swings back to a less-is-more sentiment of craftsmanship during the arts & crafts movement, and it's easy to understand why Japanese planes would gain in appeal.

[wilburpan]

Since getting into woodworking as a hobby, though, I've come to keep Japanese tools in a bit more perspective. (Maybe it's because I married a Korean...certainly no love lost across Tsushima Strait.) Hand planes are a perfect example: The first time you witness a master peeling off micron-thin shavings is a Wayne's World we're-not-worthy feeling. Then they start yammering about the cosmic Zen of why bringing a tool towards you is more in keeping with the harmony of the universe than pushing a tool away from you...

Well, just because there is a mystical explanation for a practice doesn't mean that there isn't also a more rational reason why using a plane on the pull stroke has its advantages. When pushing a plane, most people start with their arms close to their body in an upright position, and end the planing stroke with their body leaning forward and arms extended. This is not the most stable position to be in. When pulling a plane, you tend to start with your arms extended, body leaning forward, and end with your arms close to your body and standing more upright, so you are moving from a position of relative instability to a position of relative stability.

And this is not just mystical Eastern philosophy mumbo-jumbo. There are multiple woodturners that teach a similar approach to using a turning tool on the lathe: hold the tool and stand in the position where you will finish your cut at the lathe, and then lean/reach to the start of the cut, so as you make the cut you are moving from a position of instability to a position of stability. Same principle as above, and believe me, the woodturning community is not into the Zen master thing.

But then you start thinking. Apart from the novelty and exoticism of seeing a plane cut on the pull stroke, you're watching a.) a skilled craftsman b.) using a sharp blade c.) on a predictable, mild softwood.

Japanese planes can be and were used on hardwoods through the years. More details here. I use Japanese planes, chisels, and saws on hardwoods all the time, including cherry, walnut, maple, and oak.

This is not to say that I think that you can't do excellent work with western planes and other western hand tools. I just think that there is a lot to demystify about Japanese woodworking, and that just because a lot of explanations about Japanese woodworking tools are shrouded in "yammering about the cosmic Zen", as you put it, doesn't mean that there are real explanations as to how these tools work, and these tools work very well.

[PaulMarcel]

I think it is true that you'll find many more references to Japanese planes being used on softwoods than Western planes being used on softwood. Part of the reason, in my opinion, is that the Japanese used more hand tools for home building over the centuries and still do for many homes built "traditionally". Besides being a woodworker's tool, planes were used for construction and carpentry far more than here. Like here, home construction mostly uses softwoods.

Just a thought.

[Bombarde16]

I just think that there is a lot to demystify about Japanese woodworking...

(snip)

...and these tools work very well.

Demystification is precisely the point. As you describe, there are sometimes genuine physical explanations for why things work. On the other hand, there's a lot of over-romanticizing and (for folks on this side of the Pacific) familiarity breeding contempt.

To wit, just about every garage in North America has a western (push) crosscut saw. They're usually rusted, dull and ineffective tools, barely suitable for building a treehouse. Yet when an American woodworker encounters a Japanese tool, it's usually in the collection of someone who takes tools seriously. Whether that's a John Reed Fox or someone whose name ends in -zaki or -shima, this sets up an apples to oranges comparison.

On the other side and one day while overseas, I came across some Kyoto University students setting up for a political rally. What did I see but a set of ryoba saws with spots of rust and visibly kinked blades. Barely suitable for anything but bodgering up a set of placards out of pallet wood and crating.

(That said, the girl making the signs was cute and tools were the furthest thing from my mind...)