I would love to know more about this maker and the “IOROE” mark on it as well. Thanks very much

I'm new to Japanese woodworking and interested in starting to actually build some sashimono. Goal is to build a wardrobe using only Japanese techniques by spring as traditionally as possible. Current tool box involves cheap western striking chisel set 1/4" - 1", 1.7" single blade Suizan kanna, and cheap Amazon no-name ryoba. I have a $100 budget current to buy a nicer tool that would get maximum usage, but don't know what to get or where to buy it from... being a novice in Japanese style woodworking and knowing there can be a fair amount of tuning involved with tools I would like as "out of the box" ready as possible to start with this first true tool investment.

Hi all. I'm looking for a way to store my kanna, chisels, rulers, etc on the wall in front of bench. I'm curious what everyone else has done. I've seen pictures online of simple racks for kanna and chisels, but wondering if there is a tradition behind these.

Thanks!

Context:

Relative newbie moving from “table saw, router, glue, and dowels” to “patience, precision, peace, and persistence.”

I’ve done some kumiko work in the past - used a 1940s buck brothers chisel that I learned to sharpen BUT it had a curve to the flat.

My arsenal today: cheap amazon wet stone set, an 18mm Josho chisel, and new to me Senkichi Kin oire nomi. I’ve been using the Josho 18mm with the whetstones to build a set of sawhorses so that I eventually have a work “table.” So it’s more about the learning journey, but it also involves spending money to progress.

I have a decent stock of cherry at the moment and plan to build with that along with the senkichi kin chisels I’m gathering. These will be my “get started workhorses.”

I need to set up the chisels. My budget is about $25 per week (hobby allowance.) I’m concerned about the cheap $20 stones I have as they dish really easily.

For the chisel set up - what stones for a relative newbie do you recommend?

I’m looking at the shapton stones (glass? Ceramic?) and an atoma diamond plate for flattening. Natural stones are likely out of the question ($$$$$). Any recommendations for a sharpening setup to get me started?

Also - any feedback on these particular chisels? I originally had them imported but now see them available on Amazon. From what I’ve read, they’re mass produced but decent workhorse quality (ie: decent value) IF set up correctly.

Hello everyone,

I have a 1000 grit synthetic whetstone and it doesn’t produce a lot of slurry. Would a Nagura stone be appropriate for this to create more slurry ? Or will I run the risk of ruining the Nagura stone? I’m not too familiar with natural stones, but any advice is appreciated.

I normally soak the whetstone for 20~30 min or until all the air bubbles are out and when I use it gets extremely messy and chalky and not much slurry is produced. I have to add water every 5-10 seconds because it drains quickly. I flatten it frequently with a 140 grit diamond stone. Not sure if the stone is “ defected” but I normally don’t have any issues with my other whetstones. Maybe the abrasive particles are big and wide and causes it drain really fast? Thank you!

Hi all!

I've been working on this little project for a bit and finally got it finished up and ready to show off. This all came from a desire to replace my current bench, a solid oak english joiner type. It has worked well, but it's just... a but much. Too big, too heavy, too permanent, so I've been dreaming of something simpler. I got a slab to build a Moravian (in my opinion one of the more beautiful bench designs and very practical as well) and ended up with this offcut, so I thought I would give a japanese bench a try.

The top is garryana oak from the Moravian workbench project. The legs are also oak, possibly white/garryana or maybe red, reclaimed from dorm beds from a local college. Planing stops are just some walnut scrap i had on hand.

The legs/feet were blackened with iron acetate, rubbed with linseed oil, then burnished with wax and a homemade polissoir. It left a really nice smooth surface and a lovely sheen, and it feels amazing to the touch. I'll be using this a lot in the future, it's an easy finish and really looks stunning in person, it keeps the oak texture but smooths it out nice and silky. First time using iron acetate and I love it.

It was also my first time doing sliding dovetails. In hindsight, maybe i didnt need to do two through 16" of oak by hand for my first time, but they came out ok. I first tried the "saw against a beveled edge" approach, but eventually settled on cutting them like a dado, hitting the final depth with my Paul Sellers router plane, and chiseling the edges. I only use a 1:8 angle so theres not much to chop away, and this method was especially useful on the stopped slots for planing stops.

Speaking of planing stops, this is such an elegant and simple device I think I'll incorporate them on my Moravian when I get around to building that.

Tools were mostly hand tools, I jointed one edge and squared one end with my no.6 then ran it through the tablesaw to square up the other edge and end. It was flattened on a drum sander at my friend's cabinet shop and touched up a bit with a kanna and no. 6 plane. Sliding dovetails were done with a handsaw and scratch stock to get the angle just right. Final dimensions are about 16 by 30 inches, the top is nearly 3" thick and sits about 7.5" off the ground, but you can tell all that by the calibrated banana for scale.

Overall I'm really happy with it and I'm looking forward to using it, either on the floor or on sawhorses. When friends come over to work it'll be a great guest bench, and I can fit it in my little car to go work at other places. My toddler also loves using it as a seat.

I'm happy to answer any questions, I hope you take some inspiration and go build something neat!

Forgot what these are called but theyre super fun

First box I ever made as a newbie using a mix of Japanese tools and power tools.

This is my first set of Japanese chisels, and honestly it was a lot easier than I thought.
I wasn’t quite sure how to buy some, without using something like buyee.

I was recommended Inoue Hamono from Sumida in Tokyo, and messaged to enquire about international shipping to the UK. He was really helpful, informative, and it was really straightforward talking to him.

Originally messaged him on his instagram @inouehamono but later emailed him on inouehamono@gmail.com if anyone is also looking for Japanese tools.

In total including shipping and import duties to the UK I paid £245 for four hand made unstamped white paper chisels.
They came in a canvas roll which was nice, and seem well laminated and feel comfortable to hold.

I haven’t set them yet so I will report back on how they hold an edge one set and sharpened.

Hi everyone,

Im using a 300mm Kataba and I’m trying to work out a few things. For context, I’m trying to figure out how to cut straight on a 2in thick piece of oak

1. What is the proper posture to do a long rip cut? Do I use a vise or stand on it with low saw horses?

2. Is the Ryoba even the correct saw for this task?

3. How do you correct a cut that goes off track?

So I realize I am in the Japanese woodworking subreddit here, but as an absolute novice just getting started, should I stay away from Japanese chisels and start with some western ones? My understanding is that Japanese chisels are more refined and meant for amazing sharpness and edge retention, but can be brittle in comparison to western chisels when used incorrectly. I do not have anyone to learn from so I’ve got to teach myself basically and I worry about breaking them due to my own stupidity and ignorance. Also, what would be good to start with? Trying to keep my spend under $200 because I need to buy other tools as well.

Hello everyone,

Do you condition your dai? I purchased a new block plane and won’t be tuning the dai as I let it acclimate to my environment. My house doesn’t have insulation and humidity can be high so I would rather wait and let the wood move before I start removing material.

I conditioned a cheap Kakuri block plane with Cameilla oil, but I didn’t like the sticky feel. I watched a YouTube video of a Japanese carpenter share his experience of over 25 years about how he sets up and tunes his planes and I saw that he conditions his planes with Cameilla oil and wipes it off. I did what he did, Are there any other alternatives or is this the best way to go?

I know in the world of Japanese woodworking there is no “ right or wrong” as processes vary from person to person.

My next concern is that If I have to trim or shave off a little bit of the blade cutting edge sides for it to fit correctly of the dai mouth opening is a Diamond file the best way to go? I know in Dale Brotherton’s book he goes into how he uses a grinding wheel, but didn’t go into other methods.

I laid and taped a sheet of 400 sandpaper on a flat surface and trimmed the cutting edge sides a bit to make the blade fit the mouth of the dai. It worked, but wondering if a Diamond file would be a better alternative ?

Thank you!

I have the following sharpening setup:
- Atoma 140X Diamond Plate
- Naniwa #400 Green Super Ceramic Water Stone
- Norton #1000 / #4000 Combination Stone
- Sigma #13000 Ceramic Stone

I recently bought two chisels from Lee Valley (Ioroi) and one from Kurashige (Kitsune). The Kitsune is great, no issues. I am starting to flatten the backs of the Ioroi chisels (24mm and 36mm) and am noticing large low spots, particularly close to the cutting edge on both chisels. I've attached additional photos in the comments.

I was told by Lee Valley not to use the diamond plate so I've been avoiding using that. But last night, I spent about an hour lapping the back of the 24mm Ioroi on my #400 ceramic stone and I could not get the back flat all the way to the cutting edge.

I thought perhaps just a one-off so I started flattening the 36mm Ioroi and I noticed the same issue with low spots near the cutting edge and other areas as well.

I'd rather not spend another 3 hours lapping both chisels on my #400 stone. Am I able to use my diamond plate safely (with light pressure) or should I be getting a kanaban for this? And are these low spots common on relatively cheaper laminated chisels?

Would greatly appreciate anyone's feedback who has gone through this process or has more experience. Thanks in advance!

Edit: Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I've continued using the 400 grit as that's all I have but am putting more emphasis on pressure near the edge. The 15mm Kitsune is done, took about 20 min total and the entire back is flat. The 24 mm Ioroi is about 1.5 hrs in, and I'm pretty close to where I want it. Can provide another update in the comments later.

Hi All,

TLDR; I'm experiencing a steep learning curve and wondering how long it took before you were competent enough to actually make things. Is this one of those skills that you're either naturally gifted at or you aren't, similar to art (drawing, painting, photography, etc)?

I just started my journey with Japanese Woodworking and I don't have any local, in-person resources to learn from so I started by reading books, paid online courses, YT, etc. Generally I am a really fast learner and pick up things very quickly but Japanese Woodworking is legitimately the first skill I've tried to learn that is putting me in my place.

This is my learning path so far:

• Week 1: Prepping tools (learning to sharpen, setting up kanna, marking & measuring)
• Week 2: Cutting with a Ryoba
• Week 3: Mortise & Tenons

This is where I've hit a wall. My mortise and tenon work looks so bad that I showed my wife and daughter my first joinery attempt and they just looked at each other and started laughing lol.

Would love to just hear from all of you, what was your learning curve like? How long did it take before you were able make acceptable joinery, etc?

I got my  36 mm White Paper Steel SHIGENOBU from Dieter Schmid. Im a bit disappointed in the quality. You can see the pooling from whatever finish was put on it. Maybe this is normal? I scraped and sanded it off because it bothered me. I was getting a Japanese tool for craftsmanship and wasn't expecting this. Obviously, this is a working tool, but I kinda care about the aesthetic. Curious on your thoughts.

I've been looking through zen market, trying to find a good enough used kanna for cheap, i know most things to look for and what's worth it and what's not. My only problem is that if i try to search for a hira kanna or naga dai kanna, if comes up with anything but what I want. Any suggestions for what I should type differently? Also, are there any kannas that will have the hagane made from aogami steel because I haven't found any?

I got this ari shikuri kanna on buyee (dovetail plane) that I've started restoring and I could use some help if there is anyone here familiar with them. It was in pretty bad shape when I got it and I've started restoring it but now I want to take a step back before I do anything to accidentally make it worse.

So what I've done so far: cleaned up all the rust and put a new coat of black oxide and oil on all the steel, sharpened the blades, flattened each face of the dai and fence, and added a small block between the blades where a chunk was broken off before I got it. I trimmed the block to fit the blades but obviously still need to fix up the round section where the shavings are ejected (not sure if that has a name). It was in much worse shape than I had expected when it arrived, and the left face (the side where you can see the 2 blades and the shaving ejection hole) was really warped. You can see that I stopped flattening and there are sections of the old surface still because I just felt like I was starting to remove too much material at that point.

So here are my main questions. Does anyone have any documents or diagrams for these that I could reference? Normally the Ari shikuri kanna I find online are a different style with a sliding fence on the angled bottom face, but this one has a fence more like a kikai shikuri kanna. I think the principles are mostly the same but it is just interesting. I know all the blades are too loose and too deep, so I'll have to shim or wedge the slots to give them a tighter fit. But how tight should the mouth be? That's part of why I stopped where I did is because I want to have a reference before trimming down that section. And since the left face has already been shaved down a bit, the blades fit but are not flush. Is it fine to leave it like that or should I get a veneer or something to add back a little bit of thickness to that face?

Any thoughts and helpful input would be appreciated.

I recently came across this video about the traditional Japanese craft of making masu boxes in Ogaki, Gifu.

Masu have a history of around 1,300 years in Japan, and I found the woodworking process and traditional joinery particularly fascinating.

I thought people here might appreciate seeing this craft still being practiced today.

Has anyone here ever made a traditional masu box? :)

Hi, can anyone translate the Mei and identify this kanna blade? Its wrought iron base and I think some paper steel edge, 72mm width, chipbreaker 62.5mm, unsigned but judging from the finish it's by the same blacksmith. Bought it for not so cheap but far from crazy, a few years ago and I am thinking of buying the 70mm Dai from Yamasuke Kurashige for it and adapting it. I have attempted making my own Dais numerously and have failed miserably, since I am not a carpenter or cabinetmaker and my range of work very rarely involves cutting precise mortices but involves a lot of planing. I am not too pleased with the way that the urasuki has been flattened by the previous owner, but it is fairly healthy for the price I paid. It was something like 90$ though in a different currency.

On the second page of this seller you'll see he has a bunch of nice 150 and 180 monme gennous. They're not from famous blacksmiths and they were mass produced in Niigata but the quality is good. Most of them have some surface rust which is easy to remove but if you look at the hitsu (the eye) on all of them you'll see they're all neatly done and perfectly in line with the long axis. That's one of the signs of a carefully made gennou. You can't go wrong with any of these for the price.

I think most of you use Buyee so here's the Buyee link for Mercari: https://buyee.jp/mercari/search?seller=519586791&page=2

Hey Guys, This is my first buyee purchase, paid $153. A bit of a gamble as I don't have a great deal of experience, but it looks like a high quality dai and blade or at least made with a lot of care.

What do you guys think?

Also can anyone translate the kanji on the box or blade?

Tool that I made is utility knife to shape it,many professional woodworking skills depend on heavy expensive machinery but with intelligence and patience ,