Joints - The Hidden Wisdom of Japanese Architecture - 継手・仕口―日本建築の隠された知恵

継手・仕口―日本建築の隠された知恵
Joints (wooden) - The Hidden Wisdom of Japanese Architecture

This is one of the books that pop up on ebay occasionally from sellers in Japan. I was assuming this would be a quality book, instead of a mere booklet. As was expected the book is entirely in Japanese, and is printed in reverse order (front is the back). Entire booklet is 60 pages if you count the covers. I have seen this 1000 Yen booklet listed anywhere from $30-50, and I bought it in an auction listing for $22. Amazon.co.jp offers the book new and used for cover price or less, but shipping to the US starts at 3000 yen (over $30 US Dollars). The ISBN is 978-4-87275-511-4 . From what I can figure the first half of the book is describing temple architecture, and the second half is mostly text dealing with joinery. There is a middle part of 12 pages (6 pages with front and back) that shows a build up (pictures and line drawings) of model that uses a variety of joints. It might very well be a great book if you can read the text (I can't :P), but for outsiders, it is simply overpriced. For the same money, there are several books in English that cover more joints, and offer more total content. I will cover some of those books in future posts.

Japanese Timber Chisels (tataki nomi)

Japanese Timber Chisels (tataki nomi). New Old Stock chisels, with factory edge.

Twin Mortise Chisel (nihon mukomachi nomi)

Twin Mortise Chisel (nihon mukomachi nomi). Both common sizes represented here. These are tools in building shoji. Cuts a double mortise in place of 1 larger mortise. I haven't ever sharpened these, so excuse the rough edges. The third one pictured is showing a lifetime of work by the previous owner. Notice the ferrule is long gone, and it has been replaced by a hand hammered hoop on the handmade handle. I have never seen these offered for sale new on the internet (other than old stock) on either Japan or US websites. I believe these may no longer be in current production. I am sure they can be custom made to order at a price. The double mortise prevents twist in the shoji frames and was/is only found in higher grades of work (double mortise requires a double tenon to match).

Japanese Spokeshave (Nankin Kanna) 南京鉋

Japanese Spokeshave (nankin kanna or 南京鉋). Not fully sharpened yet, still working out previous owners electric grinder work.

Maebiki Oga From Rust to Finish

One of three large rips saws I have owned. I still have the other two I bought with this one. These are one man saws, comparable to a pit-saw. The angled toe is to allow to saws to cross paths in the same kerf. This would take a very well trained pair of sawyers working on opposite sides of a log. These are used either under a braced log, on top of a braced log, or sideways working down a log. Unlike other Japanese saws, the blades on these are usually maintained by the sawyer. Setting teeth and filing are done until the blade wears down far enough to need new teeth cut again. These saws are only edge tempered (due to size of saw), and would need to be retempered when new teeth were filed or punched. I don't leave my tools sitting outside, these rusty pictures were taken before the saws left Japan.

Sharp Skate 1 by HMS Enterprises

I have had this SharpSkate for a little over 2 years. It is the first revision of the Sharp Skate 1 Model. I have pushed this little fella quite a few miles. I have worn out a White Shapton 120 (not a stone I would recommend) and over half a dozen cheap coarse combination stones. It is great for establishing bevels, and is easy to work completely through all stones. I will try to get a video of it sometime in the future. The only downside I see is the way the wheels gouge tracks into course grinding stones. It would work better on course diamond stones. It is really nice for folks with arthritic hands like myself. I set it up using a referenced granite stone. It is pretty much designed to fit and work on Shapton stones. I have had no problem with my higher grit Professionals (1500, 5000, 8000) or the only Shapton Glass Stone I have a 600 grit. It does fairly well on Professional 120 grit, but it will cause the stone to wear very, very quick. The newer Sharp Skate 2 has a bevel setting gauge/guide. These guides really come to life when working on narrow chisels, and big paring slicks.

Spear Plane (Yariganna) by Fujihisa 富士久 - 槍鉋

Small Spear Plane or Yariganna (sometimes written Yarikanna, (槍鉋) made by a blacksmith who works under the trade name Fujihisa (富士久). One of a amount of tools I bought new. The blacksmith is a 2nd generation toolmaker, working under the same trade name his father established in 1959. The blacksmith works out of his hometown of Sanjo, Niigata, Japan. It is a nice small plane for what it is, this is more of the coopers version of the tool, although the maker offers a bigger size Yariganna. It came fully sharpened and without a handle. I have made a handle for it, but I haven't worked it down to a comfortable shape yet. I have pulled some curly spiral shavings with it already though. The blacksmith also makes small planes, violin planes, and carpenter knifes. He offers replacement dai stock for small planes on his website also. His website can be found here: Fujihisa Japan

Drawknife (Soto Sen)

One of the many tools I have bought in poor shape. Most tools like this drawknife (soto sen) still have a life of use left in them. This was reworked by hand, without resorting to a grinder. The guard is made out of cedar. The guard protects fingers as well as the blade. I have cut myself more working on and with this tool than any other tool I have. The first picture shows then sen shortly after I received it (It has been through electrolysis in this picture). It is laminated steel and iron like most other Japanese tools. The makers mark is on the Ura (back) side near the handle, and is a common stamping to several of my other tools. The blade width is 225mm, and has softwood handles (possibly pine).

3rd Tonchinkan by Ishido '遁珍閑 ' - 石堂

Just picked up from the post office today. This is a used kanna, and the dai was trash, so I had the blades sent ahead by EMS. It has been sharpened at a skew, and looks to either have had bad uradashi (tapping out) or none at all when flattening the back. Either way, I'm happy to have it in my hands and with its siblings. This is my 3rd Tonchinkan blade, and 4th Ishido blade. It came with a chipbreaker, but unlike my newer ones, doesn't appear to made by Ishido. It is not uncommon for chipbreakers (tomo osae) to be outsourced. I read recently of one of Chiyozuru Sadahide's former apprentices making them as a profession. This blade has extra kanji over the Tokyo Plane Makers Association Mark, compared to the newer ones. The back is stamped the same as the other two Tonchinkan blades.

Mountain Blue Japanese Natural Wet Stone

Mountain Blue Natural Stone. I have two of these, one is not mounted in a base. Natural stones vary in sharpening and these stones can vary from 1500-4000 grit depending on the stone. They are usually marketed as being in the 2000-3000 grit range. This particular stone is around 3000 grit, I have never used the 2nd stone I have. I use this stone as a finish stone for bench chisels, and coarse work tools such as adzes, axes and drawknifes. It also serves as a stone to go between my Shapton Professional 1500 and 5000 man made stones.