Hello and welcome to my blog! Â About a year or so ago I was contacted by an old friend Tommy Bartlett. Â Tommy developed a passion for videography in college and is now a very talented and accomplished videographer and filmmaker, working freelance under his own company; T Productions LLC. …
Hello and welcome to my blog!   The process of tapping out, known as ura-dashi, is unique to Japanese tools and most commonly used on plane irons.  This post will focus on the efforts I’ve made to chase after an effect of careful ura-dashi maintenance known as Ito-ura or thread edge. Japanese …
Hello and welcome to my blog, this post continues a series in which I’m making a plane for kumiko work called the Hikouki kanna. Â Now that Kezurou-kai is finished (I should have a post on that soon) I have continued converting a Takeo Nakano kanna into a Hikouki Kanna. Â I …
Hello and welcome to my blog, in today’s post I will discuss the preparations I have been making to compete in Mokuchi’s 3rd annual Kez. Â I have not previously attended so I’m very excited to be a part of the action this year. Â Kezurou-kai, a Japanese planing competition, is mostly …
Thank you for visiting my blog.  In this series I am preparing the kanna dai, or wooden body of a Japanese hand plane.  The parts of a new plane are each individually made by craftsmen who specialize in a portion of the total process.  The blacksmith’s task is to forge the …
Hello and welcome back to my blog. In this series I will be preparing a Kanna (Japanese hand plane) for upcoming work. The kanna, by Nakano with a dai cut by Inomoto-san is newly made but not quite ready for use. High quality preparation of this blade, made of Hitachi …
This post continues a series in which Iâm building a butlerâs desk of American black walnut. Where we left off three drawers had been completed for the case. Â This post will focus on the process of building the desk drawer. Â The desk drawer is a drawer that runs the width …
This post continues a series in which Iâm building a butlerâs desk of American black walnut. Where we left off the case back had just been installed, completing the casework. Â With the case complete I can now begin building the components which will install into the case, starting with one …
Hello and welcome to my blog!  In this article I will discuss my use of Japanese natural sharpening stones, known as tennen toishi, and how they fit into my workshop. The traditional use of Japanese natural sharpening stones begins with sword polishing, dating back as far or possibly further than the Kamakura …
This post continues a series in which I’m building a butler’s desk of American black walnut. Â In the previous post interior sliding doors, known as hikido, were created and installed. Â With much of the interior work now complete I can seal up the case. Â I’ve set aside a panel in …