Hello and welcome to my blog! In this post I will detail the process of making a Japanese plane body, known as a dai, to compete in the annual NYC Kez, hosted by Mokuchi in Brooklyn, NY. Kez is short for Kezurou-Kai, which translates to ‘Let’s plane’, a competition …
Hello and welcome to my blog! In this post I will detail the process of restoring a single iron small kanna referred to as a ‘ko-ganna’. This plane is a vintage market find that had been used very little or not at all. Unfortunately some modifications and mishandling happened along the …
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, today’s post is a recap of Kezurou-Kai Mini 2016, hosted by Mokuchi in Brooklyn, NY. This year’s 3rd annual NYC KEZ was on Saturday Aug 27th. Kezurou-kai Mini, or NYC KEZ for short, is a gathering in which craftsmen and enthusiasts come together to celebrate …
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. I have not previously attended so I’m very excited to be a part of the action this year. 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 I’m building a butler’s desk of American black walnut. In the previous post interior sliding doors, known as hikido, were created and installed. With much of the interior work now complete I can seal up the case. I’ve set aside a panel in …
Hello and welcome again to my blog. In this post I am in the beginning stages of building a door which will enclose my medicine cabinet. I’ve chosen white cypress for this cabinet and have continued along with white cypress for the door as well. This door may like quite …