In this series I go through some additional steps you may need to perform on a used Japanese plane in order to bring it to good working condition. This is a supplement to my kanna tuning videos.
I too am quite happy to see you back posting videos. I am looking forward to watching this three part series when I get home from work today. Thank you for your efforts.
Great series. How long did it take you to re-grind the angle using the 120 Shapton stone? I've got a few old chisels I need to repair (Western) and wondering whether to get that stone (+ maybe the 220 if needed before 1000?) or get a workbench grinder... I do already have the 1000 to 12000 Shaptons for normal sharpening/honing.
If a workbench grinder is an option, then that will definitely be much quicker than a whetstone. Grinding on a stone by hand is not really recommended unless you have a bunch of time or the tool is only slightly out. When grinding by hand I usually go for about 10 minutes with frequent flattening. If you are set on doing it by hand, then only grind as much as you need to get the edge in shape. There is no need to do the whole bevel. The bevel will eventually get ground down through normal use. If you have a set of expensive chisels, or you just take pride in your tools, then I think hand grinding is better for the aesthetics and the whole spirit of owning fine hand tools. If you do use a grinder, then take light passes and frequently cool the blade. Aim for a hollow grind and then touch up on a stone. It'll look ugly but it will be the quickest way to get things prepped. Also don't get too aggressive with a small radius grinding wheel or you will weaken the edge and risk it fracturing during heavier cuts in wood.
Hi, I haven't settled on a final recipe but I have found a blend of Japan Wax, Ibota and Perilla oil (all native ingredients) works well. You likely can't get those things but they can be substituted by Beeswax, Carnauba and Linseed oil respectively. The ratios between them really depend on the application but starting with a traditional recipe and tweaking for if you want a harder or softer wax is a good idea. I generally prefer a slightly softer mix on tools like chisels to give a bit more grip. You really don't want a slippery chisel handle.
Metallurg33 Thanks! Showing what I'm doing is important but more important is definitely teaching and explaining so that people can watch and learn for themselves. I'm glad some people get the concept :) The sharpening jig is a Grintec K2. Its a little pricey but there really aren't many good substitutes.
Very in depth, thank you! I have an old Welsh beech smoothing plane with a scroll wedge (a little unusual) and laminated iron and cap iron. I feel inspired to maybe restore it after watching this! The old British wooden planes were always pushed as opposed to pulled, I wonder why the difference?
Kevin Chamberlain Thanks! Definitely give the restoration a go. It sounds like a nice plane. I am not sure of the exact reason why Japanese planes are pulled vs pushed but one theory I have heard is that the Japanese were smaller built and pulling utilised larger muscle groups in the body so it was more efficient for them.
I don't think the pulling came about from philosophical ideas. All the hand tools that are currently in use today are the way they are pretty much 100% due to practical reasons. In all cases that I can think of right now, the tools are designed the way they are because of reasons like ease of use, durability, ease of maintenance, and performance etc. Planes actually were introduced into Japan a long time ago and were used on the push stroke. Somewhere along the line, the plane was developed into the modern day kanna and was used one the pull stroke. I am pretty sure is was due to practical reasons but I'd have to dig into some history books to be sure.
Martin Peek Hi, its treated harder so that it lasts longer. Its white steel so its nice to have a bit more durability but the flip side is that it is now more fragile. Using it in super hard woods and hitting hard knots will likely chip the edge if I'm not careful. Its also a little harder to sharpen but still easy.
John Chung Haha, thanks and sorry for the wait. I've tried using acid (phosphoric and vinegar) but I didn't really like how messy it was and the time needed vs the results. Its easy though. Sand blasting is way beyond my reach due to space and machinery requirements. Again, its messy but I think it would work great for the blades where patina is not a concern.
Sumokun Sand blasting can use the single-action fine bead blasting. Just use an airbrush compressor: www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9797__Single_action_Fine_bead_blasting_gun_.html
John Chung I knew those airbrush guns existed but I passed them off as they are expensive in Japan and the grit used will get everywhere in my apartment but looking at the Hobby King site, it seems bicarb of soda can be used too! That is great to know because I would be able to use it in my kitchen or bathroom. I've ordered RC stuff from HK before but I never knew they would have a sand blaster like that. I've got an airbrush set up too so I'm going to have to get one of those guns to try. Thanks for the link!
John Chung I definitely will do a little video showing it in action. Now I just have to find something else to buy from HK to bulk out the shipping haha
Is that a maebiki oga in the corner? Top of the cover looks like it’s not a wide one? I bought one from Japan two years ago and have found some great Japanese (no subtitles lol) footage of an old chap sharpening one. Also Gabe Dwiggins from granite mountain woodcraft (he’s on RU-vid using and tuning one) is epic. Hope to see you using yours! Great video thanks
Hi, thanks for watching. That is indeed a maebiki. I have several along with other large Japanese saws. They're pretty easy to sharpen vecause they are so big. The basic sharpening geometry is like a really aggressive rip saw. Tweaks can be made by cutting little notches to make a chipbreaker like step. I wanted a big saw to resaw lumber by hand but its really not very practical :p
Thought it was! I’ve read about the chon gake and watched this cool guy at work: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o171FnuSOyI.html For ripping green wood and slabs I think maebiki are the way but for resawing seasoned timber I don’t think anything will compete with a roubo frame saw : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NW4pyIclSE0.html! This is gabe using his tuned up maebiki in the states. We bought ours from the same guy in Japan: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XYzlwb0QsWk.html Looking forward to seeing your bench. Good luck with the new business and I’ll let you know how my high angle smoother gets along with a relived sole!
Sadly these days, oga of any type are not really used and they are treated more like forestry saws rather than fine woodworking tools. I've been wanting to make a frame saw for a while now. I've been constantly back and forth on building a band saw since I am more into getting work done than using hand tools. I don't have much room and that was the reason I was looking at frame saws and the like in the first place but with the difficulty of resawing hard woods (think hard maple slabs, ~12 inches wide and ebony/rosewood 4 inches wide) I am beginning to think I can sacrifice something else to make room for a band saw. Precision is also a huge thing for me because I want to make sure I can get as many slices as I can out of a plank as I can since the material is expensive. I'd love to hear about how you get along with your relieved sole idea! Keep in touch!
Definitely a learning curve with a frame saw too and a bigger kerf than a modern bandsaw for sure. I love the pace of sawing by hand myself and I’ve seen Shannon Rogers cut slices as thin as 1/16” thick walnut, sapele, hard maple and rosewood with one. Good luck wit the bandsaw though and given the space it makes sense. Also you need a very HEAVY bench for a frame saw! I’ve relieved the sole of my high angle smoother which has an African Blackwood sole, thus a lot of work to flatten compared to softer woods. It leaves an even finer finish as the mouth area is now 100% supported up to the cutting edge. Feels slicker too. I’ve only a 16000 (0.92 microns) shapton glass stone though and my stropping compound is 0.5 microns, so without a super super fine polishing stone and hinoki (not easy to come by here, or yellow cedar, but western red cedar I could try I guess) to test how fine a shaving I can make, it’s hard to compare yet! I’ll keep you posted. On a saw related note, I have a huge madanoko (longer than my maebiki) and a nakaya ‘ibarame’ both in fine working order plus a few hand forged ryoba but I saw this style of ryoba today (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eROfvd-Uqoo.html ) and it seems to cut very fast, with the yokobiki teeth looking very much like madanoko style teeth. I want one! I cannot find anything like this in the uk. Do you know of a source in Japan I could use?
wmcrash That's the problem I have with rust removal chemicals. I try to keep the blade in as close to original condition as possible when restoring and I find that the rust eraser thing gives the best control. The other things I like to use are soft steel or brass wheels in a dremel or for tough spots, these fiber type sanding drum things mounted in a dremel. Both remove rust but remove minimal patina. Of course some times you just need to stop worrying with patina and just get as much rust off as possible and in those cases, chemicals and stiffer wire brushes are great.
Hi Sumokun,Another great video, thanks! I've picked up some really useful info here.Just out of curiosity, the newer plane you're using to tune up the old one. Did you say it's made by Keizaburo? I'm wondering if you have any other recommendations on good modern day kanna makers (or chisels - I'm always looking for those too). I know a bit about some of the past makers, but most are very expensive and hard to find.Thanks again - keep posting!
Hi, well to be honest you should be fine with just about any of the modern plane makers. As long as you get a tool meant for professional work (i.e. no hardware store specials need apply), there aren't many that won't do a good job. What sets makers apart these days is more rarity/bragging rights over outright performance so you need to find a price point which will satisfy yourself in terms of bling vs cost. Also, you mention modern makers, but if you mean "young" then you have a *very* limited selection. Of the top of my head, I know of Keizaburo, the new heads of both Yamamoto and Ishido and an apprentice at Funahiro. Personally I take "modern" to mean "anyone that is still actively making tools" and by that definition, it still includes a lot of the old makers you are probably thinking of. With chisels, if you buy new and want a good quality one/set, you are in for a chunky investment since there are few options and all are expensive and most require a wait time. You can go for the more mass produced type and it will save you a little more money and time but if you can, I would hold out for a nice set as that few thousand yen extra you spend will greatly increase your enjoyment of using the tool over a span of several years. As with plane makers, there are almost no newcomers so the modern makers today are the same as they were like 20 years ago. However prices have crept up steadily since back then and unfortunately I don't think I can call them good value for money when bought new, not that there is much choice. With planes, you can get really nice ones second hand, but with chisels, it is very hard to find a good selection, even in Japan. All my nice chisels were bought new, thankfully before the price increases really started kicking in. My recommendation is to look for a plane that is used and for chisels, pick a maker and only buy the sizes you need, if money is a concern. Hope that helped!
Good stuff, thanks! I guess I'm trying to cheat a bit and find good makers whose work is readily available for reasonable prices... along with everyone else. With chisels I'm thinking of something like Ouchi or Fujihiro. I do have a bunch of chisels from Funahiro and Kiyohisa but most were acquired in a long and financially painful process. Anyway... I did manage to find and win a plane by Yamaguchi on an auction site. It's called "Amano Hitotsu Me". I don't know much about the maker or the model of the plane but what I've been able to find seems pretty positive. Thanks again for sharing lots of great knowledge. Patrick
Haha, I want to cheat too ;) The problem is if you are looking at new chisels (which is the only reliable choice if you want top quality imho), then you really have no choice but to pay the premium. Ouchi are in a different league compared to Fujihiro. I would be happy with a modern 4th gen. Ouchi if it was in the Kanto style. Earlier Ouchis were a bit up and down in terms of quality from what I have seen. Some were really quite exquisite in their finish though. I wouldn't class an Ouchi as collectable in any way like a Funahiro or Kiyohisa but it will be a good, solid user with pedigree. Yamaguchi-san is a well known maker but I don't think he makes planes anymore. He was prolific in his output and produced decent products at good prices. The plane you won was iirc one of his lower-mid end models but that doesn't mean to say it is bad. It should do anything required of it if it is set up properly.
I have had the same experience with Ouchi. I had an older one that looked great but didn't hold up well at all. The one I have left is probably 3-4 years old and gets pretty hard use. It's not my top performer but it does hold up pretty well. I think the Yamaguchi plane will probably do well for me until I can decide which way to go next... As I mentioned, I'm leaning toward Keizaburo. Thanks again!
Keizaburo planes are my favourite but they are getting harder to find now and are quite pricey. Keizaburo planes are quite demanding of the owner's sharpening skill, more specifically maintenance of the back. The hollow is very shallow and sloppy technique will show up as a deformed back very quickly. As an example, my first Keizaburo started getting a bit deformed after about 10 strokes on a 1k stone. You should really make sure your sharpening technique is up to scratch before moving up to a Keizaburo in order to not destroy what I think is one of the trademark features of a Keizaburo.
Thanks for watching. It really depends on where in the world you live but the usual places outside of Japan are located in the US and Europe, with Japan Woodworker, Hida Tool, and Fine Tools to name a few. Also there are places like auctions you can look over. I also have a few for sale if you are interested.
