The next JTSG

Here is a very quick saw box I made for my noko's. if you would like to make a Japanese tool box , come along on the 16th of March and bring some tools for a fun day.
Hope everyone is well and don't worry the weather can only get better.
Andy

Name stamps

It's a bit late ,but last year I had a new name stamp made at http://www.spanglefish.com/metalstamps/index.asp?pageid=327246 and just thought I would share it with the Japanese group.
I love the way the Japanese craftsmen stamp their work and tools. It does seem to be a world wide thing and makes you tools recognisable to you and in the future other people. There are many very nice stamps out there. Would people like to share their name stamps with a small post.
I find the branding of Japanese dai very interesting.
Having my stamp made for my Japanese tools just seemed like the right thing to do ,rather than using a more western approach. So I now have two stamps.
The Japanese style has an A and R in it and is a close resemblance to the craftsmen symbol.
Thanks for looking
Andy Ryalls

This is a good little read folks leading into the meeting on 10th of Feb

http://giantcypress.net/tagged/Japanese_saw_sharpening/chrono

Tsunesaburo factory news

Hi everyone
This weekend the  catalogue from the Kanna making factory Tsunesaburo    http://www.tsune36.co.jp/top.shtml arrived. Its ok to look at things on the internet or even PDF documents but to have a catalogue ,well for me it makes it real to see it in print. I like these planes very much here's mine below that I us every week. A big thank you to everyone at the Factory for making my woodworking such a pleasurable time. I must also thank Haruka Ohira ( どうもありがとうございました )                         for translating and making it possible to receive this catalogue. I will bring it along to the next meeting for people to see and talk about. 

Thanks for reading Andy Ryalls

Did the west pull planes or not c18 England

Andy

Watching a programme on BBC4 about Thomas Chippendale and this picture came up.............the joiner is pulling the plane! Although the shavings are coming out behind the blade.

The hand positions are quite precise, especially his left hand guiding the plane.

Cheers
Phil

Interesting Phil. The plane looks like it was meant to be pulled looking at the length of the in feed on the sole.

Sharpening Time

Over Christmas I had time to do a little sharpening, well I call it practice sharpening, because until Master Masakazu my good friend in Japan sent over some natural waterstones I did not know the true meaning of sharpening and its skill.

Up to now I have been sharpening using the Japanese man made Shapton waterstones. This is a 1500 grit stone with a 50mm blade it works for 70mm too.

For this amusing photo to happen your stone and blade need to be 100% flat oh and a little practice. The things that you need to remember when sharpening are:

Feel,touch,sound,sight and smell.

These gifts are the roads to your inner spirit ,thats why sharpening is a pleasure for me not a chore and the rewards of using a razor sharp blade is so emotional. It is your mind you are honing not just your blade.

There is something special about the earths natural materials and one of these materials are waterstones ( Toishi ).

Master Masakazu , Toru-san and Ohire Kogei have helped me by selecting these natural Koppa Toishi. I am very grateful to them.

They are finishing stones that create a lovely  looking hazy finish to the cutting edge.

The outer two I have just made bases for, I copied the middle one that Masakazu had made.

The stone is set in about 6mm to give max usable stone life. take your time and follow the shape of the stone base. It looks like they are set in a resin.

Heres the base profile. The timber is mahogany ( lian )

I will let you know how I get on with these treasures in the New year.

Happy New Year to you all and thanks for watching.

Andy Ryalls

Small Elm Table

Hi everyone

Just thought I would share this with you as it has a little Japanese feel to it.

My wife Sandra had been asking me to make a small low coffee / tea table for our lounge.

With Christmas approaching I thought it would be the perfect gift.

I had a look in my old stock of timber and found a small amount of Elm. Hard to work , but such a great looking Timber.

With no plans or drawings just a pile of wood I came up with this. J

This is the underside. Elm moves for a past time ,so needed to make sure the top could move freely.

I dovetailed the corner frame, chamfered the legs to meet on the corner. An end cleat on the end of the top boards is a good idea for Elm too.

A quick coat of the Queens favorite oil and the jobs a gooden.

 smells good too.

                             

And before you know it 10hrs later boom there it is, a kind of English Japanese looking table !

This year im going to try and cut more Japanese joints ,maybe at our meeting group days.

Andy Ryalls