Secondhand tools on eBay

[NeilS]

There are some secondhand (older) Japanese woodworking tools currently selling on eBay. Such tools are a cheap way of getting into Japanese woodworking tools or to try a tool type before you buy an expensive replacement. Also a cheap way to practice your sharpening.

Only downside is that such tools are quite variable in quality, from very ordinary to the very best. I've ended up with both buying old tools in this way. There is no way of knowing until you have bought and used it.

I have bought from this seller in the past and he is honest and pleasant to deal with but not an expert in these tools (IMHO) even though he sells quite a few of them. Other than that, I have no conection with the seller.

The current listing is here (http://shop.ebay.com.au/yoyo1321/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25).

[yojimbo]

Have purchased from him, also. Not bad stuff, most of the time. Fully agree with your assessment that he's not well-versed in the nature of Japanese tools, but he is certainly honest. Would recommend him without hesitation.

[Sheets]

What would we do without Ebay? Fortunately, tool performance remains primarily in the hands of the user and independent of quality - so reasonable prices almost always equate to a good buy IMO.

[yojimbo]

Nicely said, Steve. :-)

[Sheets]

Thanks. Speaking of good buys, have you checked out:
Tools from Japan, Japanese woodworking tools direct from Japan. (http://toolsfromjapan.com/store/) ?

BTW, what's up these days?

[yojimbo]

Nice site, Steve -- thanks!

Working a lot, several projects going at once... no money coming in 'til they're done. Which is a bummer. But theyr'e getting closer to finished. The queue is slow, for the first time. Had two potential clients delay their jobs because of financial woes. Never been without stuff waiting to come in. But I think I've got enough to keep me going for a while, so I'll just assume things are going well. :-)

Workshop is up and running and every bit as wonderful as I hoped it would be. Actually, it's even better.

What's up with you?

[Sheets]

Not much. Since I don't do any woodworking for a living, I don't have to worry about such things (I'm happy to hear you are surviving, if not prospering. Hopefully things will improve soon. And I would like it if I could translate my efforts into paying customers, but I'm really not that reliable so I envy you who can manage it). So I have no complaints. Just puttering and dealing with the usual ups and downs (kids, bills, etc.). Always looking for tools at a bargain (added Neil's ebayer to my list of favourites).

Here's one of my recent completions (also posted this in the box making section):
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii152/Sheets_album/PICT1494.jpg?t=1255459387

Steve

[yojimbo]

Dude! It's gorgeous!

See, I could never make anything like that. I'm just making stuff someone made a hundred years ago (or really badly) look up to snuff.

That's a beautiful box. What woods are they? And am I correct in thinking there's no finish on it? Do you plan one?

Damn, Steve. I'm in love with it! :D

[Sheets]

Gosh, darn:B Thank you.

Its elm and walnut with tung oil for the finish (I've since also waxed it, but you can't see much difference from the way it is in the picture. I made it for my wife for her birthday in July.

Its pretty basic woodworking, so not anything one would have trouble making. It started out as an armoire but I kept cutting one leg too short and had to scale everything down...:roll:

Repairing, refinishing and replacing as you do certainly requires some serious head scratching and takes a lot of skill to make everything go back together and look nice to boot.

[yojimbo]

It's not just the skill, Steve -- it's that incredibly elegant design.

It's the finishing I find the most satisfying. Making something look like it ought to. No (blecch!) polyurethane shiny yuckiness. Just nice finishes that bring out the wood (or enhance an otherwise dull wood). The repair work is kind of hit-and-miss in terms of what comes into the shop. But the finishing... man, that's satisfying. That and sometimes having clients throw their arms around me when they see their pieces. Beats the 35 years I spent as a professional writer, where the best you could generally hope for was a not too brutal edit. ;-)

[NeilS]

Thanks Steve for the link to Tools From Japan store. I've bookmarked it.

Also, nice writing bureau there. I can imagine some nice dovetails tucked away inside.

.....

[Sheets]

Thanks Neil,

There are no dovetails (main reason is because I suck at making them:(), but also because, in this case, the way the four corners are thicker than the sides/back/front inside as well as outside so I just used my favourite 'ol standby M & T and glue.
Here's a pic of the inside:
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii152/Sheets_album/PICT1492.jpg?t=1255459430

The bottom is cheap 1/4" plywood but I fiddled with the colour by darkening with potassium permanganate (an old recipe I found but not recommended due to toxicity issues) and then scorching with a propane torch (which I did before assembly:oo:) and (fortunately) covering with black felt so can't be seen anyway.
If you notice the hinges (small walnut shims required) - that's another oops correction.
I also need to add a chain or leather strap as a stay to keep the lid from going too far back and putting strain on the hinges which are not the beefiest (or rather the teeny little screws that hold them).

I'm with you on the finishing Becky - I love to "see" the wood so only ever use stuff that doesn't alter the colour or mask the grain too much. I like tung oil (when its appropriate for the wood) because it is non-toxic and super simple to apply (just rub it on with your hands). Wax, if added for more protection is just as simple and doesn't cover anything up. Obviously, you need more choices than those in your line of work, but value (as do your customers) the importance of highlighting the natural beauty of the wood.

If only we oldies could be spruced up as easily. I think I'd look good in polyurethane (semi-gloss only tho...). On second thought, just turn down the lights (or off altogether).

Steve

[yojimbo]

Have you ever read George Frank's "Adventures in Wood Finishing"? Amazon.com: Adventures in Wood Finishing: 88 Rue de Charonne (A Fine woodworking book) (9780918804068): George Frank: Books

Great book with terrific finishes and fixes in it.

Yep. Could use a bit of sprucing up myself. ;-)

[Sheets]

I've not read that book, but I'll keep an eye out for it - sounds pretty good.

Also, I've done business with Tools from Japan and can highly recommend him (Stu Tierney). He has a blog (also linked from the store website):
Tools from Japan blog. (http://toolsfromjapan.com/wordpress/)
although has been pretty quiet lately, but posts lots of good gen.

[NeilS]

Thanks Neil,

There are no dovetails (main reason is because I suck at making them:(), but also because, in this case, the way the four corners are thicker than the sides/back/front inside as well as outside so I just used my favourite 'ol standby M & T and glue.
Here's a pic of the inside:
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii152/Sheets_album/PICT1492.jpg?t=1255459430




Steve, now that I can see the inside construction, I agree that M&T was more appropriate.

Fitting hardware is always a pain. If only we could make our own!

Your wife must be very happy with her birthday gift.

.....

[Sheets]

Quote:

"Fitting hardware is always a pain. If only we could make our own!"

Fitting it, made or not, is a pain when you don't measure right!:(:doh:

Happily, it turned out ok (this time at least).

[yojimbo]

Nice -- thanks for linking me there. I'd just blown past it when I went to his site.

The Frank book is fascinating -- and (though I've now revealed it here) my secret weapon. There's generally an answer to a problem I'm having hidden somewhere in Frank's arcane techniques. He worked in the days long before pre-mixed stains and finishes, and he's done all the chemistry research for us. Some of his materials aren't so easy to obtain, and many would probably be ruled out now for being toxic. But there's plenty there to play around with. Which I plan to do... as soon as I have some... time? What's that? ;-)

[Sheets]

I think a lot of the old finish recipes work just fine (maybe better), but came to be long before the days of MSDS, so today its hard for someone to recommend unflinchingly if they contain anything even slightly toxic (a question of liability). Its not that modern finishes aren't without their hazards, but generally they have been plumbed to some standard wrt safety.
With a little common sense (:?), I think that most of the old concoctions can be used safely enough (after all, if everyone quickly keeled over or suffered some sort of serious medical condition, which could be definitely be attributed to the use of said concoction and not to something else like drinking to excess:p, those types of recipes wouldn't have survived long in use or in literature).

There are some of us who detest having to buy something that can be gotten free or DIY. Finishes can be one of those things. I find it fun and interesting (but also time consuming and more often frustrating) playing around with old or alternate methods of colouring wood vice just buying something in a can at the hardware store. I don't do it that often as I just put on oil and wax usually, but sometimes something different is warranted.

[rsser]

Back to the chisels. They seem pretty cheap.

I've read that when you have worn them to the hollow section they have to be hammered to fill it. Sounds a bit gruesome. Anyone done it?

[NeilS]

Back to the chisels. They seem pretty cheap.

I've read that when you have worn them to the hollow section they have to be hammered to fill it. Sounds a bit gruesome. Anyone done it?

Ern, others will have more to say on this. My take is that the real challenge is to stop the hollow retreating from the cutting edge too far (ideally kept within a few mil) from successive back polishings which gradually shrinks the diameter of the hollow (ura). Haven't had a bevel meet a hollow, well not yet.

The only type of blades I hammer are kanna blades to flatten them before grinding the ura for the first time. They warp while cooling after the forging process due to the difference in the two metals. As the cupping is usually towards the ura I only have to hammer on the soft iron side, which is fortunate as the metal on the high carbon side of the blade is quite brittle. Always amazes me that the hard steel will bend a bit without breaking, due to the lamination with the soft iron.

Haven't had to hammer any chisels. They are not so wide and any warp can be more readily ground out. There is also a higher risk with chisels as the high carbon steel wraps around the sides and one misdirected blow could shatter it.

.....

[yojimbo]

Have done uradashi only on very wide chisels -- so more like a plane blade, in scale. But it does work nicely to keep the ura intact. Especially if, as Neil says, you've avoided flattening the ura with over polishing. I only run the very edge of the back of the blade over the stone when I'm sharpening -- just enough to remove the bur... and only maybe 1/4" of it.

Someone, maybe Nakaoka-san, has a video out there giving instructions on uradashi. Or... maybe I dreamed that part. ;-)