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Steve,

I guess the reason why I go back and forth between tapping and quickly working the back is that the times I've cracked a blade it seemed to be after I got to the point that I thought, "I...

For me, figuring out how hard to tap the blade was the hardest part, and I cracked some blades before I got the hang of it. I made a quick video of how hard I tap the blade when tapping out....

Actually, I think that is exactly the point I'm making for the higher end tools:



It's at the low end that there seems to be a persistent price differential between white and blue steel tools:...

This is kind of self promoting, but was it this post on my blog?

One steel, Two steel, White steel, Blue steel | giant Cypress

Tools from Japan is what you want, I bet.

Yes, it can. I've gotten a 65mm plane blade into one without problems, and it looks like it can accommodate a 70mm blade as well. The one thing to keep in mind is that you can't rely on the...

Just to show what this plane coupled with a 6mm Japanese plow plane can do.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5gyb6XB661qb04as.jpg

I posted a video of the plane in action. It's a lot of fun to see the two sides of the plane ejecting spiral shavings simultaneously.

Thanks, Kari!

I put it to good use last night. It was a breeze to use it to make the tongues for four tongue and groove joints, and now I have a nice shelf sitting across the stretchers of my...

I have a few groove planes in different widths. The great thing about this plane is that I can adjust it to match any of my groove planes. :2tsup:

I don't usually post about new posts to my blog, but last night I did a write up of a Japanese plane I tuned up that works like an adjustable tongue plane. The reason I think that it's really cool...

Obviously, I'll have to try using the other side of my hammer. :wink:

However, I use a wooden mallet to tap the main blade of a plane and the dai to back out the blade, not a metal hammer. ...

I don't know how different this is from a western style hammer, but if you look at the head of a Japanese hammer closely, one side is flat and the other is very slightly convex. I use the convex...

I'll be interested in seeing if there is any significant pH change, but I'll be pretty surprised if there is. Acid is used to re-etch files and rasps, so it is clear that acid can help sharpen an...

There were two reasons for my thinking this as I was working this through. First, to my understanding, the particles in the man-made stones were ceramic, as opposed to the natural waterstones, which...

The particles would increase in number as they break down, of course. Again, what I was trying to illustrate was not the absolute number of particles, but how the particle sizes varied for each...

To my thinking, it's not the absolute number of particles that's important in this model/theory, but the relative distribution of the sizes. The main point I was trying to illustrate is that I think...

Oops - forgot to label the axes. :doh:

X axis = grit number. Y axis = number of particles of that size. Moving to the right on the X axis represents smaller particles.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I think I have a decent model/theory as to why natural and man-made waterstones behave the way they do.

This is what I've observed and what I know about...

I'm not sure that Tomonori-san's command of English is the greatest.

I asked him a question about how much softer one of his 4++ stones was compared to a 5+++ stone. This was his reply:


...

Well, here's the rundown of the natural Japanese waterstones I have:

From mifuqwai, on eBay:

Aoto stone: This is a medium stone, probably like a 3000 grit

Okudo Asagi finishing stone - this...

Thought I'd start a new thread for this. I've been giving natural waterstones a try for a little while now, and I'd like an elementary discussion as well. I figured it would be easier to start a...

When you check, see if they say what the carbon content of the steel is. The term "high carbon steel" seems to refer to any steel with a carbon content of 0.5% and up, but the carbon content of the...

For tapping out, I've used a ball peen hammer and the pointy end of a Japanese hammer, and did my tapping on the end grain of a piece of scrap white oak. I haven't found much difference between the...

If you are talking about the angle of the side wall relative to the back of the chisel, typically they are tipped in by a degree or two. This prevents binding if you are using the chisel to lever...

Also from a theoretical point of view, since I haven't tried carborundum either, from my experience with that diamond stone that started this discussion, it's not too hard to tell when your method of...

Very nice job, Stu! I've had good luck rehabbing old Japanese chisels, but haven't tried redoing a handle.

Hi Steve,

Now I remember you mentioning this on the other Japanese tools forum, but since it's down for now, and I couldn't remember what I had read, I thought I'd give here a try.

At least...

I've been working on a used kanna blade that I picked up on eBay, and am getting fed up with the DMT coarse diamond stone that I have been using for coarse grinding work. For non-Japanese tools it...

For those of us who don't live down under, do you have a picture?

Maybe some math can make this clearer, or maybe not. :wink:

A Japanese plane references off of the two touch points on the infeed side of the plane for the entire stroke, one at the front of the...

For my experience with ryobas so far I realized that I had to learn to match the size of the ryoba to the size of the cut that I want to make, so I'm assuming that a similar principle applies to...

In case the link in the post above doesn't work as expected, here is another that should work better.

CCB pm'ed me saying that he has had some problems with posting, and I offered to pass along...

I'm looking forward to anything you have. :2tsup: Even without translations, it's useful to watch the process.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say put up the videos first, and add translations later.

Series of videos? I only see one, although it was very interesting.

Hi Bob,

Do you worry about the tail vice going out of whack over time from the pressure being put on it by planing?

Hi Pam,

I remember seeing that photo in the past. I'm not sure how feasible putting a planing beam on the backside of the bench might be in my shop, since the shop is small enough that I think I...

I was wondering if anyone here felt the need or wished to make alterations to their workbench because of the way that Japanese planes work -- on the pull stroke, instead of the push stroke. Looking...

Here's some info on Kunikei, from So's website.

Thanks for the input, everyone! I'll be sure to take pictures as I build this thing, in case anyone wants to see how it turns out.

Hi Des,

I thought about mounting a shooting guide on the front of the benchtop, but since I'm right handed, shooting a board that way might be awkward. The best place on the front of the benchtop...

I'm about to build a real workbench. I was wondering how you all had your workbench laid out as far as plane stops and vices go.

My plan was to have a removable plane stop of some sort at the...

Hi Soatoz,

I was wondering: on your planing board, you have a gap between the two parts of the planing stop. Is there a reason for making the planing stop in two parts, instead of making one long...