Japanese Saws

According to Jim Blauvelt and Harrelson Stanley, Japanese saws just make sense. Since they are used on the pull stroke, they tend to stay straight in the cut, as opposed to Western saws, which are used on the push stroke and can sometimes bind in the cut. Because of this, Western saw blades are thicker than Japanese blades in order to accomodate the resistance.

No vise is used when cutting with a Japanese saw. Huh?? What's a workbench without a vise? Less expensive, for one thing. Instead of employing a vise, you cut down toward the benchtop at a 60º angle. I was intrigued with the planing stop: a sliding dovetail (second to last photo).

Jim and Harrelson recommend using the most aggressive saw possible for a given task. Larger Japanese saws, typically used for carpentry, are as accurate as but cut faster than smaller ones, which are typically used for joinery.

There is huge variety in the quality of saws on the market, the best having been made within the last 10-15 years (I don't think they were including saws that were and are handmade by masters, but rather machine-manufactured saws in the 20th & 21st centuries). Saws in the $40-$50 range with disposable blades are a good choice.

Avoid impulse-hardened teeth, where only the surface of the teeth are hardened. These teeth appear bluish in color. Jim & Harrelson said "you can feel the steel stretching as you use [these saws]."

Here are other points (no pun intended. well, maybe):

1) Shorter teeth with steeper bevels work best for hardwood.

2) Ryoba (meaning "both") is a 2-sided saw. One side is crosscut and the other is rip.

3) Keep your saw oiled every day.

4) Dozuki is a backsaw and is available in both rip and crosscut.

5) Azehiki (5th photo) is a short- bladed saw used for starting a cut in the middle of a board and for sawing the sides of a groove.

The last photo is Jim's marking gauge. I couldn't resist.

I bought a dozuki about 14 years ago and loved it until I put a kink in the blade (about 2 months after I bought it). It worked very well, but you have to be gentle and sensitive with Japanese saws. Maybe play a Barry Manilow album while you're using them.

New Tools: Gadgets or Godsends?

The marketplace at the WIA conference was bustling with would-be tool buyers looking for the latest offerings from manufacturers. Lie-Nielsen devoted a corner of its booth to its new line of innovations: saw jointing jig, chamfer plane, tongue & groove plane, inlay tools, corner chisels, small hammer, fishtail chisels, burnisher, and a tool that cuts shallow mortises, Quaker locks, and the like after you have assembled your workpiece.

I was especially interested in the saw jointing jig, which hinges open so you can slide a file in place. The wings of the jig fold over top your saw blade so that the file rests on top of the teeth. You slide the jig along the teeth, thereby jointing them to the same height.

In one of the conference seminars—Modern Tools: Tolerances & Myths—which was conducted in panel format with Robin Lee (RL), John Economaki (JE), Konrad Sauer (KS), and Thomas Lie-Nielsen (L-N), a lively discussion ensued after an audience member asked if new designs were merely gadgetry. "Do we really need all these tools?" he asked. He sited one product, the Jointmaker Pro, invented by John Economaki, and inferred that it might be unnecessary and overpriced.

Here are the responses from the panel:

KS—Experiments are important. Some are valid, some are not, but inspiration keeps the industry moving forward.

RL—If you enjoy it, buy it.

JE—One thing you might not know about the Jointmaker is how many people it has helped: schools for the blind, people who have never been able to saw a straight line, people with one arm, and people with Parkinson's disease. You can't put a price on that.

RL—We offer a right angle magnetic guide for people with hand tremors.

JE—You don't need a lot of tools. Buy something because it speeds up woodworking. Gadgets might help you if you have time constraints. Above all, learn to make meaningful projects. Treat wood like it's $500 bf. That piece has to have a voice by itself when you're gone.

Another question from the audience: What are you going to change/what have you learned?

JE—We create new products based on my whims.

L-N—We're going to offer more instructional DVDs.

RL—We're slowly going to expand technologies with new lines of tools. We are just now offering our first handsaw. Many suppliers are disappearing. We have witnessed the closure of over 2,000 of our vendors/suppliers, which makes it difficult for us.

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Gadgets or godsends? You decide. But I'll leave you with this insight from Adam Cherubini: "We need to support the modern tool makers. You can't grow a movement with antique tools."

WIA Video

Here is a short 3.25 minute video with scenes from the WIA conference. Some of the interviews are hard to hear, but hey, it's my first video. Hope you like it!

In order of appearance:
Matt Vanderlist (press & show attendee)
Don Weber
Adam Cherubini
Mike Wenzloff (saw sharpening)
Jim Leamy (plane)
Phillip Edwards (plane)
John Economaki (jointmaster)
Adam Cherubini
Harrelson Stanley
Craig Stevens (press & show attendee)
Unknown (show attendee)
Blue Spruce (marking knives)
Don McConnell
Adam Cherubini (tool chest)
Jim Blauvelt & Harrelson Stanley
Adam Cheribini
Mark (I'm sorry, I didn't get your last name!) from Maryland (show attendee)
Michel Auriou (making a file)
Joe DesLauriers from North Carolina (show attendee)
Phillip Edwards
Don McConnell
Mike Siemsen from Minnesota (show attendee)
Adam Cherubini
Mike Hancock
Chris Schwarz
Frank Klausz
Adam Cherubini
Konrad Sauer
Roy Underhill
Frank Klausz, Roy Underhill, and Mike Dunbar

Still at the Starting Gate

While I'm still getting my photos, notes, and video together from the WIA conference, other bloggers are off and running with their footage. Be sure to check out what Matt Vanderlist, Mitch Roberson, Al Navas, Neil Lamens, Phillip Edwards, Craig Stevens, and of course, Chris Schwarz have to say about the event....and I promise to crack the whip before too long.

Greetings from Berea!

Day number one of the Woodworking in America conference has come to a close and it was filled with informative seminars, tools that would like to come home with me, and lots of wide-eyed woodworkers. 

One of the best parts for me was the opportunity to speak one-on-one with talented plane makers including 

Don McConnell, Larry Williams,  Phillip Edwards, 

and Jim Leamy.

I also ran into a few bloggers you may recognize: Matt Vanderlist, Mitch Roberson, and Al Navas.  

More to come! Right now, it's 8:00 and this woodworker is whupped and heading to bed....

Matthew Harding

Mark from Woodfired introduced me to the inspiring work of his friend, Matthew Harding, a highly regarded woodworker, sculptor, and carver from Australia.








While there are many talented individuals in the visual arts, Matthew is extraordinarily gifted in diversity, as expressed in his broad range of style.










He has command of various materials, including wood, bronze & steel, and stone; and a firm grasp on balance, composition, design, and originality.

Check out his website to see more of his artwork....and enjoy!

Woodworking in America

In just a few days, I'll be rubbing flannel-covered elbows with other handtool enthusiasts, bloggers, & podcasters; famous woodworkers; and handtool vendors at the Woodworking in America conference.

Here is a list of the classes I will attend and blog about in the coming weeks:
1) Japanese Saws in Western Work
2) Master the Spokeshave & Drawknife
3) Rehabbing Old Tools
4) Understanding Western Saws
5) Wooden Plane Technology
6) Setting Up A Handtool Shop
7) Mortise & Tenon—3 Solid Methods
8) Tools for Windsor Seats
9) Modern Tools—Tolerances & Myths
10) Eliminating Tear-Out When Planing

Whew! All that is packed into just 2.5 days. The folks at Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine have put together what will surely be an awesome event. Plans are in the works for another conference next year if you are not able to make it to this one.

While I'm at the conference, my partner will spend time reading, sleeping, watching movies, sleeping, working out in the hotel's gym, and sleeping. In other words, both of us will be enjoying our perfect vacations.

At left is a business card I designed and will take with me in case anyone asks about this blog (my partner's idea). I thought they might come in handy as shims, kindling, or disposal of gum.

Chip Carving

I took a chip carving class this weekend at Olde Mill Cabinet Shoppe with master carver, Wayne Barton, who studied all disciplines of carving in Switzerland, has won both national and international awards, is the author of two chip carving books, has appeared on both The American Woodshop and The Woodwright's Shop, and is a very entertaining and affable man.

Wayne not only taught us several techniques and patterns, he discussed wood choice, finishing, tools, sharpening, design considerations, and the characteristics that indicate a well executed chip carving.

Wood: Basswood, butternut and white pine.

Finishes: Spray-on, satin polyurethane for a natural finish, and General or Bartley gel stains for a darker finish.

Tools: Wayne developed carving knives that are made from high carbon steel, which hold an edge longer than knives made from high speed steel. They take longer to sharpen, but work much better. He sells his knives on his website.

Sharpening: Wayne recommends ceramic stones, available on his website. We used them in class and they are small enough to fit in your hand, easy to clean, and remain forever flat. Wayne's pearl of wisdom: "The world has been made with a sharp edge."

Design: Wayne is influenced by gothic architecture and European cathedrals. He designs his pieces with attention to visual rhythm, negative & positive movement, spacing, balance, contrast in size, variation in line, and focal points. Diagonal lines represent movement & energy. They are lines in transition, as opposed to horizontal and vertical lines, which are stagnant.

Good chip carving: Has single facets and sharp ridges, and does not have little remnants stuck in corners. It is clean and crisp.

We spent several hours sharpening our knives and working on techniques. Chip carving is more fun and relaxing than I had anticipated and the design possibilities are endless. According to Wayne, it's the oldest form of carving, and has found its way into all countries and cultures.

The last two photos are my practice boards along with the two knives we used in class. The knife on the right is the workhorse and the knife above the board is used for decorative stab cuts— the only tools you need if you want to include chip carving in your projects.

During class, Wayne played CDs of various types of music including classical and opera performed by people whose names I can't pronounce, and threatened to play polkas if we got out of line. What an incentive to be studious!