Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

Re: Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I missed that episode, but my best guess is that the woodworker is Toshio Odate, who I spoke with and watched work Friday and Saturday at Woodworks. He has written a book which you should be able to purchase through Amazon.

Making Shoji

Re: Toshio Odate  and Tips

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Here's a sighting (note the WC hat) of Odate-Sensei, chopping double mortises for a shoji screen, taken Friday at the Ft. Washington WoodWorks show. Here, he is chopping on top of one of Geoff Noden's Adjust-a-Benches. At other times, he was also using a rough beam, either on the floor, or elevated at one end on the Adjust-a-Bench or on a simple block of wood.

He was using a very interesting double mortise chisel, which I believe was custom made. I must assume he had a tool slaving mechanism that allowed him to make double tenons to fit, but did not see that part of his process.

Also interesting is the bamboo cup stuffed with cotton. Before every chop, he plunged the cutting edges of the chisel into the cotton. It was immediately clear that he was lubricating the chisel blade, to make cutting easier. I asked him what was in the cotton, and he explained it was camelia oil.

If it works on plane soles, why not on chisel blades, plane irons, and even carving gouges?

There's another WoodWorks show coming up in less than a month in North Jersey. If you are in the area, you should take advantage of the educational opportunities. See Joanne's report on the show on the main message forum.

Re: Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

Steve Kubien

>Hi Bob,

You may have already seen it, but, Odate's book, "Japanese Tools, Their Tradition, Their Spirit, Their Use" is very clear that one of the important things Japanese craftsmen are judged on is their speed. It is a critical element. It is a worthwhile text.

Regards,

Steve Kubien

Re: Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

Paul Kierstead

>I recall he would use a squared off piece of stock and hold it against the piece to mark and cut.

Modern woodworkers measure far to much. I think it comes from working with machinery too much; they are use to measuring something and then setting the machine, so when they work with hand tools they tend to measure and mark as well. Actually, even the machines could be set up more from the work pieces, but that is another board... Watch an older ww who was brought up without a lot of power tools and they will always mark from the 'real thing' whenever possible, and often use a scrap to transfer measurements when possible instead of the error inducing and mistake prone measuring and marking.

You can build a lot of stuff without a measuring tape/ruler at all.

Re: Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

ThomD

>I didn't know he had a Japanese woodworker on his show. Sounds like the same season he did a lot of shows with guys like Franz Klaus, etc... Seemed like a year of demos.

Odate has two books, one on tools, and one on Shoji. There is a video in German from Dick's.

The double bladed mortising chisel is a standard tool catalog item from Japanese suppliers like Hirade, and others.

While I agree entirely about the vertical rather than horizontal methods of layout, I don't know that the Japanese agree. The double chisel is a fixed dimension just to take one, Another would be the automatic thicknessing jig for the muntons. A lot of Japanese layout creates perfect pieces that are designed to slot together in final assembly like Lego. I know what I don't know, and that is all that much about Japanese layout, but the timberframing and shoji/window building crafts are pretty much that way, here and there. Maybe other object would be more vertical.

Re: Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

Steve knight

>I got some great videos about japanase traditional crafts. one was woodworking. they had this one guy making a box and he layed out the cuts faster then anyone could make a couple of measurements. then he cut the parts holding the wood in one hand saw in the other with such speed. of course I wanted to see that video again and it vanished.

Re: Old Woodwright episode on Japan ww

ThomD

>Very cool!.

HGTV has/had this handmade craft show, I don't thnk we get it any more, They had one segment on a Japanese cabinetmaker working in the US. Very interesting also, but not enough coverage, never enough coverage!

Templates & story sticks

Derek

>Are ways of avoiding measuring too much. I have found them to be very useful in avoiding errors.