If you could recommend a smooth japanese plane, which one will be?

[Fidel Fernandez]

Hi,

I like to work with Japanese tools, it is just a personal preference.

I read a lot of japanese planes, but I am confuse about the use on hardwoods. Some says is ok for some hardwoods without going into details.

I also read the plane maker leave the plane in "almost" done condition. The plane requires some work to be functional, it depends of the user.

Ok. I don't know what I have to do to a plane or what is required to do it to make it work.

I don't plan to buy a cheap japanese plane to try, because it won't work well and I will discouraged.
Do they mean to work on the blade or just the body or both? Do I need to buy a second plane to work on the bottom of the plane?

I am planning to buy a wide smoother.

What hardwoods I am using? Well I am using so far, maple both hard and soft, walnut, mahogany. I will like to try some other hardwoods as well.

Well as you can tell, I have a lot of questions.
Any help is welcome.

P.S.
I have most of the western planes.
7, 5 ½, 5, 4 ½, 4, 3, 40 ½ LN, 45, (48 and 49 into one from LN), 113, block, shoulder planes, etc. so I know how to use them, but I want to try a japanese plane.

[David Weaver]

You can use any of them on hardwoods without issue. The fit of the iron and the fact that the plane is sharp is more important than what it's made of. If you get a plane that doesn't work with hardwoods, there's something wrong with the fit of the iron to the dai or there's something wrong with the iron itself.

[Winton Applegate]

Well it looks like prices have gotten crazy since I bought my prize finisher and I could not find my exact plane available from anyone now but these Guys are the real deal.

Probably David W. will come up with the best plane for a lower price but I think it is worth paying the black smiths for some show as well as go. I really enjoy the hammered and or acid etched back ground with the characters cut into the surface. I mean where else are you going to get a blade like that?
PS: here is mine

[Winton Applegate]

You may tune the sole a bit; can use a card scraper or very small western smoother or fine set small block plane for that (cross grain on only key areas of the sole NOT THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE NEW PLANE'S SOLE).
Here is about all you need to know to tune and use your plane(s).
The blade will be ready to use. You may have to fine tune the seat of the blade in the wood body of the plane. See the Toshio book for that or ask us if the blade does not protrude from the body enough to plane with.

[David Weaver]

If I were to come up with a top quality white steel plane I would recommend Takeo Nakano. I don't know that he's easy to find over here, but his plane (equivalent to any $1000 plane) is about $450.

I am partial to white steel or something similar for everything.

Otherwise, I'd say that anything in the $350 or so range from a good smith is going to be an awfully good plane with a high quality dai. Just my opinion. I sold off many of my planes and kept an Ogata (not easy to find) in some kind of swedish carbon steel, a nakano in inukubi (though it feels an awful lot like white steel) and an inexpensive yamamoto bedded at 47 degrees. I really don't use any of them.

Well, and a couple of junk fuunji ($60) planes for coarse work, a japanese plane for jack plane work is a good way for an out of shape woodworker to have a plane to pull among the push planes, so as to be able to do heavy work indefinitely.

I see that hida's plane is made by tsunesaburo (the younger guy right now, the 2nd generation still makes one plane out of togo reigo, or did). Tools from japan has a "super white" which is just a forged white steel from the third gen tsunesaburo for what converts to $384 now. A swedish steel tsune is about the same price. (the old line retailers get awfully harsh on pricing, my opinion, when the items get to be other than basic items. They do provide good service, but some of the people selling from japan now have let the water out of the tub, so to speak, but how much room is in there for retailers. Before stu, fujibato and takeo nakano, there were some retailers from japan, but some had their "price for gaijin" (they priced stuff about 50% higher for people who don't speak japanese, figuring we were an easy target, I guess).

So, winton, you're right. I know where to get the same thing for less, but that's water under the bridge. (it does look like you get a paulownia box from hida).

I've had about a dozen japanese planes, I guess. When it boils down to it, it's whether or not the plane gets sharp easily and generally whether everything was properly made. Most are.

(just one more pricing example, I can't resist: Tsunesaburo Gachirin - Japan Woodworker price: $2,035. Tools from Japan Price, $889. What do you get different between the two? The JWW is in a red oak body instead of white - I think white is preferable for dais, but red oak costs a little more and is used in high priced planes sometimes because of it. I'd imagine stu could get your red oak for a few bucks extra if needed. Stanley covington is a good reference to find out if something is "good" if you're unsure)

If budget is important, there are some full feature $200 planes, like the Tsune Senjyu. For a while, Yamamoto's hourakou was available for about that. Probably a similar plane. I'm sure they are also good and capable planes.

[David Wong]

You may tune the sole a bit; can use a card scraper or very small western smoother or fine set small block plane for that (cross grain on only key areas of the sole NOT THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE NEW PLANE'S SOLE).
Here is about all you need to know to tune and use your plane(s).
The blade will be ready to use. You may have to fine tune the seat of the blade in the wood body of the plane. See the Toshio book for that or ask us if the blade does not protrude from the body enough to plane with.

Let me also recommend http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BVG...110_SY165_QL70 as a reference.

There are also series of YouTube videos on tuning a japanese plane. Here is the first...https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QQytHrqMsug

Lastly, you can read Chris Hall's excellent blog, which has many postings on kanna setup.

[Terry Beadle]

It sounds like you are thinking of getting your first kana. I would recommend you get a basic low cost one to learn how to set one up on.

Like : http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/...roducts_id=750

Then when you know if you want a three touch or four touch sole set up, and when you know how much to take off the blade setting areas,
and when you have enjoyed the wonderful performance that even a lower cost blade can give, then buy some thing in the $350 range as
most any of the Japanese planes in that price range are life time or more tools both in terms of quality and in use.

I bought a standing iron plane to tune my soles but I found a card scraper to be very effective. The standing iron plane is really good at
removing the material a bit faster but in my case that was not a good thing...hoot! The standing iron plane does have some other uses
especially in managing some stubborn knots in pine.

I also recommend white steel over blue if you are going to use the kana mostly as a smoother. You can get white steel to be incredibly sharp
and will hold the edge similar to a A2 or the new CPM. I'm not sure why, but the japanese blades both blue and white seem to get sharper
than the A2 or CPM or the CR series of steel blades for me. Probably due to the mix of stones that I use.

The recommendation of a lower cost starter kana over the more expensive ones is predicated upon the learning curve a kana presents the new
user and can be offset by the good home work recommended above.

In any case, Enjoy The Shavings.... as you surly will! Hoot!

[Stanley Covington]

I agree with David about Nakano's products. Excellent performance at a very reasonable price.

Probably the best blade being made nowadays is by Uchihashi Keisuke. He uses the "Keisaburo" brand. Pricey, but well made. High demand, and a one man shop, so hard to get hold of lately.

Sekikawa san still makes an excellent blade at a reasonable price.

Winton's plane was made by Usui Kengo, who has passed away. He made a very consistent product throughout most of his long career, IMO, and there is still lots of stock out there. Unfortunately, towards the end of his career, his blades became well know through Kezuroukai exposure and prices went nuts. He then went Hollywood and decorated the hell out of them. I have been told by those in the industry that towards the end, he was having his blades made by third parties to his specs and having them carved per his design. The later highly decorative blades are shamefully overpriced, and not as good as his plainer stuff, IMO.

If you can find a smith that knows how to use plain high-carbon steel like Hitachi White Paper, or Swedish steel, such a man will often make a superior blade, in my experience. But such smiths are rare nowadays. Blue paper steel has alloys that make it much easier to forge and heat treat, and while Blue paper steel is a tad harder to sharpen, it makes a fine blade.

Japanese planes can be a pain to setup properly, but it is a process worth learning. When you have a high-quality plane working well, it is magic. When it misbehaves, it can be very frustrating until you learn their quirks. There are a few dai (plane block) makers that can make a "sugu tsukai" or"ready to use" plane. Nakano has some of his blades fitted in this manner. Saves you a lot of trial and error, but such planes still need to be adjusted occasionally depending on how much you use them, and the block"s reaction to humidity changes.

I am sorry I do not have time to describe the process, but it would be a very long post.

Stan

[Winton Applegate]

Hi Stan,

Any chance you can tell me what the characters on my blade say ?
I have ask people who supposedly can read some of them but have not had a satisfactory translation.

Thanks for your previous post in any case.

[Stanley Covington]

Hi Stan,

Any chance you can tell me what the characters on my blade say ?
I have ask people who supposedly can read some of them but have not had a satisfactory translation.

Sure. The characters in this case are read from top to bottom.



I have pasted a pic from a kiribako. It has more characters than your blade, but the important ones are all there and easy to see.

The first character on the upper right of your blade (not the box) is too small for me to read.

The first character top and center is read "ken" or 'tsurugi" and means "sword" (a generic term for sword and not as specific as katana or tachi).

The second character in the center reads "kon" or "tamashi" meaning spirit, as in the eternal thing that occupies the body, but departs at death of the body, not "fighting spirit" or "team spirit," or even the ghost-type spirit.

The far left 3 characters (or bottom 3 characters in the kiribako pic above) read from top to bottom read "Ken" (meaning health), and "Go" or "satoru" (meaning clarity or enlightenment). Usui san's name is Kengo. The last character reads "saku" meaning "made." Ergo, "Made by Kengo." Fairly standard signature.

Going back the larger inscription in the blade's center, "Kenkon" is not a standard word, but one Usui san made up, and may refer to several things. One, of course, is the idea that a plane blade has the same "spirit" that some Japanese swords are believed, by deranged romanticists, to house. Another meaning may be that his plane blade's and swords share a common heritage, which they do of course, especially in Japan. Finally, Usui's name was Kengo, so he may be trying to relate the "ken" character in his name to the blade carving. Same pronunciation, but different meaning. There is precedence for this sort of thing.

Note that he did not carve these characters himself, but paid a subcontractor professional to do it. Costs an additional $20 - $30 bucks. Sadly, the carving does not add a thing to the blade's function.

These same model planes can be bought here in Tokyo for around $1200 and up. Or, if you know where to look, you can buy an older model from before he became famous, and without the lavish carving, for $300. The older one may cut better. It certainly will not be inferior to the newer, pimped-out model in hooker heels and sequin thong.

There have always been those critical of Usui san's blades. The traditionalists didn't like them when he was young because he always focused heavily on QC and did not work in a traditional manner. One of the first really good planes I owned was one by Usui. It is very radical in design and manufacture, but it works very well, and was worth the cost. I bought another undecorated older Usui model (but newer than my first acquisition by a decade or so) with a truly spectacular dai by Ito san about 5 years or so ago. I use it a lot and it was worth every penny. I guarantee you it will cut just as well, and as long, and sharpen as easily as the $1200 model being sold at Suiheiya or other retailers. He never used anything but blue steel or other alloys. Usui san's products are very reliable.

I own plain white steel planes that are easier to sharpen, get sharper, and cut better, but perhaps do not cut as long as an Usui blade.

I would say you probably have a very fine plane there, Winton.

Stan