Part Deux - The Gennou BTS

[Christopher Charles]

Hello Mike,

Great looking work! I'm curious about your thoughts on how the Hiroki and Tenryu compare. I'm considering dipping my toes and springing for a quality gennou (which really means jumping into the deep end...). But the budget is limited right now...

Also, I was reading through old threads the other day and I believe you'd been shopping for paring chisels--did you decide on something?

Stan, interesting that you find a bit of handle sticking up less appealing than a recessed handle--my intuition says the opposite, probably because a recessed handle produces the illusion that the head might come flying off

Best,
Chris

[Mike Holbrook]

Chris,

Not to put words in Stanley's mouth but I think once you fit a handle to either type of head you will see that the design of the head keeps the heads in place vs a wedge or extending the end of the handle out the far end. The inside of the heads have a convex area, about half way between the two sides of the head. Once you get the handle up past that area it is wedged in without needing a "wedge".

I decided to harvest and form my own gennou handles from wood on my property. Drying the wood, even relatively thin branches takes a while. I just got my heads on handles today so I have not had much time to use them yet. I did find the Hiroki head easier to fit a handle to. I believe the reason is the care the maker takes in making the hole for the handle. If you look into the opening in a Hiroki you will see that great care was taken in shafting the head. The Tenryu heads are well made too but it is easy to see the difference. I understand that it is a little odd to be talking about how well the shaft in these heads are made, right up until you fit a handle to one.

My handles felt like they were fairly solid once they got past the convex area in the middle of the heads I was mounting them to. Leaving the handle slightly recessed allows room to drive the head on further if the wood shrinks, still keeping the handle even with the top of the gennou head.

[Brian Holcombe]

Done properly the heads lock on very tightly. If ever concerned just try to take one back off, lol.

[Derek Cohen]

Done properly the heads lock on very tightly. If ever concerned just try to take one back off, lol.

Yes I attempted to remove the 375gm head so that it might be reversed - I am resigned to using the domed side. Damn the person who built the handle!

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Stanley Covington]

I have been working the handles and then bagging them with shavings. They have not shown any cracking for a month or more so I think they will be good. These are more of an experiment anyway, so if they crack I want be too disappointed. I still have the piece of gumi (sp?) I got from So. I just roughed it out, saving it for when I know what I like.

A little further along now..
Attachment 341191

Mike:

If you want to use limbs and trimmings, there is an interesting rabbit hole you may want to fall into. In Japan, for some years it has been a fad to use Yamazakura (mountain cherry) limbs and trimmings for gennou handles, and to leave the bark on. Cherry bark, at least this variety, is a pretty dark burgundy in color, and relatively smooth. In fact, cherry tree bark is a traditional finish for boxes, and containers. I don't know if you have any wood with a similarly attractive bark, but it does look cool. I actually made a handle for one of my gennou from this wood, but found the wood to be too soft to deal with the pounding.

Some pics I found on the web follow.

Stan

[Stanley Covington]

Stan, interesting that you find a bit of handle sticking up less appealing than a recessed handle--my intuition says the opposite, probably because a recessed handle produces the illusion that the head might come flying off

Best,
Chris

Chris:

Actually, I think a handle trimmed flush with the head looks best, but the fact is that a recessed head is more practical for a brand new handle. The handle sticking out of the eye looks untidy to me. But that is just the way I was trained.

Stan

[Stanley Covington]

Yes I attempted to remove the 375gm head so that it might be reversed - I am resigned to using the domed side. Damn the person who built the handle!

Regards from Perth

Derek

When it comes time to remove a handle, the recessed eye is very handy!

If you haven't tried it yet, I have found the best way to remove a head from a handle i intend to reuse to be to cut a tenon just a little smaller then the eye on the end of short, hard stick. Then drill a hole in a board big enough for the handle's butt to drop through, and use the stick to drive the handle out.

Stan

[Stanley Covington]

Some more pics of a pretty handle and head (not mine).

Stan

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks all for the clarifications--definitely makes sense.

Stan, that is some serious bling. At least for those looking here...

[Stanley Covington]

Thanks all for the clarifications--definitely makes sense.

Stan, that is some serious bling. At least for those looking here...

Chris:

It does not belong to me.

It's a little too gaudy for my taste, and will not age gracefully. In fact, I would be embarrassed to be seen with it in my hand in public. They have one like it at Suiheiya for a couple of grand, but it is not as well made as a Kosaburo or Hiroki head IMO.

Stan

[Mike Holbrook]

Great info. again Stanley. I just spent an hour or two this AM studying how to make furniture out of twigs and sticks with the bark still on. The wife is very interested in many of the design styles that have come out of Adirondack architecture in the Adirondack Mountains here in the US. Much of the work I have seen does not seem substantial enough for my tastes but I plan to incorporate limbs with bark into some of our furniture. About to order a tapered tenon cutter from LV which is how the more substantial work is joined. Starting around the Cedar Town area north this style is popular. I have seen homes with entire sets of kitchen cabinets and bathrooms made from sticks with the bark still on. There are trees/shrubs in the neighboring mountain areas that are often used for this kind of work.

I love the appearance of the gennou with the bark handle. I'm not sure how practical a handle with the bark on it is long term. I still have a apple wood handle curing with just the very top of the bark scraped off, as an experiment.

I hear you Brian/Derek. I tried to get my handles relatively precisely fit which entailed testing then removing the heads quite a few times. I have the same Thor hammer Derek does and mine is panting in my shop, still recovering.

Great idea for removing the handles Stanley. I will find time to make the pieces of the jig you mention. I just happen to have dowel/tenons made from long grain white oak that I can trim to fit.

[Stanley Covington]

Great idea for removing the handles Stanley. I will find time to make the pieces of the jig you mention. I just happen to have dowel/tenons made from long grain white oak that I can trim to fit.

I would encourage you to not repeatedly install and remove the head when making a handle. You should work so as to install the handle only once. Repeatedly removing it cause the head to loosen more easily.

You need to work the tenon area very carefully to accomplish this to avoid removing too much material..

Stan

[Mike Holbrook]

I feel you Stanley. It occurred to me that I might not want to remove the head too many times, still it was a learning process in terms of what size to make those first tenons. Hopefully, next time I will be closer the first time. Not sure if I will make it in one attempt but I will work towards that goal.

[Patrick Chase]

Chris:

It does not belong to me.

It's a little too gaudy for my taste, and will not age gracefully. In fact, I would be embarrassed to be seen with it in my hand in public. They have one like it at Suiheiya for a couple of grand, but it is not as well made as a Kosaburo or Hiroki head IMO.

Stan

It's the Japanese equivalent of a Bridge City plane - Pretty, but not intended for hard use [ducks for cover].

[Christopher Charles]

I agree, not to my taste either. But then I've never been one to go for bling

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...ing+definition