The Shibusa of Tool Organization

[Phillip Mitchell]

Nice post. Thanks for sharing Mike!

I'm currently building a small tool box for some of my chisels to live in when they need to travel out of the shop. I will share some photos to this thread upon completion. The box design attempts to embrace the elegance, subtleties, and simplicity that you are speaking of and is, in fact a tool box in the traditional Japanese style. I dare say this thread is timely for its creation!

Thanks again for sharing your work and thoughts.

[Mike Allen1010]

Beautiful work, Mike!

Shibui is an interesting word. It's meanings range from a bitter flavor, as in a bitter persimmon or tea, to parsimonious, to the meaning you refer to. It once referred to sewage. Yuck! Shibuya in Tokyo means "bitter valley" and at one time had an effluent stream running through it that gave the area the name. That has since been piped and contained and today Shibuya is a nice non-stinky area well known for the "scramble" crossing.

Nowadays, the term refers to "understated, subtly elegant, in reference to design, clothing, personality, taste, etc. Something that does not jump out and scream or flash lights or include polished chrome, and might even be overlooked by the less discerning person. Something that is not fashionable but improves with age and usage. The ability to discern and appreciate shibui things and people and ideas is considered a virtue by all but children and the empty-headed herd.

You have made something that is seriously shibui IMO.

Stan

Stan I was hoping you would share your insight. I really appreciate your understanding of Japanese culture, woodworking, etc. and always look forward to your posts.


Thanks very much for the feedback!


Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

How are the blades held in place? Looks like grooves?

Hey Chris, I'm really enjoying your Herron jewelry box build thread – thanks for posting and sharing pictures. I mean really looking forward to following your progress.

I have a lead Valley router plane and the shaft of the blades is square and cross-section and oriented with corners pointing forward and back. I used a V-shaped carving tool to create the grooves that hold the blades. It was easy, fast and achieve the desired result. If you're interested in getting started with carving tools, IMHO, W the V gouge is a great place to start.


Cheers, Mike

[Christopher Charles]

Thanks Mike, glad to hear. I'll get the rest posted as soon as I can, probably this weekend...classes started for the semester...

Stan, my thanks as well for sharing your insights and perspective!

[Jim Koepke]

I'm sure this is unbelievable to most, but I'm embarrassed to confess - as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I really don't understand the reference to the "like button"? I'm guessing this must be some social networking thing – right?

Yes, the social media sights and others have a way visitors can indicate they like a post or page. Some of the common sites like news and the morning funnies have a "like button" to share the comic or article.

BTW, like your storage boxes.

jtk

[Phillip Mitchell]

Thought I'd share a couple of photos of a recent project.

This is a small tool box I made recently to hold my most used bench chisels when I need them outside of the shop (at work/in the field.)

The box is Alaskan Yellow Cedar and the bottom/lid is Cherry.


I made the dovetails a bit proud for a slightly different look and for some depth and contrast on a small, simple design. I like to think this design falls along the Shibui line. I certainly identify with that design principle and sensibility.

[Mike Allen1010]

Beautifully done Phillip- thanks for sharing! Look forward to seeing more of your work!

Cheers, Mike

[Stanley Covington]

Thought I'd share a couple of photos of a recent project.

This is a small tool box I made recently to hold my most used bench chisels when I need them outside of the shop (at work/in the field.)

The box is Alaskan Yellow Cedar and the bottom/lid is Cherry.


I made the dovetails a bit proud for a slightly different look and for some depth and contrast on a small, simple design. I like to think this design falls along the Shibui line. I certainly identify with that design principle and sensibility.

Beautiful box, Phillip! How did you connect the battens to the lid?

[Stanley Covington]

Stan I was hoping you would share your insight. I really appreciate your understanding of Japanese culture, woodworking, etc. and always look forward to your posts.


Thanks very much for the feedback!


Mike

Keep up the good work, Mike, and continue to share the results with us.

[Derek Cohen]

Here is the box that was signed by Mr Kiyohisa when he sent the slicks (about 10 years ago ... a 3 year wait at that time).



When you place the lid on the box, it settles, sinking very slowly on a cushion of air.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Christopher Charles]

Beautiful box Phillip!

[Patrick Walsh]

I also have signed box with my Kiyohisa chisels. The way the lid floats down onto itself is just awesome.

I’m very protective of it. It is quite fragile.

To the OP nice box and great topic.

Derek I’m jealous of those pairing chisels. Although I have a set of ten ori nomi I think it is I would do just about anything for a set of Kiyohisa pairing chisels to go with them..

[Phillip Mitchell]

Thank you fellas for the kind words.

Stan,

In this case, the battens are simply glued to the lid. The lid / box bottom is 1/4" cherry plywood and the battens are vertical grain, so I expect very little cross grain movement. On previous tool boxes of this style, I've used cut nails to nail the batten on (thicker stock.) In the future I'd like to try my hand at a sliding dovetail joint for that batten connection.


This small box was a productive, satisfying and fun way to use up some leftover scraps from a previous job.