Kiwa ganna

[Devon Curtis]

I've got a kiwi ganna I'm tuning up, and the blade tip on it protrudes from the side of the dai by 1-2 millimetres. What's the preferred way to remedy this? Grind back the blade tip, or pare the side of the mortise to let the blade into the dai further?

[David Wong]

Desmond King has an excellent (and inexpensive) kindle ebook on amazon titled "Getting The Most From Your Kanna". It includes a chapter on tuning a kiwa-ganna. He advocates carefully removing metal from the blade in order to bring it in parallel with the mouth of the dai. Using a coarse stone would be more prudent than a grinder. When the blade is square, use the same technique on the chipbreaker. Before these steps, ensure the bottom of the dai is perpendicular to the side that guides the cut.

I bought an inexpensive kiwi-ganna to practice tuning and using. When I was fitting the chipbreaker, the fit was evidentially too tight and a good chunk of the tip of the blade broke off. The lesson being that the pointed edge of the blade and the chipbreaker can be delicate, so be careful.

[Dom Campbell]

As David said, Des King has the most in depth explanation on how to do this, in the English language that I have found. It is also part of his Kumiko book 1, which if interested in that side of things, is well worth getting.

Ideally you don't wont to take more off the dai than is necessary to get it square, from there its about getting the blade to fit. Trial and error.

Kiwa Ganna are notoriously difficult to set up, so stay patient.

[Devon Curtis]

Thanks for the input. I'm aware of Des' book, but never got around to buying it. Maybe this is a good opportunity, since Brotherton and Odate only briefly touch upon kiwa ganna. I've set up one or two before, but this is the first one I've had where the tip is protruding from the side, rather than not protruding at all (which was rather easier to deal with). Sounds like I'll grind (misnomer really, since I don't actually own a grinder) the tip back little by little and see where that gets me.

[Devon Curtis]

Well apparently I had already purchased Des' book and forgotten, and when I opened it I was on the kiwa ganna chapter, so, way to think ahead?

[Noah Magnuson]

Well apparently I had already purchased Des' book and forgotten, and when I opened it I was on the kiwa ganna chapter, so, way to think ahead?

I recently did this on Amazon. I spent about an hour trying to decide between two technical books for work. I finally made the decision and I hadn't noticed before, but looked up in the corner and it said "you purchased this item on ...." 3 years ago. All it took was a quick trip upstairs to the book area. At least I have consistent decision-making patterns.