Looking for tips and favorite tools for doing kumiko projects

[James Spillman]

I'm getting ready to begin my first project in kumiko. I have read many articles and have seen many videos of people using kumiko woodworking techniques to make beautiful projects. What I would like to find out is are there any useful tips to help kumiko woodworkers complete their projects? I also would like to know what are the favorite hand tools people have used when doing kumiko woodworking? Thanks.

[Brian Cargnelli]

I started doing some Kumiko about 2 years ago and I’m far from proficient at it. Here are some thoughts. No particular order.

Sharp and I mean sharp chisels. I keep my strop on the bench and strop after cutting 6-10 pieces. I also bought a 1.5 inch Narex richter chisel specifically for my Kumiko. started off using a 3/4 chisel but it didn’t register well. The 1 1/2 I found to be perfect. One thing some people suggested is regrinding the primary bevel to 20 degree so it becomes more a paring chisel. I did not do that and don’t find any problems at 25 with a secondary bevel of 27-28.

if you are cutting your own Kumiko strips, I started on my bandsaw and then used a thicknessing jig and a no 5 Stanley to make sure each strip was exactly 1/8 thick. I then started using my table saw to cut my strips after using a caliper to set my fence to 1/8 inch. Faster for sure.

for the grids I just set up a simple box cutting jig on my miter gauge using a 3/8 spacing which seems to be the most common. Works well,once dialed in. Takes a few tries to cut the half laps perfectly but once set up I can cut grids pretty quickly and far better than doing them by hand using a saw.

Kumiko will test you patience, but take your time with your first several practice squares. I also used rather large 5x5 squares to start as the pieces are easier to cut.

if you haven’t made your jigs to trim the Kumiko to the right angles yet, I made mine out of some laminated 3/4 sapelle I had left over. I made mine 1 1/2 think, but now wished I had made them thicker. Used my miter saw to cut the 45, 22.5 and 67.5 angles. Just make sure your miter saw is accurate and cuts square vertically.

good luck

[Brian Cargnelli]

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this is a tea box I made as a wedding present this past summer. Cherry with basswood inserts and Kumiko

[Tom Bain]

Brian has covered the most important stuff … your chisel(s) need to be sharp and the back needs to be flat as that is what is registering on the jig. I would also recommend a softer wood for the internal, angled kumiko pieces, such as basswood or white pine. Much easier to pare than a harder wood like maple.

One more thing … a shorter length chisel is sometimes better since you end up holding it by the blade to make the paring cuts. Having a long chisel with a lot of weight in the handle is not ideal.