Found a sibling of my Japanese plane!

[Cameron Wood]

I have two planes that I bought in the 1980s (from Hida, Berkeley), and in more recent years have kept an eye out for others by the maker as I peruse Ebay. After looking at many hundreds (and purchasing a number) one finally showed up. There are seemingly countless plane makers, and not reading Japanese does not help in telling them apart.

This one I keep set for a very fine cut for final smoothing.

Anyway, a satisfying moment.


IMG_4541.jpeg

[Mark Gibney]

Congrats, that's very satisfying. Did you buy the plane?

[Cameron Wood]

Thanks. No, didn't buy it- I've already got one.

Yesterday I was using one of a pair of planes that I got a year or two ago- kind of a splurge for me, they are fancier than I mostly use & I wanted to see how much difference there was. One is a regular smoothing plane and the other is a long body- like a jointer plane. They both work really well, & I especially get good results with the long (forget the name) one.

This got me thinking, so I looked & found one of those as well.

IMG_4544.jpgIMG_4545.jpgIMG_4543.jpeg

[Cameron Wood]

Turns out these are more common- found several others.


IMG_4556.jpegIMG_4555.jpegIMG_4554.jpeg

[Mark Gibney]

Japanese planes are such simple tools, just the bare minimum.
I don't have any experience with them. Do they work so differently from western wooden bodied planes? - I know they are used on the pull, but otherwise is the result different?

[Cameron Wood]

Japanese planes are such simple tools, just the bare minimum.
I don't have any experience with them. Do they work so differently from western wooden bodied planes? - I know they are used on the pull, but otherwise is the result different?

They look simple, but in ways are more complex than western ones.

The iron is tapered in thickness, and fits in a tapered slot, so it is held by more than simple pressure from a screw or wedge. The shape of the sole is more complex than flat. The biggest difference is in the steel/cutting edge, which tends to stay sharp longer, while being readily sharpened. Made from laminated soft/hard steel, some irons weigh over a pound.

The end result is more or less the same. Wood body planes move seasonally, so need more fine tuning for best results. I use western block planes for end grain, and usually a metal rabbet plane, but the jack plane sits lonely in a drawer. A shooting board also works better with a western plane because of the higher shoulder of the plane body.


I wonder if western planes have been used in Japanese planing competitions- not that I've seen (on Youtube) but that would be interesting.

[Cameron Wood]

It's dangerous spending too much time on Ebay.

Now I am the proud owner of another, still higher end plane, about $200 including shipping. This by a famous blacksmith, and in this case coming from Southern California, so little time needed to acclimate. Barely used, and sharp. First pic is after about 5 minutes truing the sole (teak, pine). Second after a bit more adjustment, and sharpening the blade.
The cherry shaving is about 15 microns- won't win any prizes, but not bad for an early effort.

IMG_4573.jpgIMG_4574.jpeg