No,laying a chisel among others between 2 short pegs is very apt to cause the chisel to fall when it is reached for without due care. That isn't wise. Not just my opinion.
It is my opinion that I don't care for Japanese tools. Nor do I care to eat rice and raw fish,or to sit on the floor,holding the work between my toes. I certainly cannot even think about pulling a plane with the back trouble I have. If you prefer to do these things it's your prerogative.
Last edited by george wilson; 03-18-2010 at 11:29 AM.
Agree again. If I had to work on my knees, sitting on my patookas, or practically doubled over holding work on low benches with my feet or knees in order to pull saws or planes my woodworking 'career,' as it were, would already be over. I'm six feet five inches tall. I couldn't use Japanese tools, in the manner they are designed and meant to be used, if my life depended on it.
Last edited by Steve Dallas; 03-18-2010 at 11:45 AM.
I WAS 6' 5",but now I'm 6' 3" from deterioration.
Maybe If we did it from an early age! I never could sit on the floor in the"lotus" position!!
Steve,you hit upon something very true: perpetually setting up shop. Wanting to work,but playing at it forever. Being obsessed with the romance of working. It's a real condition and in full bloom.
Last edited by george wilson; 03-18-2010 at 11:53 AM.
I'm proud of our Western woodworking tradition and thrilled beyond description that it requires precious little bending and stooping while doing the actual work.
Here's a sampling of items from the English tradition: http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/dep....jsp?dept_id=8
Watch the Tom Devinish video.
Otherwise, I think people want to co-opt the Asian mystique and reverence for tools but they are leaving out a key ingredient and notion - Japanese temple carpenters and bench woodworkers can walk the walk too. Their tolerance is probably even lower for poseurs and dilly-dallyers than that exhibited by accomplished Western woodworkers who have more of a live and let live approach to things. Talking and droning on about tools without being able to actually do much of anything with them is a blasphemous sacrilege to skilled Asian artisans.
Last edited by Steve Dallas; 03-18-2010 at 12:57 PM.
Thanks for the concern. Those dowels are actually angled up about 5 degrees, so they make a nice crook for the chisel to rest in, and is more secure than it may seem at first glance. I made this rack since it seemed to be the historically accurate thing to do, based on a picture that I had seen in Toshio Odate's book on Japanese tools, and has been working well so far.
Again, I don't know why you keep up with the personal comments.
By the way, it was you who brought up the issue with softwoods in this thread, which is why I addressed it:
Last edited by Wilbur Pan; 03-18-2010 at 12:23 PM.
George,
Bragging and arrogance are just that, regardless of talent or ability. It's all about attitude...
I'm sure you'd easily be voted most talented participant here (you'd definitely have my vote). Can't that be enough?
You should consider reading an old article by Toshio Odate in Fine Woodworking (black and white era) in which he recounts having a tool he'd bought confiscated by his "master" and never returned because he was not skilled enough to own such a fine tool. Arrogant? Nope. The master was keeping the apprentice from totally embarrassing himself - from committing a cultural faux pas at the least. Odate acknowledges in the article that the master had done the right thing. George, by saying in effect, 'hush already, you guys couldn't chisel your way out of a wet paper bag' is trying to do the same thing. People discussing the absolute minutest of minutiae who most likely are unable to wield the instrument being discussed with enough skill to make their opinion even matter in the real world of actual, as opposed to virtual, woodworking.
George's comments are not haughty in the least and since this thread is more than tangentially about Asian tools and methods of work the Toshio Odate story is applicable and instructive.
People invoke the Japanese craft tradition apparently when it suits them. Well, there's a pecking order in that tradition. As well there should be.
Listen to George.
Last edited by Steve Dallas; 03-18-2010 at 3:29 PM.
I don't live in Japan, and am neither a master or apprentice. I'm just another guy giving and receiving (mostly the latter) information on a web forum.
My comment had more to do with a personal pet peeve and less about the topic at hand, and for that I apologize...
fyi, I hold George's opinions in the highest regard.
Last edited by Matt Benton; 03-18-2010 at 1:07 PM.
How is it, this thread got contorted into a discussion on east vs. west?
I think the original post was pretty clear, let me paraphrase:
A mirror polish does not necessarily indicate a flat/sharp edge.
-Dan
"It's not bragging if you can back it up."
---Dizzy Dean
George can back it up.
So arrogance can only exist in the absence of talent? I call that lying...
I don't have anything as esteemed as Dizzy Dean, but I'll give it a shot...
"The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient."
— St. Augustine
"Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues."
— Confucious
Look,I know I am coming off badly. I just got enough of the niggling from Pan. Any of you ever get that way? If you never did,good for you.
Steve,I appreciate your support.
Jerry,your advice is good.
Matt,thank you for your kind comment.
I am sure that somehow Wilbur will chime in again to somehow still try to assert his point. I'd like to drop it.