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1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Due to the scope of the project, some of the work had to be done in advance. The project leads spent 3 days dimensioning the lumber in preparation for today's event. Some of the layout work was also done in advance. Traditionally in Japan, one of the master carpenters would do all the layout work. |
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6 |
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7 - Now we know Japanese daiku's use story poles too! All the layouts are done in advance on the story poles. |
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8, 9, 10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13, 14 - Joinery to be used for sitting area (with tatami mat). |
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15, 16, 17, 18 - Joinery used for various seat posts. |
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19 - Daiku introduction - Nishiyama-san on the left, Senga-san on the right. James Weister doing the introduction. |
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20 - Senga-san and Chiaki-san. |
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21, 22, 23 |
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24, 25, 26, 27 - Nishiyama demonstrating his sharpening system. He uses a 1000-grit, 5000-grit, and 2 levels of natural stones. A 400-grit diamond plate is used for flattening the stones. In his shop, he also has a dedicated stone for flattening the back (ura) of the chisel and plane blades. Nishiyama prefers hard stones which for him last longer and cut better. |
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28 |
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29 - A chisel that's been worn down after 30 years of service. |
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30, 31 - Goal is to keep the edge straight and flat. Concentrate on the front edge of the blade but be sure to maintain the angle on the whole edge. Use short strokes for consistency. He uses the same amount of pressure for both forward and back strokes. |
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32, 33 - The bevel on the plane blade is extremely flat. Nishiyama can get the blade to stick to the stone. Whenever he lifts up the blade, it makes this suction sound. |
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34 |
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35, 36, 37 |
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38, 39 |
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40, 41 |
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42 - Final thoughts on sharpening:- He doesn't use nagura stones. He feels he can get better result without them. Better to bypass them altogether.
- Look for the fine slurry lines on forward strokes, learn to read them.
- Keep dai in shade and avoid wind.
- Sharpen in the morning and evening. Always have several planes ready for the job. Essentially, take care of sharpening on your own time. This is part of what being a craftsman is all about.
- More planes and more stones as you gain more experience. Nishiyama has over 50 planes and 150 chisels.
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43 |
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44 |
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45 |
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46 |
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47 - Nishiyama chamfering the end of the piece in preparation for planing. |
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48, 49 |
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50, 51 |
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52, 53, 54, 55, 56 |
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57, 58 |
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59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 - Thin shavings. |
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65 |
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66, 67 |
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68 |
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69 |
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70, 71, 72 |
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73, 74 |
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75, 76, 77, 78, 79 - Mortising demonstration. Nishiyama prefers a wooden mallet for striking to reduce wear on the chisel handles. |
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80, 81, 82, 83, 84 |
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85, 86, 87, 88, 89 |
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90, 91 |
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92 |
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93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 |
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99, 100, 101 - Sawing demonstration. |
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102 |
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103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 |
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109, 110, 111, 112 |
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113, 114, 115, 116 - Senga working on the layout for the posts. Posts should be positioned as if they are trees - point them up in the right direction. |
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117, 118, 119, 120 |
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121 - Nifty tool tray. Each of the Japanese daiku has one. They change workspace and take their tool trays with them. |
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122 |
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123 |
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124, 125, 126, 127, 128 - Senga-san showing how to hold the chisel correctly for striking. With the palm wrapped around the hoop of the chisel, the damage to your holding hand won't be so bad if you strike and miss... |
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129 |
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130 |
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131, 132 |
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133 - Brian Beck, a fellow Daiku Dojo'er, drilling holes in the mortise to expedite the chopping of the mortises. We don't have time to chop the mortises mannually. |
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134 - My sokozarai nomi, which comes in handy for extracting waste from the mortise. |
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135, 136, 137 |
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138 - Hida Tool booth. |
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139 - Hey, it's me. Bob! |
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140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145 |
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146 |
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147 |
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148, 149, 150, 151 |
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152 |
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153, 154 - Cleanup time. |
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155 |
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156, 157 |
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158, 159 |
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160 - In the evening, Nishiyama-san shows a movie of a house he built. Very impressive since he did all the work by himself and only had help during installation. All the joints were cut but not test fitted until installation time. |
