$50.00
In the first of this series we will journey deep into the subtleties of sharpening by hand using Japanese water stones. We will discuss and experiment the use of Nagura stone, Blue stone, 4000, 8000 and finer stones as well as trying several grades of natural finish stones from Mokuchi’s private collection.
A sharp tool is a joy, an ultra sharp blade is a delight.
Sharpening with Japanese Waterstone
Required
– 1000/6000 sharpening stone
– Each student should bring one or more dull blades. Mokuchi also provides purchasing options for edge tool or knives from Japanese suppliers.
Contact Mokuchi to purchase tools. As a Japanese tool retailer Mokuchi provides guidance on selecting tools and a student discount.
4-6 maximum
Mokuchi Studio – Brooklyn
7 – 9pm
In this one day class we will explore the many variations of the most fundamental woodworking joint, the mortise and tenon! Such variations will be: blind, through, wedged, pinned, tusked and the fox. The day will be filled with demonstrations, discussion of proportions along with applications and of course a lot of hands on practice! The practice time will focus on the through mortise and tenon. You will take away a firm grasp of this most central joint.
A well tuned Japanese plane can produce gauze thin shavings. The highest quality for finishing will leave your wood surface silky smooth. This requires skill and knowledge. This is class is about achieving the glassy smooth finish possible with Japanese finishing planes! During the weekend you will start with a new 60mm Japanese smoothing plane. This is a versatile size plane (kanna) and is well suited for those new to finishing work with Japanese planes. You’ll tune and sharpen the blade, fit it to a Japanese white oak block, and start making shavings.
Yann will cover sharpening, tapping out a blade, correcting blade shape and bevel angle, and fitting the blade to the block. Of the three main Japanese tools – plane, saw, and chisel, the Japanese kanna is the most difficult to gain a working knowledge. With Yann’s guidance and a dedicated weekend of work, you’ll receive the basics of Japanese plane usage and a great foundation of skills.
Advanced classes will require experience planing parts. This course a great way to acquire those skills and a good quality plane to advance your hand tool woodworking, regardless of if you choose to adopt the range of Japanese hand tools.
You will gain a broad understanding of how Japanese woodworking distinguishes itself from Western approaches during this two hour talk and demonstration. The session will include an overview of traditional hand tools used in a range of work scale, from making small objects to full size timber frame building. This will be followed by a brief demonstration of the use of all basic tools: nomi (chisel), kanna (plane), nokogiri (saw) and marking tools including sashigane (square) and sumitsubo (ink line).
Everyone will be invited to pull a Japanese plane and make a thin wood shaving! A short history will be given along with key design element and aesthetic preferences. Lastly, of course, joinery will be discussed with samples to handle.
In this one day class you will become familiar with the iconic Kanawa joint.
It is a popular scarf joint in the Japanese tradition and a great addition to your bag of tricks! The day will be spent going over the layout and cutting of this advanced joint.
A few variations will be covered and enough time set aside for you to have a go at cutting your first one!