Odate

I was recently told that this book by Toshio Odate was a good one, so I picked it up and I have to agree. There’s something about the way that Odate writes that displays his passion and ethics without being boastful or over the top. This book is a narrative about the shokunin (a master craftsman and artisan) and their tools and workspace. One of the most interesting things I’ve found is how Odate emphasizes that a shokunin is not just a craftsman, but one with a social consciousness and a certain attitude about their work. Respect and honour seem to be very important parts of everyday life, be it in the sharpening of a blade, or the making of a door. I used to work at a window and door manufacturer in one of my engineering jobs, and looking back now there was definitely something absent in the way that they made doors. When you stamp things out by the hundred each day its very hard for someone to have some kind of moral basis upon which to base their daily efforts.

Okay, before I get too long winded...

I’m definitely a person that learns by doing, and usually that means I screw up the first couple of things I do...well maybe more than a couple. Here’s my take on a simple marking gauge...just a couple wedges really and an old exacto blade, but I’m excited to get to use it.


I’ve started the process of making a lot of my own tools, which will in turn allow me to make better tools, that will then allow me to make even better tools. It’s a neat process to be caught up in.

Sour Patch Kids

So I went to talk with Kate's cousin Konrad the other day about woodworking, and making stuff, and how this kind of business can make sense in the end, and a bunch of other things.

Konrad makes planes!

Now when Kate told me about her cousin at first I thought he made airplanes, but in fact he makes the kind of handplanes that make woodworkers like me drool.

You can see his work on his website:

www.sauerandsteiner.com/news/

Konrad is a master craftsman, there's no other way to describe what he does. I got the tour of his workshop and even got to use some of his planes, which, to be honest, was a little bit intimidating. They were simply amazing tools, it was just incredible to see how fine the shavings were that they could produce.

The only bad thing is that I have to go back to using my own planes now...once you've had steak...

MB

Trying

Here's one more plane, this time a trying plane (or a jointing plane). The plane is so long so that you get a lot of registration between the plane and the wood, allowing you to get surfaces perfectly flat.

Roger Rabbit

Here's another plane, this time a rabbet! Building your own tools is kind of a neat thing. Up next is a jointing plane...I just need to get my hands on some Lignum Vitae!