Japanese Carpentry Workshop

The Basics

• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection (for any times when we have loud tools on-site)
• Work boots / closed-toe shoes — we request closed-toe shoes to be on the work site for your own safety
• Several no. 2 pencils or mechanical pencil
• Tool box or tool bag
• Battery-powered work light (optional)

Required Carpentry Tools

 

1.) Ryoba saw, 240mm

240mm saw blade length is our recommendation. A ryoba has crosscut teeth and rip teeth on opposite sides of the blade.

• Ryoba saws on Hida Tool
• Ryoba saws on Kurashige
• Bessho Jiro brand ryoba saw (recommended brand, but usually difficult to find) on eBay

2.) Bench chisels: 6mm, 9mm, 15mm (oire nomi)

The three most useful widths for our class will be 6mm, 9mm, and 15mm. We will be working with relatively small stock. Chisels are divided into different categories, depending on their intended use. Bench chisels (oire nomi) are shorter in length, useful for smaller dimension material and general woodworking. Tataki are stouter, have a longer length and are made for heavier use. Because we will be using relatively smaller dimension material, smaller chisels will be much easier to use and more precise. Prices can vary widely. Comb through these choices and choose based on your budget and preferences. Avoid high speed steel (HSS) tools.

• Chisels on Covington & Sons
• Chisels on Suzuki-ya
• Chisels on Kurashige Tools
• Chisels on Hida Tool

3.) Hammer (genno)

Hammers are available in a variety of weights. Somewhere between 350-575 grams is preferable.

• Osho hammer from Suzuki-ya
• Touroku Round Hammer on Kurashige (this was our 2023 recommended genno head)
• Touroku Octagon Hammers on Kurashige
• Oak hammer handles on Kurashige (any size is fine — we will teach how to fit the handle to a hammer head in our Fundamentals class)

4.) Plane (kanna)

The world of Japanese planes is vast. As expected, there’s a huge amount of variety and price points. For our purposes, we’re going to make a specific suggestion so that we don’t bog you down with options and wild prices. Please purchase the 54mm plane blade and dai below. It is a quality tool and gets our official recommendation.  We will spend a lot of time on kanna setup, fine tuning, and sharpening in the Fundamentals workshop. (We assume all Intensive Workshop students will have a kanna that has been set up.)

• Katsusaburo plane from Suzuki-ya — 54mm size

5. Square (sashigane) — 50cm x 25cm and 30cm x 15cm sizes

Essential for layout. Please get one with a mm/cm scale in both 50cm x 25cm size and 30cm x 15cm size. We have a few extra 50cm sashigane available here.

• Shinwa 50cm x 25cm ($47 version) on Suzuki-ya
• Shinwa Chohou Stainless Steel Carpenter Sashigane 50cm 10373 (Kurashige), or Shinwa Chohou Stainless Steel Carpenter Sashigane 50cm 10370 (Kurashige)
• Shinwa Stainless Steel #16047 30cm x 15cm sashigane (Kurashige)
• Shinwa “Japanese Framing Square flexible 50 x 25 cm white powder coating”, or Framing Square “Sashigane flexible 50 x 25 cm – surface satin chrome plated” on Fine Tools

6. Sharpening stones

At minimum, students should bring 1x 1000 grit and 1x 8000 grit waterstone. We will be teaching a special “3 stone” method of sharpening. If you want to learn this “3 stone method”, please bring 3x 1000 grit water stones. If you do not buy 3x 1000 grit stones, we recommend the diamond plate listed below for flattening your waterstones.

• 1000 grit King Stones on Kurashige (very good price, good choice if you want to learn the 3 stone method)
• 1000 grit King Stones on Woodcraft
• 8000 grit King Stones on Kurashige
• 8000 grit King Stones on Highland Woodworking
• 400 grit Atoma Diamond Plate on Kurashige or ChefKnives2Go (alternate flattening method)

Optional Tools

 

1.) Dozuki crosscut saw

210mm saw blade length is our recommendation. A dozuki is a type of backsaw used for precise cuts. Buy one saw with crosscut teeth.

• Dozuki saws on Kurashige
• Dozuki crosscut saws on Suzuki Tool
• Dozuki crosscut saws on Hida Tool

2.) 3mm Bench chisel

Useful for adjusting the mouth of a dai (plane block).

3.) Chouna (adze)

4.) Broad axe

The Basics

• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection (for any times when we have loud tools on-site)
• Work boots / closed-toe shoes — we request closed-toe shoes to be on the work site for your own safety
• Several no. 2 pencils or mechanical pencil
• Tool box or tool bag

Required Carpentry Tools

 

1.) Ryoba saw, 270mm

270mm saw blade length is our recommendation. A royoba has crosscut teeth and rip teeth on opposite sides of the blade.

• Ryoba saws on Hida Tool
• Ryoba saws on Kurashige
• Bessho Jiro brand royba saw (recommended brand, but usually difficult to find) on eBay

2.) Tataki chisels: 15mm, 30mm

The two most useful widths for our class will be 15mm and 30mm. Chisels are divided into different categories, depending on their intended use. Bench chisels (oire nomi) are shorter in length, useful for smaller dimension material and general woodworking. Tataki are much stouter, have a longer length and are made for heavier use. Because we will be using full size material, tataki chisels will be preferred. Prices can vary widely. Comb through these choices and choose based on your budget and preferences. Avoid high speed steel (HSS) tools.

• Chisels on Suzuki-ya (here and here)
• Chisels on Kurashige Tools
• Chisels on Covington & Sons

3.) Hammer (genno)

Hammers are available in a variety of weights. Somewhere between 450-675 grams is preferable.

• Osho hammer from Suzuki-ya
• Touroku Round Hammer on Kurashige (this was our 2023 recommended genno head)
• Touroku Octagon Hammers on Kurashige

4.) Plane (kanna)

Bring your tuned-up kanna from the previous workshops!

• Katsusaburo block plane from Suzuki-ya

5. Square (sashigane)

Essential for layout. Please bring your 50cm x 25cm size. We have a few extra 50cm sashigane available here.

• Shinwa 50cm x 25cm ($47 version) on Suzuki-ya
• Shinwa Chohou Stainless Steel Carpenter Sashigane 50cm 10373 (Kurashige), or Shinwa Chohou Stainless Steel Carpenter Sashigane 50cm 10370 (Kurashige)

6. Sharpening stones

At minimum, students should bring 1x 1000 grit and 1x 8000 grit waterstone.

• 1000 grit King Stones on Kurashige (very good price)
• 1000 grit King Stones on Woodcraft
• 8000 grit King Stones on Kurashige
• 8000 grit King Stones on Highland Woodworking

Optional Tools

 

1.) 48mm tataki chisel

Or any other size chisels you already have.

2.) “Slick chisel”

See Kurashige for examples of slick chisels, a type of long neck chisel usually around 400mm+ in length. These can be struck with a hammer or used to pare by simply pushing the blade. I own one of the Sukemaru slick chisels and can recommend it specifically.

3.) Chouna (adze)

4.) Broad axe