There's more than exoticism tied up in how some woodworkers feel about Japanese tools. While they are fundamentally the same tools we have, the are also profoundly different. 90% of that is because the tools reflect two geographically separate cultures finding solutions to the same problems with technology.
But some things are different. For example, Early American timber framing chisels are composed of two types of steel in order to maintaing a sharp edge while not being so hard they become brittle. Many of those old chisels are superior to today's chisels.
America's early carpenters had nice steel produced by skilled blacksmiths. However, Japan's nicest chisels are made by the hands of craftsmen directly descended from Samurai sword-smiths (for real, there's documentation of the career changes sword-smiths made after the Samurai were banned). There is a measurable difference in the cutting ability of those tools.
They were a pleasure to use. They're also crazy. This link will bring to a video of a Japanese Plane Competition. At one point a ribbon of planed wood is measured at 9 microns. To give you a sense, in woodworking, 1/64th of an inch is small. It's also 396 microns.
Every dog has some wolf.
No comments:
Post a Comment