Japanese Hand Planes

What seems like a simple tool, a blade and a block of wood, the Japan­ese plane (Kanna) is actu­ally a very complex instru­ment with many subtle qual­i­ties. Andrew will discuss the simi­lar­i­ties and more impor­tantly some of the differ­ences between western planes and their Japan­ese coun­ter­part. Much of the differ­ence is in the blade itself. Japan­ese tools are forged one at a time by expe­ri­enced black­smiths. The lami­nated steel construc­tion allows more from the blade. Even the simple wooden body is full of subtleties to improve it’s perfor­mance. Andrew will not only go on about all the things he loves about Japan­ese planes, he will also take the time to describe the phys­i­cal advan­tages some of these differ­ences allow and how they can be applied to western planes. And of course there will be an oppor­tu­nity to try out a Japan­ese plane for your­self. Andrew will have planes fully tuned and ready to pull beau­ti­ful, glossy shav­ings in a variety of wood species.