Craftsmanship in Wood

Has anyone ever seen chisel backs like these?



more photos here:
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/y8077jp/70666177.html

That was new to me.

The chisel brand is Masakiyo (正清), and that is a limited production set of 5 with the ura given a hyōtan shape - hyōtan meaning bottle gourd, like this:
I can't really say I see any practical purpose to making the ura like that, but it certainly is unique.

I thought the same, Chris: I couldn't see a practical reason and suspected it was stylistic more than anything.
It's certainly pretty, but I can't see it staying that way for very long with frequent use...

Speaking of backs, did you ever see/use the "maintenance-free" Tsunesaburo plane irons? link: http://japantool-iida.com/plane_smoothi ... inten.html and here: http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/ind ... &chapter=5

I wasn't convinced by their raison d'etre, but haven't seen anyone use them or comment on them...

cheers,
_t

I've always wondered just how you sharpen the backs of those Tsunesaburo. Presumably you still need a second land to register against, but where on the ura does that fall? If you just place the back edge on the stone, it would seem difficult to maintain flatness, but maybe I'm just over thinking it.

Cool looking chisels. Seems you could mimic the look by sharpening your chisels really, really poorly. Not that I've ever done so...

The importance of gourds was somewhat lost on me, so I found this page that was an interesting read;
https://printsofjapan.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/gourds/

dmccurtis wrote:I've always wondered just how you sharpen the backs of those Tsunesaburo. Presumably you still need a second land to register against, but where on the ura does that fall? If you just place the back edge on the stone, it would seem difficult to maintain flatness, but maybe I'm just over thinking it.

Cool looking chisels. Seems you could mimic the look by sharpening your chisels really, really poorly. Not that I've ever done so...

I also have a certain amount of curiosity about those newer Tsunesaburo planes, but haven't had a chance to even examine one yet.

There's one for sale on eBay right now. Might be your best chance at one at a reasonable price.

[edit] On second look, that seller seems to sell a ton of Tsunesaburo planes, both the "regular" type and this new type.. Though all the pictures are of the same plane (respectively). He has a ton of transactions and still 100% feedback, so apparently he has access to a lot of these planes and he's moving them - and people seem to be buying and using them without problem..

The chisel back looks a lot like the label design for Yamahiro - the gourd. I've seen other labels that look like fruit and flowers.. That might be a fun topic all by itself - the origins and meanings behind the chisel label shapes/brands/logos.