What's in the Bag?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:55 am
I have been wanting to start this topic for awhile now, and maybe it is super basic and not of interest to others (especially the pros out there), but it is fascinating to me. Almost bordering on my obsession with Japanese layout marks, but not quite..
In many videos of actual Japanese Carpenters (i.e. making houses in Japan) you see them wearing bags. Or, I should say, a single bag. Usually attached to a belt, and riding on one hip. Now having taken some classes in Western Carpentry, I've seen what tools are considered essential to be carried in Western bags. Frankly, it's a ton of stuff. But looking at the average Japanese Carpenter, it looks like he carries:
A Hammer
A Chisel
That's it. Oh, maybe there are TWO chisels. Or nails in the pouches you can't see, or a few odd tools. But not the 40 lbs of stuff framers carry in the US. I've always been curious as to what kinds of tools are carried in this bag. And then I saw this video, a virtual cornucopia of bags:
https://youtu.be/oPOWWoCBQCA
(don't know how to embed that)
So now I see:
A Folding Saw (OK, this is an ad for folding saws, so you can kind of discount that, but still..)
Nailset/Catspaw (I think it's interesting that you can't find non-Japanese versions of catspaws in the US anymore)
Small Prybar
The guy at :44 is positively bristling with tools:
A chalk/inkline in a separate sheath?
Some kind of electric tool (maybe a drill? meter?) that has a plastic tackle box attached to it (for bits/screws?)
Screwdrivers! Maybe this guy's an electrician..
There's lots of other stuff I find neat in that video - mainly because the idea of "Japanese Carpentry" in this country is so romanticized - whisper fine shavings with planes, working on giant temples, samurai swordsmithing, etc. These guys don't have time for that crap - too busy working!
OK, so now the inevitable questions:
THE HAMMERS:
Why is the Funate style hammer popular with Carpenters? I've seen this described as a Boat Builder's hammer. I'm not sure how the pointed end is used in Boat Building, but it's always described as being for driving nails in tight spaces, or for setting nails. I've tried doing both with mine and it's not easy.
There are a couple of guys in the video with what a Westerner would normally call a "Japanese Chisel Hammer" (notably with curved and/or D shaped handles so they know which end they're using). Noticeably absent (at least in this video) is the "Kariwaku" framing hammer (with the "bugle" or "duck bill" head, as my classmates call mine), though maybe that's because no one is stick framing or driving nails.
I find it amusing the hammers are always in the bag with the handle out (sometimes the handle's sticking WAY out) instead of in a loop or hasp as a Western Carpenter might have it. Most of the guys here in CA have their hammers in loops in the small of their back, so the handle is hanging straight down between their legs like a tail. I find this awkward.
THE CHISEL(S):
I understand that each Carpenter is different and that it's impossible to know the conditions each is working under, but what kind of chisels are being carried? There is so much emphasis in the West about Japanese Toolboxes and how all the chisels are arranged therein.. Well, these guys are only carrying one or two, so which ones do they carry? Big, wide, bench chisels? Tataki nomi? Paring chisels? Mortise chisels? If they're carrying two, would they be the same style but different sizes, or could one be a striking chisel while the other was paring, etc.?
Would the Carpenter be carrying the best chisel he could afford, or would he be carrying a cheap but cheerful one that he could afford to lose? In my Western Finish Carpentry class we weren't encouraged to buy "good" tools as we were expected to either lose or abuse them. Something tells me this is not the case in Japan, but maybe that's me stereotyping again.
OTHER MISC. ?s:
I'm sure most in the West would chuckle at the tabis. I haven't had the guts to try them on a Western jobsite yet (and they'd probably never be allowed). But another thing I thought was interesting was how many guys are wearing gloves. We were taught wearing gloves (especially when using power tools) is blatantly unsafe - and yet, in Japan, no problem. Of course those guys are working on the roof without fall arrest gear too, and I've yet to see a video that featured someone wearing safety glasses, so whatever.
Speaking of power tools, this video doesn't show saws (since they're trying to sell you on their folding saw), but I've seen plenty of videos where guys are using circular saws and electric drills. For residential-scale carpentry, are hand saws still used, or is it all electric? I'm just going to assume no one is using braces or gimlets to make holes on jobsites in Japan!
Other than the guy who I think is wearing an ink or chalk line (and the roofers who appear to have sumitsubo laying about on the roof), do Japanese Carpenters carry layout tools with them? What about tape measures? Marking knives? I suppose a lot of this has to do with how much work is done in the shop vs. onsite, but it seems odd not to have a tape on your belt. I don't know how you could carry a sashigane in that little bag though.. If they're not carrying the tools on them, would they always just be in their toolboxes? And speaking of toolboxes, where are they? In their pickups behind their gun racks? Would they still be made of wood?
If anyone has any insight to any of those questions, I'd sure appreciate it.
Darrell
In many videos of actual Japanese Carpenters (i.e. making houses in Japan) you see them wearing bags. Or, I should say, a single bag. Usually attached to a belt, and riding on one hip. Now having taken some classes in Western Carpentry, I've seen what tools are considered essential to be carried in Western bags. Frankly, it's a ton of stuff. But looking at the average Japanese Carpenter, it looks like he carries:
A Hammer
A Chisel
That's it. Oh, maybe there are TWO chisels. Or nails in the pouches you can't see, or a few odd tools. But not the 40 lbs of stuff framers carry in the US. I've always been curious as to what kinds of tools are carried in this bag. And then I saw this video, a virtual cornucopia of bags:
https://youtu.be/oPOWWoCBQCA
(don't know how to embed that)
So now I see:
A Folding Saw (OK, this is an ad for folding saws, so you can kind of discount that, but still..)
Nailset/Catspaw (I think it's interesting that you can't find non-Japanese versions of catspaws in the US anymore)
Small Prybar
The guy at :44 is positively bristling with tools:
A chalk/inkline in a separate sheath?
Some kind of electric tool (maybe a drill? meter?) that has a plastic tackle box attached to it (for bits/screws?)
Screwdrivers! Maybe this guy's an electrician..
There's lots of other stuff I find neat in that video - mainly because the idea of "Japanese Carpentry" in this country is so romanticized - whisper fine shavings with planes, working on giant temples, samurai swordsmithing, etc. These guys don't have time for that crap - too busy working!
OK, so now the inevitable questions:
THE HAMMERS:
Why is the Funate style hammer popular with Carpenters? I've seen this described as a Boat Builder's hammer. I'm not sure how the pointed end is used in Boat Building, but it's always described as being for driving nails in tight spaces, or for setting nails. I've tried doing both with mine and it's not easy.
There are a couple of guys in the video with what a Westerner would normally call a "Japanese Chisel Hammer" (notably with curved and/or D shaped handles so they know which end they're using). Noticeably absent (at least in this video) is the "Kariwaku" framing hammer (with the "bugle" or "duck bill" head, as my classmates call mine), though maybe that's because no one is stick framing or driving nails.
I find it amusing the hammers are always in the bag with the handle out (sometimes the handle's sticking WAY out) instead of in a loop or hasp as a Western Carpenter might have it. Most of the guys here in CA have their hammers in loops in the small of their back, so the handle is hanging straight down between their legs like a tail. I find this awkward.
THE CHISEL(S):
I understand that each Carpenter is different and that it's impossible to know the conditions each is working under, but what kind of chisels are being carried? There is so much emphasis in the West about Japanese Toolboxes and how all the chisels are arranged therein.. Well, these guys are only carrying one or two, so which ones do they carry? Big, wide, bench chisels? Tataki nomi? Paring chisels? Mortise chisels? If they're carrying two, would they be the same style but different sizes, or could one be a striking chisel while the other was paring, etc.?
Would the Carpenter be carrying the best chisel he could afford, or would he be carrying a cheap but cheerful one that he could afford to lose? In my Western Finish Carpentry class we weren't encouraged to buy "good" tools as we were expected to either lose or abuse them. Something tells me this is not the case in Japan, but maybe that's me stereotyping again.
OTHER MISC. ?s:
I'm sure most in the West would chuckle at the tabis. I haven't had the guts to try them on a Western jobsite yet (and they'd probably never be allowed). But another thing I thought was interesting was how many guys are wearing gloves. We were taught wearing gloves (especially when using power tools) is blatantly unsafe - and yet, in Japan, no problem. Of course those guys are working on the roof without fall arrest gear too, and I've yet to see a video that featured someone wearing safety glasses, so whatever.
Speaking of power tools, this video doesn't show saws (since they're trying to sell you on their folding saw), but I've seen plenty of videos where guys are using circular saws and electric drills. For residential-scale carpentry, are hand saws still used, or is it all electric? I'm just going to assume no one is using braces or gimlets to make holes on jobsites in Japan!
Other than the guy who I think is wearing an ink or chalk line (and the roofers who appear to have sumitsubo laying about on the roof), do Japanese Carpenters carry layout tools with them? What about tape measures? Marking knives? I suppose a lot of this has to do with how much work is done in the shop vs. onsite, but it seems odd not to have a tape on your belt. I don't know how you could carry a sashigane in that little bag though.. If they're not carrying the tools on them, would they always just be in their toolboxes? And speaking of toolboxes, where are they? In their pickups behind their gun racks? Would they still be made of wood?
If anyone has any insight to any of those questions, I'd sure appreciate it.
Darrell