Craftsmanship in Wood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bR69B5Caew

I know many of you have likely seen these videos but there is a lot to learn just by watching how they saw & chop out waste. I don't know if it's directly transferable in hard wood with less surface area for tool registration (hence Chris' use of 1-2-3 blocks) but I still think it's worth your time to view.

For those who don't know, this is a huge series. Look at all of the videos posted by the user to see more.

Thanks Chris

I don't know if it's directly transferable in hard wood with less surface area for tool registration (hence Chris' use of 1-2-3 blocks)

Why would hard wood translate into less surface area? Carpenters in Japan also make large timber frames in hardwood (keyaki being an example) and the cut out techniques are the same.

In that video he pares to the line without a paring guide, however later on you see him using a stick and a sashigane to check whether his cuts are plumb. If he had a western combo square he could check similarly - and more accurately if you ask me.

It seems to me either one takes the time beforehand to set up the cut to be plumb (with a paring guide), or one makes the cuts freehand and takes the time afterwards to check and adjust with other guides.

There was a video online of a Japanese guide cutting a timber joint using a block of wood as a paring guide, which he kneeled upon rather than clamped, however I cannot find it. Point being: some carpenters use paring guides, some do not. Maybe most do not, however everyone needs to check that their cut out is correctly done, so they check afterwards by some means.

That was a fragmented thought. I meant the softwood they are using for timber frames has a great deal of surface area to register a tool against where as the majority of projects I've seen on here are made of hardwoods for furniture. These are often much smaller sticks and can benefit greatly from an additional block for registration surface area, not to mention the 1-2-3 offering a true reference plane (assuming square sticks).

I use the 1-2-3 generally for furniture work, though the 2-4-6 block is something I'm planning to acquire in the near future.

On larger stuff, the 1-2-3 is occasionally helpful, however generally I use squared up sticks in the 2"x3" cross section, and about 12" long. They need to be checked from time to time to make sure that they remain square.

The registration surface idea: the initial cutting is what counts in that case. If the end grain surface you establish is not square to the stick, then referencing off of it will only extend the inaccuracy. If, on the other hand, you establish an accurate initial surface, using some sort of paring guide, then you can pare beyond that using the surface already created, and the result should be decent - and checked for square/flat regardless. This often happens by necessity with longer cuts, as the registration surface of the chisel is only so long, and once you reach the limit with the paring block in the way, the paring block needs to be removed so you can continue further in.