The Art of Setting Up a Japanese Hand Plane (鉋 Kanna): Step-by-step Tutorial and Demo
#kanna #japanesewoodworking #japanesewoodworkingtechnique
I remember the first time I saw a Japanese hand plane pull a full length and full width snake skin shaving. I was hooked. As I felt the surface it left, glassy and shimmering in the light, I knew that my life was changed and that these planes were going to change the way I do woodwork for the rest of my life. It's meant that I've traveled the country, watching others who use them adeptly, in an attempt to absorb some of their knowledge and tricks. I've taken classes, read books, and I've failed a lot, all in the pursuit of trying to find an effective, repeatable, and usable method of setting up a Japanese hand plane (鉋 Kanna). There's a lot of mystery about Japanese hand planes that I hear often: that they don't work well in American domestic hardwoods, that they're just too fussy to use, and that they're antiquated and outdated. While these planes can be challenging, once setup, the juice is clearly worth the squeeze. I hope you as the viewer, use this video as a reference to be able to help guide you in your Japanese plane and Japanese hand tool journey.
Video Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:52 Flattening the Back - In depth on Uradashi
00:19:42 Shaping the Bevel - Sharpening
00:22:59 Fitting the Dai - The Plane Body
00:32:09 Tuning the Bottom - The Plane Body
00:44:16 The Chip Breaker - Uragane
00:50:26 Fine Tuning, Troubleshooting, and Use
00:57:22 Final Thoughts
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Books that I find helpful and instructive on Japanese Woodworking: www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcra...
Dale Brotherton's Sharpening and the Japanese Hand Plane in Depth: hidatool.com/item/2620
Books in Japanese: Help You Understand Japanese Woodworking Planes: shop.kurashige-tools.com/en-u...
Help You Understand How To Set Up Japanese Woodworking Tools: shop.kurashige-tools.com/en-u...
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Video Chapters: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:52 Flattening the Back - In depth on Uradashi 00:19:42 Shaping the Bevel - Sharpening 00:22:59 Fitting the Dai - The Plane Body 00:32:09 Tuning the Bottom - The Plane Body 00:44:16 The Chip Breaker - Uragane 00:50:26 Fine Tuning, Troubleshooting, and Use 00:57:22 Final Thoughts Help support my channel through the following links: Cow Dog Merch (Hats and Tees): www.cowdogcraftworks.com/store For international merch orders please e-mail me directly through the website. Books that I find helpful and instructive on Japanese Woodworking: www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks/list/1D7RACW0KO8NL?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfcowdogcraftworks_0JEE9NVZZP610BA23FQQ Dale Brotherton's Sharpening and the Japanese Hand Plane in Depth: hidatool.com/item/2620 Books in Japanese: Help You Understand Japanese Woodworking Planes: shop.kurashige-tools.com/en-us/products/new-help-you-understand-traditional-japanese-planis Help You Understand How To Set Up Japanese Woodworking Tools: shop.kurashige-tools.com/en-us/products/famous-japanese-woodworking-planes Accessible Japanese tools on Amazon: www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks/list/2M7FE6DH0V4Q6?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfcowdogcraftworks_8Q2NYP8W84XFRW4C6K6T Sharpening supples available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks/list/2HMI0XMUARCTS?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfcowdogcraftworks_8Q2NYP8W84XFRW4C6K6T The Real Milk Paint Company's Impressive line of finishing products (Special Affiliate Link): www.realmilkpaint.com/ref/cowdogcraftworks/ For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks -Starbond CA Glues (Special Affiliate Link): bit.ly/3A6I5h8 For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks Support Japanese Craftsmanship in America and purchase planes and blades from Suzuki Tool: suzukitool.com/ If you want access to more tools, check out my amazon storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks //Follow along: IG: instagram.com/cowdogcraftworks/ X: twitter.com/cowdogcraftwork Facebook: facebook.com/cowdogcraftworks Website: www.cowdogcraftworks.com
I also meant to say thanks for the extensive explanation on the chip breaker - way more than I've seen before and very very helpful.
I believe I linked it in the right corner of the screen in an info card but Jim Blauvelt’s lecture from the Maine Japanese woodworking festival gives a great run down of the chip breaker.
And you will also see me in the background of the video creeping around getting knowledge. 🤣
A smooth planed surface is the payoff. The work up to planing is just fun. Excelent work on the video!!
Thank you! Hope it’s an excellent reference source for those looking to break into j tools or those looking to level up to intermediate practice.
Good quote on the whiteboard lol
One of my favorites from the group
This is incredibly detailed and very valuable information. I watched this video as soon as it was posted and you inspired me to sharpen that kanna I bought in Maine last year. A couple hours later and it's making nice shaving. Thanks buddy!
Hell yeah. Yours was a little guy too right?
@@CowDogCraftWorks I think it's 45mm?? It's about the same size as the one your working on in the video
@@JTWoodworks nice! Yeah smaller is faster to set up but there’s definitely not as much room for error.
@@CowDogCraftWorks I know. You said that in the video 🙄😂 Seriously though, the video helped a lot
@@JTWoodworks 🥰
Wow Chris, this is a comprehensive guide to setup a Japanese plane. I took so much information from it. Thanks a lot. BTW: After watching your video I have ordered a Japanese plane ;-)
My dude! This is what I like to hear. Be sure to tag me once it gets set up. Would love to see how it goes.
I will show you the result.@@CowDogCraftWorks
Nice! I’ve been looking for a thorough tutorial on setting up these planes. Thanks!
Glad I could help! I created pretty distinct chapters with links in both the pinned comment and description to help with reference for certain issues. Let me know if you have any further questions or need additional points of clarification.
Thats what I desperately needed.... Thanks a lot for this detailed guide. I bought 2 "entry level" japanese Planes last week and now i know how to properly Set them up ❤ this is goin to be a Blast, cant wait for them to arrive 😊
Awesome! Tag me on Instagram or on here when you get them up and running. Love to see it.
I will👍 ill make a reel about it I think. But not a guide 😅 just some visuals
Hell yes
great presentation Chris, you're hired ! Your passion for this subject really shows through in this video, terrific tutorial and ending with superb results,,,,,,excellent stuff as always, thanks for putting in the effort
Thanks for watching Roger! My hope is to have this be more of a standing reference to give people some visual accompaniments to the instructive literature out there, hence the very clear chapter system. Thanks as always for your support. It’s fellas like you that keep me rolling through the sharing part of this journey.
@@CowDogCraftWorks you're welcome, I've just watched the build for your father in law too , that looked great after having to make a bit of on site tweaking. I bet he was pleased ,, nice one as we say in England
@@rogerwoods1351 yeah he was psyched. I think he liked being in the video more than anything to be fair. 🤣
@@CowDogCraftWorks he'll be asking for royalties😂
@@rogerwoods1351 he gets a free shirt every year 🤣
Thank you so much for making this video! I have been curious about starting to use Japanese hand planes and this is such an amazing resource especially since I'm not close to anywhere that hosts in person classes on set up of these tools.
Thanks for watching. Like I said in the video… definitely pick up the literature. I believe that the literature combined with the video will be a very powerful resource for most.
@@CowDogCraftWorks I've got the Odate book on order and will definitely keep an eye out for the other one. Thanks!
@@ellinwoodworksI’ve actually got the brotherton book linked in the description and pinned comment. Unfortunately for my wallet it’s not an Amazon link 😂 but it’s available at Hida tool online. I believe I also added the Japanese books as well but those come from a store in Japan.
Great job mate
Appreciate it my dude!
Nice work dude 🙂🙂
Thank you!
This was a awesome video, a great companion to Odate and Brotherton's books. I feel more confident after watching this. I just got two beautiful block planes from Suzki-Ya. I decided i want true the soles on sandpaper on a glass plate. And a card scraper to relieve the hollows, After watching your and another video on KZhead. Because im familiar with the process and i already have those tools. But I also plan to oil fill them to stabilize them. And im not sure if i can set the blade and true the sole then oil fill after without it shifting or warping. I want to oil fill after because the oil might clog the sand paper. I just purchased them and live in Indiana. Thanks Tim
My only caution with a card scraper is the flexibility across its length. You want to make sure the relief is even across the full width of the block. I wouldn’t worry about oil clogging your sandpaper. Once the oil cures in the block it’s a bit of a non issue.
@@CowDogCraftWorks okay I'll be careful of that.
Интересно что даёт эти подстукивания острым концом молотка по сточенной части железки?
It dents the iron and displaces it which causes the hard steel’s shape to change. Also the hammer is not sharp. It’s a cross peen that is rounded and polished. Closer to a planishing hammer.
@CowDogCraftWorks Ive been following you guide to setting up my Japanese hand plane. I finished today and when I try and plane my wood. The plane cuts in to the wood and gouges it. Making it hard to move or getting stuck. I flatten the chipbreaker, with the gouging i the wood chips stuck. The only thing I didnt do was use the scrapper since I dont have anything. What am I doing wrong?
Could be a few things. For starters it sounds like your depth of cut is too deep. The blade should barely protrude from the body. If you’re sighting down the bottom toward the mouth it should resemble a thin hair at the mouth. You should be able to take effective passes first without the chip breaker.
Excellent work! I would be interested in any tips for setting up specialist kanna (kiwa, sori, sakuri) you've parsed from those Japanese books...
Actually a quick one I picked up for kiwa recently… not from the book… but get you a luthiers reamer for that side hole.
Thanks for the kiwa tip. I have ongoing issues with mine and I'm the sole guy here using Kannas ... So self learning . thanks
@@dirdick43 also the other kiwa tips that were given to me was to open the mouth up a little further than you would with a smoother and the surface at that hole needs to be as smooth as you can get it in both directions. Any little splinters or choppy spots will cause shavings to hang up and jam. With all this being said… kiwa at any size are notoriously fussy.
Desmond King includes some details on setting up a kiwa kanna in his book “Shoji and Kumiko Design: Book 1 The Basics.” The first third of the book is all about setting up kanna.
Which sharpening stones did you use? Are those the Naniwa diamond ones?
I have a variety of stones but my low grit stones 3000 and under are nsk diamond resins. Not particularly practical from a cost perspective but they do cut very fast.
@@CowDogCraftWorks Those are expensive indeed, but resin bonded diamond stones are great. Fast cutting speed and flatness of diamond stones but the feel of a waterstone.
@@michael.knightso these don’t stay particularly flat between uses. But they cut very very fast. For more flatness the naniwa diamonds are excellent.
I find this very overwhelming. How often do you need to go through this process?
This is the process for setting up a new plane… so… if you’re setting up a lot of new planes… that’s kind of your answer. But practically speaking what you’re referring to is the maintenance aspect. You dont need to tap out often. I believe in the video I mention that you only do it when your ito-ura gets wasted away from sharpening the bevel and you end up in the hollow itself. That takes a while… it depends on how much you sharpen and how much you work. I’m a fairly avid hobbyist and I’m tapping out maybe once a year as a maintenance measure. What you will do more often is tune the bottom of the dai itself, but once that’s established it’s a couple swipes here and there. Three points of contact is harder to maintain but a standard two points of contact smoother doesn’t take much to keep running. If I’m planing a lot and for a while I’ll have a couple planes set up and I’ll check the bottoms periodically because of humidity changes through the day. But any actual scraping is minimal at best.
The japanese planes are more specialized than your Stanley smoother which is fixed at 45 degrees, the 45 degree is a good compromise but a compromise nevertheless. That said, nowadays you could get different angle frogs so no big difference there. It's just people still have their old mindset. To be fair, for a DIYer, a softwood kanna on amazon is probably not going to work as well as their metal body planes on his/her maple edge trims.
The issue I’ve found with the Amazon planes is the poor quality of the chip breaker. The blades and the body are generally acceptable, although not of the same quality as something like what I’m setting up in the video. But your point is certainly well taken. I know for me personally as a woodworker and not a machinist… I can better dial in a wood body and adjust it as necessary… than lapping a steel body or trying to lap a frog’s bottom to ensure perfect mating parts. I have an excellent Stanley bedrock 604 that was restored by Mark Webster… and I was very happy to pay him to do all that detail work in metal that I had no desire to do.
'promo sm' 😱