Timber Framers Guild 2007 Western Conference: Makoto Imai's Demonstration - 2007/04/14

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Session highlights:

• Makoto Imai demonstrating tool sharpening and joinery. This event was supposed to happen outdoor but due to rain, it was moved indoor. The poor lighting, combined with the dark background and Makoto's equally dark attire made the whole thing seem like a magic act. I'm surprised the photos turned out so well even without flash.
• Video footage of Makoto crosscutting a piece of wood (145MB).
• Interesting notes from Imai-san:
  • He considers himself more of a chisel man rather than a plane man, i.e., he enjoys working with the chisels more.

Last Update:

2007/04/23 - Page created by Bob Le. Thanks go to Jim Clarke for some nice, sharp photos because he used his flash.

	01 - We helped Makoto unload his tools from the van.
	02
	03
	04, 05, 06, 07 - Typical Makoto-style workbench with trestles and planks as described in Scott Landis' "The Workbench Book". The heavier plank is for planing and the lighter ones are for resting tools.
	08
	09, 10, 11, 12 - Saws are mostly of the replaceable blade Gyokucho variety except for one Shindo. According to Makoto, replaceable blades are less of a hassle - performance is good and there's no need to sharpen them.
	13
	14, 15, 16, 17
	18, 19, 20, 21
	22, 23, 24, 25 - Sumitsubo preparation.
	26, 27 - This water pond is an old refrigerator metal drawer (enamel) which Makoto has been using for a while.
	28
	29, 30
	31, 32, 33, 34 - Makoto stores his stones in the water pond. The man-made stones are submerged and the natural stones are placed on top of the man-made stones, so can absorb the moisture but aren't submerged.
	35, 36, 37, 38 - Here he's using the Bester 1200, his preferred medium/coarse stone, to form the burr. He also prefers hard finish stones - can apply more pressure, don't suck in water too much.
	39, 40, 41, 42 - "Don't go fast, slower is better."
	43, 44
	45, 46
	47 - Traditional position used by Japanese daiku for sharpening.
	48
	49, 50
	51, 52, 53
	54, 55 - Sumisashi preparation.
	56, 57, 58, 59 - Trimming the sumisashi to a fine point.
	60
	61, 62 - Checking the dai. His planes arrived from Washington state, so the dai's needed quite a bit of tuning.
	63, 64, 65 - Makoto adjusting his scraper plane. This has got to be the widest scraper plane I've seen at 60mm or so... The other Japanese daiku's also used rather wide scraper planes though not as wide as Makoto's. See here.
	66, 67
	68
	69 - Scraper needs to be finely set. Look for when there's no more vibration (chatter) when scraping.
	70, 71
	72, 73
	74, 75, 76, 77
	78, 79, 80
	81, 82 - Here Makoto is adjusting a small scraper plane (~24mm) which he then uses to adjust his big scraper plane.
	83, 84
	85
	86
	87 - Preparing the stock for planing. Both ends are chamfered.
	88, 89
	90 - Makoto checking the stock for squareness.
	91, 92, 93, 94
	95, 96 - Again checking for squareness - near end, then far end.
	97 - I can't believe that with all the pictures I took, I happen to miss the one-hand planing here. Doh! This is the tail end of it. Check out the thin, full-width shaving. "[Plane] finely set, no pressure. Can pull with 1 hand."
	98, 99, 100, 101 - Let the layout begins!
	102, 103, 104, 105, 106
	107, 108
	109
	110, 111
	112, 113, 114 - Intermission. We had the opportunity to check out Makoto's tools up close. His chisel set is mostly Funahiro (Genju). The two thin chisels of unknown makers are amongst his favorites. They allow him to get into tight places.
	115, 116 - Planes.. planes... planes... Check out the cork grip for comfort.
	117
	118
	119
	120
	121
	122
	123
	124, 125, 126 - Scraper plane. Makoto made his own dai. The blade was made from the Kiriba stock (see our Hand Tools page).
	127 - Nishiyama checking out the competition. B-)
	128
	129, 130
	131 - 2 thin bench chisels.
	132
	133
	134
	135, 136, 137
	138
	139, 140, 141, 142, 143
	144, 145, 146
	147, 148, 149, 150, 151
	152
	153, 154
	155
	156, 157, 158, 159
	160, 161, 162
	163, 164
	165, 166
	167 - The piece makes the round while Makoto moves on to the mating piece.
	168, 169, 170
	171, 172, 173
	174, 175
	176, 177, 178
	179, 180
	181, 182
	183, 184
	185
	186, 187 - Test fitting.
	188, 189 - Fine tuning.
	190 - Final fitting.
	191 - Now he makes the wedge.
	192
	193, 194
	195, 196, 197
	198, 199
	200
	201, 202, 203, 204, 205 - Finish planing.
	206
	207
	208, 209, 210 - Chamfering the edges with the chamfer plane.
	211, 212 - Finally, rounding the chamfered edges.
	213 - Makoto with Will Beemer, Timber Framers Guild's Executive Director.
	214
	215
	216, 217, 218, 219, 220
	221
	222 - (From left) Philip Yee, Makoto, Jim Clarke, and Jay.
	223, 224, 225 - Makoto and Jay.
	226
	227 - Makoto and Daiku Dojo members - (Front row from left) Brian Beck, Phil, Bob, (middle row) Makoto, Jay, Manny, Herman, (back row) Jim, Terry.
	228 - Makoto's toolbox.
	229, 230
	231
	232, 233 - Jay and Makoto.
	234, 235 - Chisel tray fits inside toolbox. According to Makoto, this is everything he needs to do most of his works. And the reading glasses too, of course!
	236, 237 - Nifty Makoto trestle.