Toshio Odate in his workshop. The Workbench Book
One of the more common knocks against Japanese woodworking techniques are comments to the effect of “Why would anyone want to work on the floor?” The thing is, with these techniques, you aren’t working on the floor. You’re sitting on your workbench.
Also, check out that awesome saw collection.
Source: brushfactorywoodwork
Terrific sentiment.
New bumper sticker for my red cart.
Gotta carry wood with style and attitude.
Source: ordinary-kreature
Shannon Rogers (a.k.a. The Renaissance Woodworker and the worst embedded social media reporter ever) wondered if Nakashima furniture was still being built by hand. This video may or may not completely answer this question, but it’s a really beautiful look into the Nakashima home and workshop.
To make up for making fun of Shannon, I’ll mention that he has a booth at Woodworking in America for his Hand Tool School, and I’ll say again that the Hand Tool School is one of the best deals in woodworking education out there.
Source: papersky.jp
Our Humble Workshops
Eric Bushee’s new blog, BreenBush Design, with a really nice discussion on workshop locations. This is a particularly good insight:
No matter what your shop looks like, I guarantee there is someone out there who has it worse. And while it may slow them down at times, it never stops them from working.
The workshop at the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, where the kids get to work on their projects. I think they get woodworking geek cred for having real Record 52D vises on their workbenches.
Who needs Ikea when you have a workbench?
Mark Schreiber asked:
I collected many antique Japanese planes when I was stationed in Okinawa. I am trying to work out sensible storage for my chisels, saws, planes, and gauges. Can you provide some inspiration, especially for Japanese plow planes and those crazy wing nuts?
And Jonathan asked:
Hi Wilbur. Great blog. I have a dozuki and a ryoba saw. I am wondering how you would recommend storing them. Currently I have them hanging horizontally on two nails each next to my bench, but they really don’t want to stay put. I have looked through your photos, and I haven’t seen your Japanese saws stored anywhere.
Any suggestions?
Thanks, Jonathan
Thanks for the questions, and for the nice comments!
On the wall where my bench is, I attached 1x12 pine boards and have made purpose made holders for my hand tools. This is how I store the marking gauges that I have. There are small notches that the beam of the gauge sits in. You can also see how I store some of the squares that I use.
This is my chisel rack.
I’ve been told that this isn’t a proper chisel rack, and that this method of laying the chisels horizontally between two short dowels is an accident waiting to happen. What is not obvious in the picture is that the dowels are not horizontal, but are angled up about 5 degrees, so they make a nice crook for the chisel to rest in, and the chisels are much more secure than it may seem at first glance.
This is the rack that I made for my saws.
I kept going back and forth between building a rack where the saws were stored edge on, which would have protruded out from the wall more than I liked, and storing them flat against the wall, which is what is illustrated in Toshio Odate’s book, but would have taken up a lot of wall space. I cut the slots at a 45° angle, which is a nice compromise between the two.
This is how Japanese planes are often stored. This method takes advantage of how the blade is set back along the length of the plane and how it sticks up from the body. These planes are just resting on the piece of wood and are not touching the wall at all.
I think this is really clever. You can even store a Japanese plane this way on the edge of the side wall of a tool box. But I don’t have a storage system that is clever at all for storing the specialty Japanese planes, like the Japanese plow planes. I just put them up on a shelf.
All of these storage devices were the very first things that I made once my workbench was completed. I remember thinking that these shelves and holders were coming together unbelievably fast, and that it was much easier to make them than I thought it would be. Then it hit me that it should be easier to make these things, as I now had a proper workbench to use. And the ability to make custom storage devices for my tools is a lot more satisfying than picking through the offerings at the local Swedish termite barf warehouse.
Q:From your perspective as an oncologist (if I recall correctly), how would you unofficially, personally classify the carcinogenic spectrum of solvents and unguents used to clean/restore/maintain wood working tools? I.e., from water to, say, paraffin, to mineral oil, to mineral spirits, oven cleaner, paint stripper, lacquer thinner, up to, say, I don't know, let's say, Uranium-238. What's too icky to even bother with?
Anonymous
You’re close. I’m a pediatric oncologist, and I’m either jazzed or horrified the worlds of my day job and my hobby are colliding.
In any case, the good thing is that you don’t need to find an oncologist to figure out the carcinogenic potential of any of those agents. Every one of those agents has a “material data safety sheet”, or MSDS, which spells out that information for you. So if you’re worried about, say, your can of mineral spirits, using the Google quickly gets you a MSDS for mineral spirits. Included among the information in the MSDS are comments on the carcinogenic potential for the susbtance in question.
As it turns out, there is not sufficient evidence to classify mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, mineral oil, or paraffin as carcinogens. As far as paint stripper or oven cleaner, that will depend on the manufacturer, since different manufacturers will have different formulations and ingredients in those products, but again, the Google is your friend here.
U-238 is probably a bad idea, and it won’t protect a chisel from rust.
With these agents, however, a more relevant issue from a health standpoint are the effects of those solvents on your lungs. Again, the MSDS will give you information on these issues. From the MSDS for mineral spirits:
Section 11: Toxicological Information
Routes of Entry: Eye contact. Inhalation. Ingestion.
Toxicity to Animals:
LD50: Not available.
LC50: Not available.
Chronic Effects on Humans: The substance is toxic to lungs, the nervous system.
Other Toxic Effects on Humans: Hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (permeator).
For what it’s worth, I keep a can of mineral spirits around for degreasing without worrying too much. Of course, when I’m using the stuff I’m careful to have plenty of ventilation and to wear nitrile gloves. I had a can of naphtha once, and it worked great for degreasing, but after looking at the MSDS for naphtha, I probably won’t use it again.
I have 45 holes to drill in cinder block to attach these 2x4’s to the wall so I can have something to mount storage to. I will be so happy when this is over.
