Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a Japanese plane, and guess what - it's not doing ANYTHING straight out of the box! Gosh dang and darn it! Fear not!...

With the back of our plane's blade lapped flat, it is time to turn our attention to the fun side - the bevel. If you have sharpened any plane blade...

Once our blade is beautifully sharp, the next job is to fit it to the block (dai). We want to arrive at a fit that requires firm hammer hits to...

The blade is sharp and set, and it is time to take control of the sole!  Establish Your Contact Patches The plane will need a contact patch both at the...

It's time to get this chisel sharp and get to work!  Sharpening a Japanese chisel follows the same principles as any edged woodworking tool. We greatly prefer to use waterstones,...

Lapping the back of a Japanese chisel allows it's cutting edge to achieve it's full potential, and be referenced correctly against straight lines when driving or flat surfaces when paring....

Getting the most from your Japanese chisel requires that it  be set up and tuned before use. In this first video of a three part series, we set the hoop...