JTA's Plane Tips

If you find that your plane blade is loose after assembly or use, don't worry, this is a common issue that's straightforward to fix. A simple approach is to apply...

We love Japanese planes, and we think you will too. Our planes, or "kanna" in Japanese, come in plenty of different sizes - so which one should you start out...

Congratulations — you are now the proud owner of a Japanese plane. There is just one small catch: straight out of the box, it probably isn't ready to perform at...

With the back of the plane blade now lapped flat and polished, it is time to turn our attention to the other side of the edge: the bevel. If you...

With the blade sharpened and ready to work, the next step is fitting it to the wooden plane body, or dai. The aim is a firm, controlled fit. The blade...

With the blade sharpened, fitted and set, it is time to turn our attention to the sole of the plane. Unlike many Western planes, the sole of a Japanese plane...

We have reached the final part of our Japanese plane tuning series — for the moment, at least. With the blade sharpened, fitted and the sole tuned, it is time...

Some high-end, hand-made Japanese planes include a feature known as the tsutsumi — a small secondary facet at the bottom of the blade bed that supports the bevel as the...

Well, here we are. You are thinking about taking a hammer to your beautiful Japanese plane blade. You have either completely lost it, or you are a brave woodworker determined...

The mimi are the small facets on either side of a Japanese plane blade's cutting edge — essentially the blade's “ears”. Their job is simple but important: they allow the...

Your new Japanese plane has arrived, you tap the blade in, take a pass… and it doesn't cut quite the way you hoped. Nothing is wrong. That last bit of...