Kesurokai

Gränsfors Bruks axes

Gränsfors Bruks are a very small company and do not normally offer sponsorship so we consider ourselves very privileged to have been given some tools by them to send out to Japan. The Japanese really appreciate high quality tools and Gränsfors' are superb; hand-forged and designed by people who use them. In return for their generosity I shall be providing them with photos, and hopefully video too, of the tools being used on the project.

 

We now have most of the tools from our tool list and by the end of next week the large crate will be sealed and they will begin their slow voyage by sea to Japan, hopefully arriving by the time we get there in August. The reason so many tools are needed is because there will be a large number of Japanese carpenters working over a short period of time on the European paviliion. Whilst they could work with their own Japanese axes, part of the point of the project is that everyone gets to experience the tools and techniques of the others' culture.

I will write more about Gränsfors Bruks later because the story of their company is fascinating, but in the mean time here is some video of Robin using one of their Swedish carving axes which were developed in association with the great master spooncarver Wille Sundqvist and are superb for spoon carving.

N.B. there is no audio on this video due to WMG falling out with YouTube

Tools (and the wonders of Skype)

The carpenters have an extensive tool list that is needed to build the European pavilion and these must be taken with us because many of them are unique to European carpentry. 

This morning Robin and Hannes spent quite some time discussing which tools are still needed via Skype; somehow it is much easier to talk when you can see each other, particularly if one of you is not speaking in your native language. The screen sharing option mean you can look at web sites together too, here they are discussing axes:

The pressure is now on to source them all because, due to their great weight, they must be shipped in advance, leaving at the beginning of May. Hannes has arranged a discounted rate with a shipping company and is building a substantial crate (3m x 1m x 1m) to contain them all.

Many of these tools are very expensive so they are also working on obtaining discounts and sponsorship deals for them. After Kesurokai the tools will remain in Japan as gifts for the Japanese carpenters who will be our hosts.

The original Japanese kesurokai

Kesurokai meetings started in Japan in 1995, organised by the highly respected temple carpenter Sugimura san. His aim was to bring together different craftsmen who normally work remotely to exchange traditional craft techniques and knowledge.

These events serve not only the practical purpose of ensuring age-old skills are maintained, but also create a sense of community amongst the craftsmen, helping them maintain their businesses. The Kesurokai movement has around 1500 members in Japan and holds twice yearly meetings all over the country.

A friend just brought this web site to my attention which has some images from a Kesurokai meeting in 2006 which show just how large and well attended they are:

 

 

There are also some really superb videos on the web site showing how various woodworking tools are made.

Barefoot woodwork

People often comment on the Japanese carpenters' preference for working barefoot ... and they question the safety of it. Clearly it is standard practice in Japan and winter pictures on Amemiya san's site show them wearing soft-soled, flexible shoes so I suspect that having a firm foothold on the log underneath them is of prime importance.

So, what if the axe slipped? Well, their axes are so sharp and heavy you would definitely need a substantial steel toecap to deflect them (and then you would probably damage your precious blade!) I suspect behind it is techniques that mean their feet would be out of the way if the blade travelled further than planned. Bare feet give you the incentive to make sure they will be.

We have been asked on carving courses about whether new students should not wear a protective glove to guard against slips with the knife. Our decision has been that our whole ethos is to teach techniques to ensure this does not happen, and having bare hands gives the best grip and keeps the students mind focused on safety. We get very few injuries so it pays off for us too!

Planing together

Kesurokai in Japanese means 'planing together' and at the centre of Kesurokai meetings in Japan are planing competitions. In these the craftsmen compete to produce long, perfectly even, paper-thin shavings from blocks of wood with a plane. This is not just a test of their skills with the tool, but also their sharpening skills. 

The Japanese craftsmen take great pride in their sharpening, spending many hours keeping their tools in perfect condition. This time is not wasted because the perfect, silky smooth finish left behind by a well-sharpened plane needs no further finishing. There is no need to spend time sanding as other carpenters would.

Japanese waterstones are renowned for their quick-working qualities and we use them to sharpen the many tools we have for our carving courses. Ours however are the cheaper, synthetic stones and we were quite astonished by the difference when Hannes gave us a natural stone brought back from Japan. The speed with which it cuts is quite remarkable.

Japanese vs European saws

Another striking difference between the tools of the Japanese and European carpenters is the large saws they use for rip sawing the beams, that is cutting along rather than across the grain. In a previous post I showed pictures of the most common Japanese saw for this purpose, which is a remarkable-looking tool:

 

The saw most often used by the European carpenters for this job is a two-man saw like this, although sizes and designs do vary greatly:

In both cases they often use a long, thin wooden wedge to keep the cut open and prevent the blade from becoming trapped as they work:

 

There are also a huge variety of cross cut saws too...

German vs Japanese hewing

The most common way the German carpenters hew a beam is to start by cutting a series of v-shaped notches along its length. They do this by working in a pair, taking alternate cuts at each side of the notch, which is very efficient and quite remarkable to watch (video here). Then the wood between the notches is removed, leaving a flat surface:

 

The Japanese method is to do a series of relief-cuts into the log in just one direction, rather than removing a notch, then slice off the surface by swinging a large axe like a pendulum. This is achieved by standing bare-foot on top of the log which is equally as remarkable to watch (video here).

 

Both methods seem to be equally efficient, and clearly the regional axes have developed according to the way in which they are used ... or maybe the way the axes are used dictates their style!

Hewing and sawing

Yesterday I mentioned the initial timber preparation which, for the European pavilion, is expected to take around two days. This preparation is necessary because the buildings are being made from trees felled on site.

Here are some images taken in Japan in 2008 when Hannes was helping out with some of the early preparations, firstly felling a tree using axes to cut the "gob" and a crosscut saw for the felling cut:

 

Then hewing, which involves squaring the timber using a different type of axe:

 

Finally sawing some of the larger timbers down to a smaller size:

 

This is just a taster of what happens - these images are all taken from Amemiya san's web site and there are many more here.

The tools being used are particular to Japan, European ones are quite different, and during Kesurokai the craftsmen will get the opportunity to experience both. There is a list showing the range of tools being taken by the European group here and these tools will be given to the Japanese carpenters at the end of the event.

American broad axe

A slightly frivolous Sunday morning post as I came across this picture yesterday when looking for pictures of Robin's Japanese carpenters axe! I don't think it is something Robin really has a use for, but it was offered to him by a friend in the States and it is such a wonderful thing he couldn't resist adding it to his collection.

It is as much as I can do to pick it up with two hands so I have every admiration for people who can swing one all day. It is however as much about technique as strength. If you watch Amemiya san in the youTube video near the bottom of this post you can see how he uses the weight of the axe to cut the wood, like a swinging pendulum.

Japanese carpenters axe

The axe Robin Wood is using for hewing his fence posts was bought for him by Hannes Schnelle during his last trip to Japan setting up the forthcoming Kesurokai event. It is a beautiful tool and gives Robin so much pleasure! Here it is when it arrived, packed in beautiful, wafer-thin wood shavings from a plane...

 

Robin's Japanese friend and fellow turner Tomio Imaru gave us this rough translation of the text on it:

Maybe the big 2 kanji words on the blade are the smith's name"kajiya-mei". Usually a bladesmith puts his smiths name (which sometimes does not coincide with his real name) on the blade. It looks like 幸英. On the lower side of the blade I see the location of the work shop name 土佐. Tosa is a Japanese prefectural name and is located in Shikoku island. Almost all Japanese axes have 7 stripes; four are on the right side of the blade and three are on the left side. These stripes mean the thanks for wood,  safe woodworking, and offer alhohol and crops.

Robin loves axes and has a large collection - I will see if I can get him to photograph a few and write a little about them.