Random notes from this years Kazaru kai (planing competition)

For those that don't know about this event, this was the second annual
staging of a planing competition, sponsored by Hida Tools in Berkeley. The
original event was started in Japan about 5 years ago to encourage the
preservation of traditional Japanese woodworking methods. Held in the US
for the first time last year and repeated again this year with a wider
demonstration of skills that included forging blades by Japanese
blacksmiths. Other participants from Japan were a number of carpenters, a
teahouse builder, and furniture maker. Attendees came from all parts of
the country and Canada along with a contingent from the College of the
Redwoods led by David Welter. Among local attendees were students of Jay
van Arsdale, BAWA members, galoots and galootettes.

The final event each day was a competition, open to any and all, to see
who could produce the longest, thinnest, widest shaving on dimensioned
boards of hinoki cypress. But before this, the Japanese craftsmen
demonstrated their planes and chisels and encouraged everyone to try out
their skills with these tools (or any tools the attendees brought). They
also answered questions about plane preparation and technique.

Tried several planes prepared by the masters and got some incredible
shavings. One plane really caught my eye, it was about 9" wide and about
12" long with a blade about 7" wide. The body was a Japanese cherry and
the owner said that there weren't any stones present which were wide
enough to use for honing; also, there was a slight cupping of the body due
to change in humidity from Japan to the West Coast. Nevertheless, he
adjusted it, got some shavings and gave it to me to try. Not an easy beast
to control, but the shavings and finish were impessive even though the
tuning wasn't up to "normal" standards.

There was also a humongous block of rough, figured rewood that was to be
finished for a bench. Dimensions were about 8' x 4' and about 3' high..
Several carpenters went at it initially with Japanese adzes but progress
was slow in establishing a flat reference surface. One of the carpenters
pulled out a non-traditional  Makita planer and attacked one end, in the
interest of time, to flatten and establish a reference for winding sticks.

One or two highlights:

A fellow, whose name I'd like to get, used a Stanley 41/2 to get some
incredible shavings. Last year none of the Western planes came near the
competition. But this one's sole was tuned similarly to Japanese planes.
There were three points of contact established, the toe, throat front and
end of the heel. The rest of the sole was scraped to provide the relief
from contact which are characteristic of Japanese planes. Often wondered
if you could tune a metal plane like that and get good results, apparently
you can.

One participant who I expected to do well,  Manny Hernandez didn't show up
on Sunday. He,  the owner of the ringer "Buck Brothers" plane, which he
claimed to have bought at Home Depot. Entrants can use any plane they
wished to but Manny's insistance in disguising his iron didn't fool
anyone. His pit crew insist that the plane was dropped while loading into
the tool van, rendering it useless. But an unnamed source said that Manny
got so excited while watching the SF 49ers that morning, and didn't
realize that the plane fell from his lap and got buried behind some sofa
cushions. :))

Hope Hida continues to sponser this event, it is well worth going to.

Don

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