JAPANESE HANDPLANES Setup and Use

JAPANESE HANDPLANES (KANNA)

Similar to Western wooden planes
­ If you’ve worked with a woodie smoother, the setup and use of a kanna
will feel very familiar

Differences
­ Used on the pull stroke instead of push (like rowing)
­ Blade is king – the plane body (dai) is considered a consumable, meant
to be modified, used up, and replaced as needed.
­ Thicker laminated blade made of hard edge steel and a wrought iron
or soft steel backing.
­ Generally wider blade – many sizes are available, but a standard
smoother (hira kanna) has a 70mm blade (2.75 inches wide).
­ Hollow grind on the back of the blade for easier flattening of the hard
steel.
­ Blade is tapered in two directions and wedged into grooves in the sides
of the dai rather than held in place by a separate wedge.
­ Typically a lower bed angle (standard is 40°)
­ Not usually “ready to go out of the box” – some setup and tuning of the
blade and dai will be required, but the performance of a well-set-up
kanna makes up for any lack of instant gratification.

PHOTO: Mokuchi Woodworking

 KANNA ANATOMY

SOURCE: http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/images/articles/kanna_anatomy1.jpg
SEE ALSO: http://kskdesign.com.au/shoji/tools/hand_planes/hira-ganna.html
BLADE ANATOMY

ILLUSTRATION: http://kskdesign.com.au/shoji/tools/hand_planes/hira-ganna.html
BLADE STEEL
Soft Metal Backing (Jigane) Common Western Steels (for comparison)
­ Soft steel or wrought iron (kamaji) ­ O1 Tool Steel
­ Carbon steel with Chromium and Tungsten added, along with Manganese to
Hard Steel Edge (Hagane) allow oil quenching. (0.9% Carbon)
­ White Paper Steel (Shirogami) ­ A2 Steel
­ Carbon steel with impurities removed (mostly sulphur & ­ Carbon steel with Chromium, Nickel, Molybdenum, and lots (5%) of
phosphorus) Manganese to add toughness and allow for air quenching. (1% Carbon)
­ #1 (1.2 - 1.4% Carbon)
­ #2 (1.0 - 1.2% Carbon)
­ #3 (0.8 - 0.9% Carbon)
­ Blue Paper Steel (Aogami) SOURCE: https://www.speedymetals.com/information/materialframe.htm
­ Carbon steel with impurities removed and Tungsten and
Chromium added to make the hardening temperature less
critical and to increase wear resistance for longer-lasting
sharpness.
­ #1 (1.2 - 1.4% Carbon)
­ #2 (1.0 - 1.2% Carbon)
­ “Super Blue Steel” with more Tungsten and Chromium, plus
Molybdenum for additional toughness and wear resistance
WHITE STEEL VS. BLUE STEEL

SOURCE: https://www.hidatool.com/image/data/pdf/White%20Steel%20vs%20Blue%20Steel%20Chart.pdf
DAI ANATOMY
Wood
­ Must be dense, hard, and stable, but also have enough spring to allow the blade to be repeatedly set
and removed without permanently deforming the groove
­ Best choice is Japanese Oak
­ While the North American Oak and Japanese Oak are related, Japanese White Oak is an evergreen tree and does not have a
conspicuous open grain like American White and Red Oak. The open grain structure of American Oak produces soft areas which are
more prone to impact damage. Shirogashi on the other hand has a structure that is uniformly hard, has excellent dent resistance and
has better impact strength than American Oaks. Compared to Akagashi the Shirogashi has denser grains which also makes it slightly
heavier
­ Shirakashi – Japanese evergreen white oak (Quercus myrsinaefolia)
­ Akagashi – Japanese evergreen red oak (Quercus acuta)
­ Other woods
­ European Beech, Osage Orange, Bubinga, Cocobolo, Live Oak

Grain orientation for kanna

­ masame: called “quarter” cut but similar to flat-sawn
(best for fairly stable humidity)
­ oi-masame: corner/rift cut (best for large swings in humidity)
­ itame: quarter-sawn with vertical grain (less desirable)

SOURCE: http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/images/planes/dai%20orientation.jpg
DAI BLADE ANGLE

A standard bed angle for a

kanna is 38–40°, and many
experts recommend using this A B
angle with a 25° blade bevel
for all woods, but some
advocate using a higher
angle and steeper bevel
when planing harder or
highly-figured woods.
KANNA SETUP
Excellent resource:
“Kanna: Japanese Plane Set Up, Tuning, and Use,” by Chris Hall
Many modern kanna smiths (notably Tsunesaburo) will
provide kanna that are mostly set up, with the blade
fitted to a dai, so only minor adjustment is needed. As
with Western planes, more expensive kanna will usually
require less tuning and setup.
As in Western shops, master/apprentice training led to
different philosophies about the details of proper
plane setup, but there are general steps. Even a kanna
that is mostly set up will need to follow the basics of this
process.
1. Adjust the blade
2. Fit the blade to the dai
3. Adjust the chipbreaker to mate with the blade and
fit the dai
4. Condition the sole of the dai
PDF download available at
http://thecarpentryway.blogspot.com/2016/12/tajcd-supplement-
plane-set-up-and.html
KANNA SETUP
ADJUST THE BLADE
In general, avoid using a high-speed grinder or
anything that will heat the steel on any Japanese
laminated blade, but in the initial setup, a light
touch on a grinder may help speed up the process.
1. Check the width of the cutting edge against the
mouth opening of the dai and grind the mimi
(angled ears of the blade) as needed so the
cutting edge is the same width as the opening,
being very careful not to heat the blade.
2. Check for any twist in the blade and flatten the
back, being careful to reduce the hollow as
little as possible

PHOTOS: from “Kanna: Japanese Plane Set Up, Tuning, and Use,” by Chris Hall
KANNA SETUP
FIT THE BLADE TO THE DAI
•The blade should fit smoothly and tightly in
the grooves of the dai and contact the bed
as broadly and evenly as possible.
•Coat the back of the blade with oil and/or
pencil marks to test the contact with the bed.
•Never modify the upper portion of the
groove, but focus on paring the sides of the
groove and scraping the bed.
•The blade should be tight enough in the
groove that hand pressure will only advance
it to within 6mm of the sole. (If you can push
the blade by hand to almost set, it’s too
loose.)

PHOTOS: from “Kanna: Japanese Plane Set Up, Tuning, and Use,” by Chris Hall
KANNA SETUP
FIT THE CHIPBREAKER
•With the blade fitted to the dai, insert the
chipbreaker and check for overall fit. It should stay
firmly in place, but not be so tight that it exerts
significant pressure on the blade back.
•The chipbreaker should press against the pin in the
center, not the edges. If the chipbreaker is too tight,
gently file or hammer the ears of the chipbreaker to
raise or lower.
•As with the blade, flatten the back of the
chipbreaker and check for any unevenness or twist.
•Check how the chipbreaker mates with the back of
the blade. If there is any wobble, either gently
hammer one of the ears of the chipbreaker or file
the opposite ear until there is a solid connection.
•Sharpen the bevel of the chipbreaker as you would
the main blade, but add a small microbevel of 60–
80° with a fine-grit stone.

PHOTOS: from “Kanna: Japanese Plane Set Up, Tuning, and Use,” by Chris Hall
KANNA SETUP
CONDITION THE SOLE OF THE DAI
Check the sole of the dai for any twist.
Flatten the sole.
Judiciously trim the mouth if uneven or
too tight, but keep the mouth as tight as
reasonably possible
Use a scraper plane, card scraper, or
the edge of a chisel to scrape away a
slight hollow from about 6mm in front of
the mouth to about 10mm from the back
of the plane.

PHOTOS: from the article Get to Know Japanese Handplanes by Andrew Hunter, Fine Woodworking #260, March/April 2017
 SOLE LANDINGS

Smoothing Plane Jointer Plane

2 touch points 3 touch points

ILLUSTRATION: from the article Get to Know Japanese Handplanes by Andrew Hunter, Fine Woodworking #260, March/April 2017
USING A KANNA
Tap the head of the blade lightly with a hammer or
mallet to set the blade depth.
Tap the sides of the blade to make any lateral
adjustments.
Hit the front top bevel of the dai to retract the
blade.
When planing, hold the body of the kanna with your
dominant hand and use your other hand as a guide
at the head of the blade and front of the dai.
Don’t keep your arms rigid but use your shoulders,
back, and legs to pull the plane.
Adjust downward pressure as you pull, but if the
blade is sharp and set properly, it shouldn’t require
significant effort to pull the plane and take a
shaving.

PHOTOS: from the article Get to Know Japanese Handplanes by Andrew Hunter, Fine Woodworking #260, March/April 2017
BLADE MAINTENANCE

Uradashi (tapping out the blade)

Gently hammering the soft metal of the
bevel to push the front of the hard steel
down to form a new cutting edge when
the blade is sharpened close to the
hollow.
RESOURCES
Instruction on Japanese Tool Setup and Use
­ Online
­ Chris Hall - http://thecarpentryway.blogspot.com/2016/12/tajcd-
supplement-plane-set-up-and.html
­ http://www.gallarotti.net/woodworking/kanna-project-translations/
­ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeyF3jtuIFM&feature=youtu.be
­ Classes
­ Yann Giguerre (http://mokuchiwoodworking.com/instruction/)
­ Chris Hall (http://www.thecarpentryway.com/)
Japanese Woodworking Communities and
Information
­ Piedmont Japanese Carpentry Club
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/51978849538/)
­ Japanese Woodworking Tools, Techniques and Interests
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/japanesewoodworki
ngtoolsandtechniques/)
­ Craftsmanship in Wood
(http://www.thecarpentryway.com/CraftsmanshipinWood
/index.php)
Tool Retailers
­ US
­ Hida Tool (hidatool.com)
­ Suzuki-Ya (suzukitool.com)
­ Japan Woodworker [Woodcraft] (japanwoodworker.com)
­ Jay Speetjens (http://twopines.net/Two_Pines_Trading_Co./home.html)
­ Japan (in English)
­ Tomohito Iida (japantool-iida.com and kanamonoya71 on eBay)
­ So Yamashita (japan-tool.com) (Japanese seller based in Australia)
­ Stuart Tierney (toolsfromjapan.com) — Australian seller based in Japan (long wait
times but good selection and prices comparable to Japanese sellers)
­ Japan (in Japanese only, but sell internationally)
­ Ichikawa Youichi (http://www.e-kanamonoya.jp/)
­ Masanori Teshiba (http://www2.odn.ne.jp/mandaraya/)
­ Hokuto Pro Shop (http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~ttoishi/sumurai.index.html)