[Blake]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

 

[spanky46]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Nice job! Interesting too. Thanks for sharing.

 

[TraumaJacques]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Dude you bought "wood" on your honeymoon that is awesome!!! Nice plane thanks for posting

 

[PaBull]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Very nice Blake, I could see building one like this.

How is Koa to work with?

 

[Blake]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Its very easy to work with. A lot like mahogany (I think its in the same family).

 

[Karson]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Blake a great job. I've got a couple of Kenov's books and always wanted to do that. Someday I hope.

 

[jcees]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Schweeeeeet!!! Very nice indeed and it works too! Gotta love that. I've been to Kauai too, north shore, great time BUT all I came back with was a dent in my wallet and a river rock to use as a doorstop. Go figure. Anyway, Blake, now you're toast. You've developed the ability to roll your own and you will, bubba… you will. Bravo.

always,
J.C.

 

[sbryan55]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Blake, I have always thought that making a plane would be a wonderful project to attempt. The process that you described breaks it down and removes a lot of the mystery for me. Nice job. This is a wonderful use of the Koa as well.

 

[Beginningwoodworker]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Looks nice, Blake.

 

[Billboard]

My first Krenov Style Plane

I made my first plane!

I used the blade from one of those old wooden planes I had. As you can see I had a variety of these old planes with different style blades. Straight, concave, and a couple different radii of convex blades:

Here are some progress photos…

Making the Body:

I started out with a block of Koa that I got on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Look, two plane bodies!

I used the width of the blade as a guide to cut my block into slabs.

I am basing my design from instructions in various books from James Krenov. Here I am checking and drawing the angles for the mouth:

And cut them on the bandsaw:

I had to run one of the triangle pieces on my router table to create the space for the screw that holds chip breaker on to the iron.

Making the Pin:

Now, I don't have a lathe. So I had to get creative to make the round ends of the pin. I used a plug cutting bit on my drill press. I think this would be faster and easier than a lathe anyway. This ensures that both ends are the same and I know that they are exactly 1/2" so I can use a 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes.

I finished shaping the pin (rounding over the top) with a chisel.

Finally I glued it up:

Here is the glued up body:

I ran the plane upside-down through my thickness sander to carefully flatten the sole and open the throat until it was just right:

Shaping the body:

I first rough cut the basic shape on the bandsaw:

And after a lot of hand shaping I ended up with this:

The blade:

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the blade shaping process. but I cut the blade and chip breaker shorter, shaped it on the disk sander, and sharpened it on my WorkSharp.

And HERE is the finished project:

Great pictoral. Love the plane.

 

[Blake]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

 

[Billboard]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

Asesome find. I only find junk at flea markets.

 

[a1Jim]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

I can't imagine using a saw that big ,cool photos

 

[clieb91]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

Great find! Hope you can post some pics or video of it in use.

CtL

 

[Tikka]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

I would imagine a very rare/scarce piece to find anywhere, let alone in a flea market. All you hard work has paid dividends yet again. Well done Blake

 

[DaleM]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

That's a real treasure. Man, talk about a real work out, I could hardly imagine using that thing regularly.

 

[sIKE]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

Man that saw is huge! Quite a work I bet!

 

[HokieMojo]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

i hope you don't think this is a dumb question, but would you ever consider trying it out? just to see what its like to try and usera tool like that?

 

[teenagewoodworker]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

that is an amazing find blake!!!!!!!!!! you are one lucky man

 

[Jojo]

Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have been studying and collecting Japanese hand tools. And my favorite book which has inspired the collection is JAPANESE WOODWORKING TOOLS by Toshio Odate.

In this book there is a section on saws (Nokogiri) where Odate proudly displays a favorite in his collection:

This saw was a rip saw used to mill large stock. The wide blade was designed to keep the cut straight in very thick lumber. It was used by the mighty kobiki-shokunin (sawyer). According to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum it was probably produced and used during Japan's Meiji era (1868-1912).

Well, this is what I found at the flee market on Friday, and paid $10 bucks for:

Its in amazing condition. Even the original handle is intact, although warn (it was obviously put to work!) It has a little rust but I will clean it carefully. It has the same blacksmith tool marks as the one that Odate shows. From the little bit of research I've done this saw seems to be over 100 years old!

You are a very lucky dog, Blake. I've been trying to find one here in Japan for a customer for months to no avail.

A1Jim, actually, this is not big at all, this is a "maebiki", the big ones are the "maebiki ooga" and those are similar but about 5 ft. long, some even have two handles.

They were used for milling lumber when building the houses. I have one that is some hundred years old but it is smaller than Blake's. It's a mere 28" long and I believe my wife's grandfather used it to build the house we live in, as well as my in-laws, at the turn of the XXth century.

Here she is, I'll restore it as soon as I get out of here. Otherwise the soggy climate of Kyoto would do wonders to get it back to this sad state in a hurry.

By the way, isn't it amazing how thick and heavy they are?

EDIT PS: I almost forgot: I always laugh at the "innovations" like the Lee Valley progressive pitch saw. Hmm… this has been the standard in japanese saws for centuries. Anyone realized the difference in TPI of Blake's maebiki from shoulder to toe?