Need to identify some Japanese tools

[Dave Parkis]

I acquired a BUNCH of Japanese tools from a gentleman who died in 1985. The widow couldn't bring herself to get rid of them until last year, and there is almost no paperwork on any of it. Does anyone know of a book or other source where I might be able to identify the makers by the characters either stamped into the chisels or on the plane bodies. Thanks!!

[Jim Koepke]

Dave,

My knowledge of Japanese tools is nada. In the past folks here have posted images of the characters and others have compared them to what they have.

There are also a few members on this forum who live and work in Japan, and one even has a business selling tools from Japan.

Maybe it is time for some enterprising person to publish a book if one doesn't already exist.

jtk

[David Wong]

Chris Hall's Japanese carpentry forum (http://www.thecarpentryway.com/CraftsmanshipinWood/index.php) has a list of some plane and chisel blacksmiths and their maker's marks. You need to register to view the forum. You can also try to post some pictures here, of the maker's marks. You will need to make sure the kanji characters are in good focus.

[Dave Parkis]

Thanks!! I'll post some pics tomorrow and check out Chris Hall's forum as well.

[Dave Parkis]

Sorry for the delay, I got held up with some medical issues with my wife. I thought it would be easier to start with the planes, since the markings are the most legible.
332565332566332567332568332569
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

[Stanley Covington]

Sorry for the delay, I got held up with some medical issues with my wife. I thought it would be easier to start with the planes, since the markings are the most legible.
332565332566332567332568332569
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

The plane on the far left was made in Miki City, a big woodworking tool center in Japan, and one that vigorously markets its products overseas. The maker's mark reads "Tadao." It is a consumer-grade mass-produced inexpensive plane. I have never used one.

The second plane from the left is a "Kakuri" brand plane. Kakuri Industries has lately become a mass-production manufacturer of lots of tools, and has invented some unusual tools as well. It is not an expensive plane.

The third photo from the end also says "Kakuri."

The fourth photo is a "guarantee of quality" sticker. No maker's name or other relevant information visible beyond the usual bloviating.

The last plane is more interesting. I wish there was more of the name, blade and dai visible in the picture. I can't read the name with certainty since the characters have been artfully deconstructed. But somebody went to the trouble and expense of having something professionally carved into the blade's face, which may indicate it was aimed at a higher price point than the other consumer-grade planes you bought. Perhaps "Hakushinsai" is the name. if so, he is a Niigata blacksmith named Ishibashi who gave up his forge to wholesale tools. But I could be entirely wrong.

Stan

[Allan Speers]

Sya, I never thought to ask here for ID's. I have a bunch of kannas, plus some VERY nice nokogiri that's I'd love to have ID'd. Some of the saws came from a Japanese naval shipyard many years ago. (NOS)

I'll try to get pics up tomorrow. Any help at at from you guys would be wonderful.

[Dave Parkis]

@Stanley- Thank you very much for the identification. I really do appreciate it. Now I'll post pix of the chisels.

[Allan Speers]

Dave, I hope you don't mind if I hijack (err, "add to" ) your thread. :)

Here are the blades & breakers from my small collection of kannas. Most of these are probably inexpensive, but you never know. All of the dais are really well made. (I know the difference) Any input at all would be appreciated.
I'll post my nokogiri in a separate thread, as some of those are indeed quite valuable.

1: 332692 2: 332693 3:332694 3, back:332695


4: 332696 5: 332697 6: 332698 6, back:332699

[Allan Speers]

7: 332700 8: 332701 9: 332702 10: 332703

[David Wong]

Allan,

Love your decorative blades. I can only make out No. 6, 特二​, meaning "special two".

[David Wong]

7: 9: 332702
Think this one is 榮, means "Firefly". The lower two characters are 使用, meaning "use of, or application".

[Stanley Covington]

Think this one is 榮, means "Firefly". The lower two characters are 使用, meaning "use of, or application".



I don't mean to be picky, but the character is actually 榮 Saka (as in Sakae), which is the old way of writing 栄，meaning "glory" or 'splendor," not firefly.

Firefly (hotaru) is written 蛍 nowadays, or 螢 in the old way. The difference, as you can see, between saka and hotaru is the bottom portion of the 2 characters: "tree" 木 versus "bug"虫.

Of course, you have "shiyou" right. It has a character (possibly two) in front of it that has been been nearly destroyed, and was probably a reference to the use of some material in the manufacture, perhaps "steel" 鋼　or maybe "tamahagane" 玉鋼、or maybe "blue paper steel" 青紙鋼 or even white paper steel 白紙鋼.

Old characters can be a bitch.

Stan

[Allan Speers]

Thanks, guys. This isn't much, but it's great!


Would not some of these unique decorations indicated a particular maker?

[Stanley Covington]

Dave, I hope you don't mind if I hijack (err, "add to" ) your thread. :)

Here are the blades & breakers from my small collection of kannas. Most of these are probably inexpensive, but you never know. All of the dais are really well made. (I know the difference) Any input at all would be appreciated.
I'll post my nokogiri in a separate thread, as some of those are indeed quite valuable.

1: 332692 2: 332693 3:332694 3, back:332695


4: 332696 5: 332697 6: 332698 6, back:332699

Not impatient for free services are we Allan?

No1.: Reads Takatoku. I think. Or maybe Tokutaka. Its an old blade and I suspect the order of the kanji are reversed, in which case, Takatoku高徳. Never heard the brand before.

No.2: There's a blacksmith named Tanaka Shougo that makes a brand "Hidari no Sadatsugu," but this is not his. As a person's name, it can be read Sadatsugu or Kanji. It seems to be a Niigata blade, perhaps Ishibashi?

No.3: Very gaudy. I have never seen this brand or heard of a smith going by this name. Could be read a half dozen ways: Jufuku, Kazutomi, Nagatomi, Hisafuku, etc.

No.4: Bad pic or worn out brand die. Can't see the kanji clearly.

No.5: Ditto. Middle kanji is pronounced "yasu" or "An." The white paint does not help.

No.6: Reads "Unryu" meaning Lucky Dragon. I don't know of this smith.

332901
332902
No.7: Can't make out the characters.

No.8: This one has a lot going on. The top middle probably reads 加藤 Kato, which is a common name. The brand below that is very difficult to read. It appears the smith went to the trouble of registering the brand, however.

No.9: This is the Sakae brand. Can be read a lot of ways as a person's name. Probably Homare.

No.10: Reads "Kikuyoshi" meaning "chrysanthemum fragrance. Probably a blacksmith named "Kikuchi" with "yoshi in his first name. I dunno.

I am on a train headed for Toyama right now, just past Nagano and lose the internet everytime we go into a tunnel. So I must cut my research short. Please feel free to dock my fee accordingly.

Stan