Logging In Tokyo.....

[Bob Weisner]

Is it true that they are starting to build log houses in Japan? Also, since alot of woodworking tools are or were made in Japan, are they any less expensive in Japan than in the USA?

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

What brand of saw was that in post #55? Looked like a huge circuler saw

Do you mean this one....?


That is my spanking new Festool TS55.

Love that saw!!

[Bob Weisner]

Cool!!!

Got a few more questions as to cost comparisions:

1. What does a gallon of milk go for in Japan. Whole milk or 2 %.

2. Gasoline per gallon?

3. Can you buy Maple Syrup in Japan?

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Cool!!!

Got a few more questions as to cost comparisions:

1. What does a gallon of milk go for in Japan. Whole milk or 2 %.

2. Gasoline per gallon?

3. Can you buy Maple Syrup in Japan?

Well, we buy milk by the liter, a liter goes for 121 yen in my store, not the cheapest place around,

Gas is about 120 yen a liter, and yes I can buy Maple Syrup in Japan, I just go to Costco

On the tools, here is a comparo

The Makita 2012NB planer sells on Amazon for $450 or so, it lists in the Japanese catalog for 119,000 yen, or $1081.

No I've seen it for sale closer to $800 but still, that is just a rip off!!

Cheers!

[Bob Weisner]

and yes I can buy Maple Syrup in Japan, I just go to Costco

I did not know there was a Costco in Japan. They have Maple Syrup for $12.00 a gallon. I pay $18.00 for a half-gallon from the farmer just down the road from me.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

There are several Costcos in Japan.

Want to bet the stuff you buy from the farmer tastes better?

OK, more on the logging front.

I've got some new machinery to bring to bear.

So, after sawing that large log in two, with the tiny Makita electric chainsaw..........


I decided I needed a bigger electric to buck these logs up once they are down.

I found that here in Japan I can find some 12 or 13 Amp units that will run a 16" bar, the Makita and Ryobi brands, but they are also all plastic, like the little Makita I have. When I really use the little Makita, I can feel the whole saw flexing as the thing works, I know I'm going to bust is sooner or later, as I'm using it well beyond what it was designed for.

From looking at the Oregon site, on the Guide Bar list, I found that the ShinDaiwa company makes a few larger saws as well.

I was looking through the auctions and I found one......





It is 15 Amps, and will run an 18" bar, it has the 16" bar now, I'm going to go for a new bar, one with a sprocket, and a new chain as well.

The saw, used, cost me $26, the guy is about a 15 minute scooter ride away, so there is no shipping charge, or bank charge!!

Should be good for bucking the logs on site, and for chopping up bowl blanks as well

Cheers!

PS, no muffler mods needed....

[Art Mulder]

[Costco] have Maple Syrup for $12.00 a gallon. I pay $18.00 for a half-gallon from the farmer just down the road from me.

Bob,
I live in Southern Ontario, and the Costco here sells Quebec maple syrup, #1 medium, for about $9-$10 a liter. (times four for a gallon, roughly) And yes, in March if we go to the sugarbush to buy from the local farmer it runs about 50% more. IIRC, the local stuff was a darker syrup.

Just to bring things back on topic... Stu, on the issue of your roof-top kiln. You mented earlier about how your building is built such that each floor is smaller than the one below, due to legislation about light and shadows.

Does this apply at all to what goes on your roof? If your building is shorter than the ones around it, would there be rules about not having unsightly stuff on the roof?

I find your slice-of-japanese-life comments just about as fascinating as the logging stuff.

regards from Canada. (No snow, it's all melted. What a weird winter)
...art

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Bob,
I live in Southern Ontario, and the Costco here sells Quebec maple syrup, #1 medium, for about $9-$10 a liter. (times four for a gallon, roughly) And yes, in March if we go to the sugarbush to buy from the local farmer it runs about 50% more. IIRC, the local stuff was a darker syrup.

Just to bring things back on topic... Stu, on the issue of your roof-top kiln. You mented earlier about how your building is built such that each floor is smaller than the one below, due to legislation about light and shadows.

Does this apply at all to what goes on your roof? If your building is shorter than the ones around it, would there be rules about not having unsightly stuff on the roof?

I find your slice-of-japanese-life comments just about as fascinating as the logging stuff.

regards from Canada. (No snow, it's all melted. What a weird winter)
...art

We got screwed by the government when it came to out building height and the shade laws etc.

Now don't all of you sound surprised at the same time!!

We had our old two story house, and in front of that, we had an old 2 floor apartment building. The city decided to widen the road, they buy the land under our apartment house, well 3/4 of it, and give us a chunk of money. Now the deal is, we have to (HAVE TO) spend the money on real-estate in the Tokyo area within two years, or we get taxed at a 60% rate (they TAKE 60%). The plan was then to tear down the last 1/4 of the old apartment house (yes they left 1/4 of it standing) and our old house, then rebuild. Of course through the MILFH being just that, and various bank BS delays etc, we just barely got in under the 2 year time thing. Now to add insult to injury, we wanted to build a 9 floor building. According to your architect, with the size of our land, and the shade laws etc, we could do this, once the road is widened to the final width. When we submit the plans we are told we can only got to 7 floors, "why" you ask...? Well, because the road has not yet been widened to the final width it will be........

So because the government works so slowly (it is going on 15 years since the started widening the road, it is just over a mile long, and they still have some work going on), we get screwed out of 2 floors, that is 4 apartments producing $6000 of revenue a month, for 30 years it works out to something like 2,000,000 over the 30 years with out interest or investment etc. Wonder why the economy is still dragging here...?

Anyone could see that the road would become wider to allow us that 9 floors, but the planning dept pinheads would not accept that.

We got caught in a real "Catch-22" We have to sell the land to have the road widened, so they can build a wider road, but we cannot wait for them to build it wider so we can make a taller building.

Here is a neat stat for you, what do you think the average height of residential buildings is in the Tokyo Metropolitan area......?

last time I checked it was 1.47 floors, that is right, under 2 floors!

If you go 30 feet back from any major road, all the houses are 1 floor, with maybe a part of the house pushed up to two floors. The stupid shade laws are to blame. I saw a bit on TV by NHK, some Tokyo university prof was saying if you allowed every new home to be 3 floor, you would double the living space for every man woman and child in Tokyo in one generation.

Well coming back from that tangent......

I just picked up the new electric saw, the guy was wrong about the lenght of the bar, it is not 35 cm (14") but 50 cm (almost 20") I don't mind that kind of mistake at all!

The bar is a hard nose, and the chain is the same type I use on the Husky saw. The saw is rock solild, no plastic and a bit heavy, but I think it will work out just fine!

I'm stuck in the L shop now, so I cannot give you much more of a report than that. The chain is dirty, and has a bit of rust, but the teeth look nice and long, not hardly used at all. I figure I'll soak the chain overnight and then sharpen it and have a go tomorrow.

Cheers!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Sorry no pics....
I got the new Shindaiwa A303 electric saw down to the Dungeon.
Cleaned it up, cleaned out the guide bar groove, put the chain on the RIGHT way (it was backwards, might be why the guys said "It don't cut so good, might need a new chain" ) and filed the chain, with my snazzy Oregon guide thingy.
Adjusted the chain, put some oil in the oiler (yep it was dry) pumped the oiler a few times (not self oiling) and then set up a piece of the Sakura HARD cherry stuff I have, the log was around 8" thick........
It zipped through that log like the proverbial hot knife through butter!!
Man alive does thing thing have POWER......I would have never believed that an electric could give a gas saw a run for it's money, (and against a hot saw it would not) but man does this thing ever cut!!
YeHaw!!
Make up a chain saw mill for this sucker, boy oh boy would it be quiet .....
Cheers!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Update....Update....Update....

I made a Tokyo Log Hog Jr for this electric chain saw, you can see that thread here

I got the stack redone, and I also made all new stickers, including some "L" stickers for some of the lumber that I'm just going to lean against the walls.




All strapped down, nice and secure, I sure hope it is, I'm not fond of doing this in cramped quarters!!


The rest of the lumber is not the best for uniform thickness, as I was just starting out on the chainsaw mill, so I'm leaning it against the walls with "L" stickers to keep spaces between it all.


You can see them here..


...and here...

They should work OK, I hope, I got the idea from
Bill's Wood Creations (thanks to whom ever pointed me to this site)
Lots of good info there...

The next day, I returned to the Dungeon Annex and I found this....



Hard to see, but these are the concrete and steel hatches on the Annex, I've got the middle one cracked open about 6"for air exchange.

The bottoms of these hatches are covered with little drops of water.

Plan B

I need to move some air in and out of the Dungeon Annex, I had this old fan from a heater sitting around, and some foil flex hose....


The fan blows out, and the pipe lets fresh air in towards the wood stack. I guess I'll put the fan on a timer, something like 15 minutes every hour should do it.

I guess I'll see how it works.

Cheers!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

It was back to the wood lot today, they said the had some wood for me

Careful what you wish for......


That there tree is Keyaki (Zelkova) and I'm told it is "Red" Keyaki, this wood is VERY prized here in Japan.

This tree is over 60cm wide at the but there (2 feet) and the other end has a crotch on it that is wider by a fair bit....


My kids think this looks like elephant legs

I've cut it to 150 cm long, and this will give me one nice straight piece, and one with a super crotch in it.

Not sure what I'll do with the crotch yet, but it is way to big to move, so I guess I'll slab it up.

Rembember I said "Be careful what you wish for.........



Mine, all mine!!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

......................



This is the crotch on a medium sized log, the wood is again Keiyaki, but this one is a "Blue" Keiyaki.


This bump on the log in the middle looks promising!!


I used the Tokyo Log Hog Jr today, it worked as planned!

Notice the tip of the saw completely buried, no kickback at all.


Squared up and ready for slicing!
(I counted the rings on this one, it is just about 50 years old)


All cut up........


and this is all that is left over.




I did not get much wood today, but I got all set up for tomorrow! I also got some nice burls and stuff for bowl blanks.

I'll be at the wood lot bright and early tomorrow!

All together a really great day, and a nice one weather wise too...........


This is the last Keiyaki standing, it is very old and rotten on the inside.

[John Hart]

After you get that lathe up and running, you won't like the idea of slabbing up a crotch! A lot of little bowls and boxes in there! One score after another....Pretty soon, you're gonna hafta open a lumber yard Stu!!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

After you get that lathe up and running, you won't like the idea of slabbing up a crotch! A lot of little bowls and boxes in there! One score after another....Pretty soon, you're gonna hafta open a lumber yard Stu!!

I got Bill Grumbine's DVD, I watch part of it, but unfortunately the DVD came loose from the little nub in the case, and the DVD is scratched up.

I contacted Bill, and within hours, Bill has answered my mail, and told me not to worry, and is sending a new DVD out ASAP, he also apologized for the trouble.

Now if that is not a great way to take care of a customer, well I don't know what is.

OK, John, what do you mean "the idea of slabbing up a crotch" of wood will be somethingi I'll not like, do you mean it will be a waste of the crotch?

Well, I can slab it up in 6" thich slabs

Cheers!

[John Hart]

Well, I can slab it up in 6" thich slabs

Cheers!

Now you're talkin'!!!!