This week, seven projects worth sharing — tweaking what already works instead of starting over.
Super Difficult Japanese Joint
Temple Tools just released a folding saw I'd been waiting for, so I finally attempted the Kawai tsugite — one of the toughest traditional Japanese joints out there. Even following my marking exactly, it wouldn't budge on the first try. Getting all three sides to slide together smoothly took round after round of adjustment, and tightening one spot kept loosening another. This one really tests your sense of balance.
A Different Way to Join Three Pieces of Wood
One way to bring three pieces of wood together. The cutting is fairly involved, but once it's assembled the result looks really clean. (African mahogany, 50×50mm)
Trying a Knot Repair Kit
I've used this knot repair kit before, and this time I tried it on three different knot sizes — large, medium, and small. You remove the loose or sunken knot, taper a matching plug to fit the hole, drive it in, then trim flush with a plane. I really like that the tapered shape guarantees a tight fit every time. (Cedar)
How to Make a Better Sanding Block
An update to a sanding block I built a while back. I changed the way the sandpaper wraps so it now runs lengthwise, and switched to threaded inserts so the bolt no longer punches through the bottom — keeping the sanding face completely flat.
Magnetic Lid Hexagon Box
A small hexagonal box with the end grain facing up, so the figure really shows. I made a hexagon template and routed it out rather than cutting directly on the miter saw. The lid twists open with magnets and lifts off entirely when you want full access inside. (Cherry)
Why Isn't a Japanese Plane Sole Flat?
People often ask why a Japanese plane's sole isn't perfectly flat. Limiting contact to just the areas that need it cuts friction and lets you tune how the plane tracks the wood. In this video I show a simpler way to set that up — flatten the sole completely first, then slide it over sandpaper so only the right spots get relieved, using the thickness of the paper itself to control how much comes off.
A Bridle Joint That Moves
I took a bridle joint and built in a dowel pivot so it moves. Simple structure, but it feels like it could be useful in a lot of different applications.
A Note from Taku
Looking back at this week, I keep coming back to the same lesson: don't try to nail it on the first pass. The Kawai joint, the sanding block, the plane sole — none of them were right the first time. Every one came from touching it, adjusting, touching it again. Chasing perfection before you even start tends to just freeze you up. Getting something into a rough shape first, then fixing it as you go, seems to get you to a better place in the end.
One more small thing — today Masa put out a video following the whole process behind Temple Tools' plane blades, start to finish. I'm an ambassador for Temple Tools, and Masa and I support the brand together. If you're curious about how Japanese blades get made, it's worth a look.
— Taku and Masa
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