The Hangi To and Sho To (knives) are used to outline areas to be saved and printed. If you are carving end-grain wood block or Resingrave, use Engraving Tools. Use these tools for carving wood or linoleum. Handles are individually fitted to each blade. The special, shallow bevel on Komasuki, Maru To and Sankaku To (u-gouges and v-gouges) makes carving on a horizontal surface much easier. The top sides of the Sho To, Hangi To, Hira To, and Aisuki (knives and chisels) are hollow ground to simplify future sharpening. The blades are precision sharpened, first on a motorized lap wheel to set the bevel and give the edge its initial shape then by another master craftsman who sharpens each tool by hand on Toishi (water stones). Left: photo from Moku Hanga by Akira Kurosaki Sharpening Chokokuto (Japanese carving tools) In comparison to hand forged tools, Namisei Moku Hanga To may need sharpening more often. This makes the hard steel even harder so it holds a sharp edge even longer. Hand forging involves hammering the two layers of red-hot steel together, compressing the steel and introducing more carbon into a smaller area. Which method of forging is better? Traditional Japanese carvers prefer tools made from hand forged steel. From that point on the craftsmen take over and the process is the same as it is for making Futatsu Wari and Josei Moku Hanga To. Namisei Moku Hanga To, which are less expensive, use the same high quality hard and soft steels, but they are joined by an automated factory process instead of being hand forged. They hold a sharp edge for a very long time and can be successfully sharpened again and again. The resulting blades combine sharpness and hard density with flexibility, creating incredibly responsive tools capable of absorbing the stresses placed upon them while carving. This steel is forged by hand to softer, lower carbon steel for support. One side, which later becomes the tip, is made of high carbon steel capable of taking and holding an edge of unsurpassed sharpness. In contrast, the blades on Futatsu Wari Moku Hanga To and Josei Moku Hanga To are hand forged using two types of steel. Most carving tools are made from a single piece of extruded metal. They are recognized in Japan as master craftsmen, and their products are sold in shops throughout that country under various brand names. With proper care and use, these tools will last a lifetime and more.Ī Tokyo firm with several hundred years of experience in metal work manufactures our Chokokuto. Their very simplicity belies their great strength. Over centuries of trial and error, designs, materials and manufacturing methods have been refined to create elegant, highly functional tools. Like the carpentry tools or martial art swords of Japan, Japanese woodcut tools are famous not only for being among the keenest and most durable tools in the world, but also for the incredible craftsmanship that goes into their creation.Ĭhokokuto are wonders of design married to function. Namisei and Futatsu Wari Moku Hanga To (woodblock carving tools) inside a Canvas Knife Carrier, three Futatsu Wari Moku Hanga To on a Bench Hook, McClain's Traditional Set of Four tools inside the bamboo wrapper with the black ribbon, McClain's Set of Six tools in the red box, Josei Moku Hanga To in the container, Ko Dogu (small sculpting/carving tools), Deluxe Mallet (small), Moku Hanga Nomi I finally realized that it wasn’t going to work while I was using yarn and a crochet hook that was far too big for what I was trying to accomplish and headed to the Michael’s to get what was called for in the video and patterns I was reading.Professional two part woodblock carving tools I should have tried this one while I was up in Veazie with my mother to help out, instead I’ve been trying to read patterns and watching YouTube videos. The rest of the week has itself been a grabbag – lots of time on the phone with my mother (who is recovering well – thank you for all the well wishes) and sisters dipping the pieces that my mother wrote the names of Grace’s children on for her quilt, figuring out the geometry of Grace’s quilt, some more printing experiments and trying to figure out how to crochet a pineapple pattern. Now I just have to figure out how to cut down the carving tools… I got a few larger pieces and a grabbag of smaller pieces to practice on and make some stamps for freeform printing. Shina plywood – this is a very fine grained plywood from Japan that is ideal for woodblock cutting as it is virtually grainless.These need to be cut down to match the exact size of my hand before using. A traditional set of Namisei Moku Hanga To woodblock carving tools.A bench hook to work on and hold the wood in place while carving (and hopefully avoid cutting myself).My new tools for woodblock cutting include:
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