? for our Japan based members

Frank Fusco

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At the Woodturning Online forum today, one of the members made the statement that, in Japan, wooden lathe tool rests are preferred. I had never thought wood to be sturdy enough to withstand catches with big pieces. But, wadda I know? :dunno:
Any truth to that statement?
 
Yasuhiro Satake was invited over to demonstrate at the 2007 AWGB Seminar, and all he used was a wooden tool rest. In fact his whole rig was totally different to what I know as a lathe. Yet he does some amazing work. Yasuhiro Satake

When making the odd long turning I have used a wooden tool rest, they work OK but as you say are certainly not as good as a steel one.
 
Yasuhiro Satake was invited over to demonstrate at the 2007 AWGB Seminar, and all he used was a wooden tool rest. In fact his whole rig was totally different to what I know as a lathe. Yet he does some amazing work. Yasuhiro Satake

When making the odd long turning I have used a wooden tool rest, they work OK but as you say are certainly not as good as a steel one.


Tam, that is a very interesting photo. Yes, he is using a wooden tool rest. But what caught my attention is how far away from the work it is set. And, he is reaching over the rest to hold his tool. I wouldn't do it that way. But, he is a master at what he does. Don't knock success.
 
off topic

Tam, what type of wood is that and what is the finish uses on those vases in the photo. I like it a lot. Sorry for the thread hi-jack Frank.
 
Yasuhiro Satake was invited over to demonstrate at the 2007 AWGB Seminar, and all he used was a wooden tool rest. In fact his whole rig was totally different to what I know as a lathe. Yet he does some amazing work. Yasuhiro Satake

When making the odd long turning I have used a wooden tool rest, they work OK but as you say are certainly not as good as a steel one.

I heard when Yasuhiro Satake was at a US airport, they confiscated his tool rest thinking it was a weapon. I believe the tool rest belonged to his mother.

Frank:
Their tools are even different than what we are used to. They resemble what we know as hook tools and cabinet scrapers
 
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Hi Jeff. The wood I don't know. The finishe he tends to use is a Hard Lacquer. I believe it is the same as on a lot of Japanese timber work. Usually used as a dense coloured lacquer but Yasuhiro used it as a clear finish also.

Google his name and you should pull up some nice examples of his work.

As to his style of turning, I agree I couldn't turn like that. It almost looks as if he is scraping, but he shifts timber and in shavings. His tools are a lot different to the style we tend to us as well.
 
What a subject :D

The Japanese art of turning is "VERY" different than the "Western" one, for starters, they generally turn on the underside of the work piece, as the wood is heading away from them, thus their technique and their tools are VERY different. They use a the cup chuck a lot, that is a chuck that the wood is driven onto, and that is all that holds it in place. Every Japanese turner makes his own tools, they have a mini version of a blacksmith shop in each turning studio, most all tools are made from carbon steel.

Yes the tool rests are made from wood, but the way they are used is NOT the same as the way we use our tool rests.

Take a look..........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_d59iildww
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_R29z6UvL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOezsHJsXbE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEqfPG5NLbU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dujitmBWKY

The dolls are called "Kokeshi" the wood is usually Pear or Dogwood.

>> Here << is some very good info on how they make the dolls.

Really, the turning part of the doll making is fairly straight forward, the real art is the painting and finishing, IMHO.

The first couple of minutes of the next video feature Yasuhiro Satake.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amM24hRDrNI&eurl

The story about his mother's tool rest, I'd heard that one too, but it was not "Confiscated as a Weapon" but just tossed out, as someone in baggage just thought it was an old chuck of scrap wood :doh:

Last but not least, a short article on the differences between the two kinds of turning..........

Culture Clash

I hope that answers your question Frank! :wave:
 
The Japanese art of turning is "VERY" different than the "Western" one, for starters, they generally turn on the underside of the work piece, as the wood is heading away from them, thus their technique and their tools are VERY different. They use a the cup chuck a lot, that is a chuck that the wood is driven onto, and that is all that holds it in place.

VERY different indeed.:eek:..this really makes me wonder why I've never seen their technique before. I've spent hours searching the web for woodturning subjects and have never seen anything like this before. The cup chuck seems like it would be hard to get centered, maybe not with practice. Thanks for all the links.
 
The story about his mother's tool rest, I'd heard that one too, but it was not "Confiscated as a Weapon" but just tossed out, as someone in baggage just thought it was an old chuck of scrap wood :doh:

Thanks for those links and clearing that up,


Edit In:

Holy Smokes is that different!
I just finished watching the first link, rest will have to wait until I get home from work.
Thanks Again!
 
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Even though I am a flat wood working, still enjoyed this thread.

Worked in shop with metal lathe, watching their method scares me.
 
What did I start? :doh:
Actually, it is interesting.
There is much that could be commented on from those videos. Big sleeves that I would consider dangerous; cutting on the down hill which I consider as possibly safer than what we do; free hand occasionally with no rest; the cup chuck, they might have something there very useful, it certainly got my attention.
 
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