Stu & Peter's Excellent Tokyo Wood Tour 2012

Peter Rideout

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Stu and I had a great tour yesterday and spent the whole day doing woodworking stuff. Saw lot's of cool Japanese tools, materials and ideas. I'd like to load up a marine container to send home!
We went out north of Tokyo in Stu's trusty Subaru mini van on the expressway (double decker in places, of course, to save space so they could put it above the city streets between the skyscrapers :eek: Just like driving around home, except on the other side :)) to his favourite spot - Super Viva Home. Sort of like a HD/ Woodcraft/Costco hybrid on steroids. Serious materials and tools for pros at one end and consumer goods, even pets at the other end. Maybe a couple of acres of building.

Stu had a shopping list for some current and upcoming projects and I was on the lookout for more cool little Japanese tools or gadgets to amuse visitors to the shop;)

After lunch we headed back into the city ( we never really left the city in an hour's drive) and stopped at a "Wood shop" lumber store in Shinkiba, an industrial area east of Tokyo near Tokyo Bay. Awesome slabs and specialty woods, at awesome prices (480,000 yen - $6000 for one big burl slab:eek:). Highly figured Asian hardwoods I had never heard of. With Stu's nifty iPhone translator we were able to figure out a lot of the species. Larry, you need to send some of that chocolate over and Stu could set up a little shop, you could retire on a piece of that action!

After that, it was back to Shinjuku and the Dungeon to unload the van, maneuver some plywood down into the shop (just 3x6 sheets, thankfully) and see what Stu's been up to. There's some very impressive stuff coming off the third generation of a machine he's been working with, and some great cutting edge :D ideas for future development. I had an eye-opening demo of the Incra iBox (?) box joint jig on the table saw, which laid to rest all of my less than satisfactory attempts at "simple, accurrate" jigs from ww mags. One of these is definitely in my future. Stu got some amazing results just with a regular blade and some scrap mdf. I can only imagine how it does with the proper Forrest box joint set installed.

Finally there was a formal presentation (Japanese-style, of course, lots of bowing and courtesies!) of an official Spanish Tour de Wood Round To It, which I delivered on behalf of the Ambassador himself (I think I was his junior lieutenant for this occasion) in recognition of Stu's vicarious participation (via Oovoo video link), in the wonderful Michigan woodworking weekend a few weeks ago. We even toasted the event properly with some excellent Japanese brewed products, again courtesy of the Ambassador himself. There had actually been an elegant plan in the works to transport, through the magic of the internet, some of Jim Niemi's own brew, made especially for the Michigan gathering. Sadly, through some technical and logistical challenges, this part was just not meant to be, despite the best efforts of an elite team of international experts. Next time, for sure!

Stu, thanks for a great day! I really enjoyed our tour and all the excellent conversation over a wide range of topics. Looking forward to next time.

Here's some pics to certify that it all really happened. Maybe soon I'll figure out how to expertly blend them in with the text.
Peter:wave:

Burl wood 3 slab, Shinkiba, 480,000 yen $6000.jpgBurl wood 3, Shinkiba wood shop.jpgIce saws.jpgIncra iBox jig test.jpgOverhead crane for steel .jpgWalnut, Shinkiba wood shop.jpgPrsentation of Tour de Wood Round To It, Tokyo, Sept 2012.jpg
 
Peter it was a great day, I really enjoyed myself, I don't often get to spend a whole day with a native English speaker, Canadian to boot, and a woodworker just to add to the whole mix, certainly a great day!

We met up early for breakfast and then headed out to Misato, in Saitama to go the the Super Viva Home I frequent, if traffic is light, it is a quick 45 minute ride, that costs only 900 yen/$11.60 each way! (life in Tokyo!)

I picked up some plywood for the build of the top unit of the Humidor, I usually buy the Shina 18mm Lam-ply that I very much loathe, but it usually all that is up for grabs. That day they had something I'd not seen before, 16mm/5/8" Shina plywood, not Lam-ply that I usually buy, we shall see how that works out, and it was cheap too, the regular sheets of the lam-ply at 18mm are 3280 yen/$42.25 these sheets, while being a bit thinner at 16mm were on sale for 1980 yen/$25.50 a sheet. On the way home I decided to take a detour and show Peter a famous wood shop called Moku-Moku, they are famous for having seriously wonderful wood, at heart stopping prices!

moku-moku_wood_store.jpg

A view inside, 90% of the stuff on the rack is for sale finished on four sides, one reason it is so freaking expensive!

peter_wood.jpg

Lots of very nice slabs of wood for sale too.

peter_karin_burl.jpg

Here is a monster slab of Karin or Burmese Rosewood burl, they want 480,000 yen or about $6200.... ouch!

karin_burl.jpg

A close up

jarrah_burl_blank.jpg

Here is a nice little turning blank, about 12" in diameter, maybe 4" thick, certainly a nice chunk of wood, but they wanted 48,000 yen or $620, can we save coring tool?

debbies_bobbins.jpg

Finally here is a shot of all 60 of the lace bobbins I made for Peter's lovely wife Debbie, I hope they go over well.

Peter was kind enough to give me another piece of ebony, that I'll put to good use, and to give me some beer and a Round-to-it as well, all courtesy of our very own Ambassador Larry" One wil be enjoyed, the other treasured!

Thanks Larry!

Peter also gave me a new Lee Valley hat, the one I have is getting a bit dogeared.

Again thanks Peter, it was a great day!

PS anyone want to guess (not peek) at what kind of saw Peter has his hand on in picture #3 of his post?

Cheers!
 
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Looks like a great visit. :thumb:

And I was wondering if Peter was going to have any trouble with that ice saw in his carry-on luggage. :D
 
Glad I wasn't there or they would have to call the cops to get me out that shop, I would have chained myself to that slab of burmese rosewood.
So Debbie will not get her lathe after all, as she has the bobins she needed and wanted to make herself...

Great meeting and great time you had together, what I said before is a lie, I would have loved to be there with you guys!
 
Thanks Toni. It would have been fun to have you along - an Asian tour with a Mediterranean flavour. What could be better? You would surely have figured out how to turn that rosewood into a work of art.

You never know, Debbie might still get that lathe. This will probably just get her interest up some more. And, Larry said he'd come out for a few days to help get her started!

Regards
Peter:wave:
 
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