Join us in the week-long deep dive into Japanese planes and chisels. Many woodworkers are captivated by the deceptive simplicity of Japanese hand tools, only to find that they can be a bit more complicated than they look. From the perspective of a furniture and shoji door maker, instructor Brian Holcombe will guide you through the process of setting up new tools and help to answer questions as you work through tuning and adjusting. As someone with experience in both western and Japanese tools, Brian can help to answer questions with a pragmatic approach, and help to focus on getting your tools ready for your next woodworking project. The course will start with focusing on chisels. Setting hoops, flattening backs, and learning to sharpen the bevel all by hand. Next we’ll move on to the hand plane, taking time to work through all the details that take the tool from a block of wood and steel, to a high-precision instrument. After tool setup, we’ll have some material on hand to start making shavings. Depending on the pace of work, we can also work on joinery samples. Brian will also be teaching a furniture course the week following this course. This course would be great preparation for taking the dovetail bench course. Required Tools: Personal protective equipment Pencil Paper or notepad Close-toed shoes New Japanese chisels 18mm and 24mm New plane - what ever size you expect to use in your work 48mm to 70mm 1000 grit and 8000 grit water stones Hammer Prerequisites Bring enthusiasm and an open mind. This class is designed for complete novices up through experienced woodworkers who would like to tune up their skills.