Bugyotsuji Posted March 16 Report Posted March 16 About a year ago I bought a bronze oil pot for an Edo period Japanese andon lamp. A fine-looking thing, but as is often the case, it had lost its lid. Rather slim in silhouette, it needed a small lid. Round and round the antiques fairs I went, rejecting most but buying occasionally, only to be disappointed once more by the lack of a proper material or age match. Months passed. One dealer who has several weathered antique lids on a string handed me a nice one yesterday that he had been saving for me. “Cut this down to the correct size, using an angle grinder.” “Tin snips?” I ventured. “Definitely not. Grind it down to size!” Gulp. Never really been happy working metals. A delicate thing with definite age. What if I ruin the old lid? Still, lonely hearts club, etc., so a potential new life for the pot I reckoned, and got to work shrinking the thing. Hand files and sanding papers though. Getting close to the right size? About 6.7 cm across… Hmmm… . 2 4 Quote
Matsunoki Posted March 16 Report Posted March 16 29 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said: Never really been happy working metals. Nor me, too damned hard! Looks like a perfect job to me Piers. Patience pays🙂 2 Quote
Brian Posted March 16 Report Posted March 16 Looks great. Having a full workshop here with lathe and knife belt grinder etc, I'd make short work of that. But you did awesome and it looks great. 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted March 16 Author Report Posted March 16 Hmmm… a ‘full workshop’ sounds nice. Kind words from both of you much appreciated. Anyone else have some cultural refreshment they’re tempted to share? Quote
John C Posted March 16 Report Posted March 16 3 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said: cultural refreshment Getting there. I'm about a week or two from finishing a suzuribako tansu. Started with just the door with all the ornate metal work, locking mechanism, hinges, etc. Long process due to making all of the supporting hardware from scratch (sheet copper), unfortunately without a full workshop, and trying to mimic the grain and color of the wood. I'll post pics when finished. John C. 3 2 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted March 17 Author Report Posted March 17 Loving those old iron reinforcing fitments. Quote
John C Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 Here's a teaser. I wanted to mimic the "feeling" of the design without copying it. The corner braces in their raw form. I will patinate them black to match the old iron. The flowers were stamped in with one of my leather leaf tools (the wife's idea. She thought they looked plain otherwise). John C. 5 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 On 3/16/2026 at 12:13 PM, Bugyotsuji said: ....Anyone else have some cultural refreshment they’re tempted to share? Well, you asked for it: On Sunday on a local flee-market, I bought a traditional tool that I will restore (very lightly as it is in good shape and as museum piece, I don't want it to look like new) in the next few days. It has a very solid hand-forged blade of 210 mm length and a max. spine thickness of 8 mm. Similar tools have been used in many cultures world-wide, called "billhook" in the English-speaking parts of the world. In my region, it was traditionally used for forest and agricultural work. 3 Quote
Bazza Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 A BILLHOOK!!! How very fitting your 'traditional tool' should appear on NMB. As I'm sure many of you know, the billhook has a long career as a weapon. BaZZa. 4 Quote
Matsunoki Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 2 hours ago, ROKUJURO said: In my region, it was traditionally used for forest and agricultural work. Blimey, that image brought back long buried memories. We had these on the farm where I was born. As a kid I used them to cut hazel spears and arrows in the wood. I think their intended function was to trim sugar beet and mangolds when harvesting was largely by hand. Gentler days. 2 1 Quote
Viper6924 Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 I think you did a smashing job on that lid, Piers. Looks like it’s been part of the oil pot from the very start. Great work on a great oil pot. Jan 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted March 19 Author Report Posted March 19 Looking forward to your ‘finished’ pics, John. Next month I hope to show the dealer the refreshed oil pot with its new lid, thanking him for his help and advice. Conscious of this scenario, I did make an extra effort to get it ‘right’. Might even buy something from his stand! 2 Quote
John C Posted March 28 Report Posted March 28 Update teaser number 2. The metal reinforcement pieces after patination. Captures the look of the iron pieces well enough, I think. John C. 2 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted March 29 Report Posted March 29 My next project in this field will be the restoration of woodworking tools (NOMI). It will probably take a short while.... 3 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted March 30 Author Report Posted March 30 Just for a moment there Jean, I thought I saw a spot of rust… 1 1 Quote
Robert S Posted Thursday at 05:34 PM Report Posted Thursday at 05:34 PM On 3/29/2026 at 1:13 PM, John C said: The bane of my existence...sharpening! John C. I'm at the extreme other end of that spectrum. I love sharpening! And so of course have the most complicated sharpening system possible... diamond, ceramic, artificial stone, natural stone... Robert 1 Quote
Robert S Posted Thursday at 05:37 PM Report Posted Thursday at 05:37 PM On 3/29/2026 at 11:35 AM, ROKUJURO said: My next project in this field will be the restoration of woodworking tools (NOMI). It will probably take a short while.... I have a collection like that too, Jean, except mine are mostly western, not Japanese. Bought a huge assortment as a lot from a roadside antique dealer in Wisconsin about 10 years ago - it was something like $60 for the lot - steal of a deal! 2 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted Thursday at 07:04 PM Report Posted Thursday at 07:04 PM Robert, good old tools are a source of satisfaction and potentially of good work as well! My customers who order traditional tools are always fascinated how easy it can be to work with them, but you have to practice it to believe it. Often, the promised advantages of power-tools are not that big, and you have to accept a lot of noise using them. Did you ever watch a well trained guy mowing with an ergonomically fitted scythe, early in the morning, when the high grass is still a bit wet from dew? It is a real pleasure to listen to the faint noise the scythe blade makes when cutting, and the grass falls forming nice patterns along the rows....AND it goes fast! And working with a good KANNA (= plane), not in these competitions for the thinnest shavings, but in real-life woodwork? Very satisfying as well! As a boy, I could watch the craftsmen in the sculpting section of a cabinet-maker's workshop (in France then). No machines, silent, concentrated work, not much talking. After more than 60 years, I still remember the smell and the tiny sounds the sharp cutting edges were making on the wood. I once asked a guy why he used so very short chisels (I had known longer ones from my father who was not a professional woodworker). He replied, smiling: 'They are my grandfather's...'. Still perfect for fine work! 1 Quote
John C Posted Thursday at 07:25 PM Report Posted Thursday at 07:25 PM 12 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said: And working with a good KANNA I have several that I use regularly (with 10 or 12 different blades), which do an amazing job. The rub for me, however, is how finicky they are. It usually takes me multiple tries to set each one exactly where I want it (based on the grain direction, etc.). One tiny tap on the blade - not cutting enough. One more tiny tap - now cutting too much. Darn. Need to pull the blade and chip breaker and start again! I find card and cabinet scrapers (stanley #80) way easier to "sharpen" (obtain a burr) and use for finishing at least. John C. 2 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted Thursday at 07:39 PM Report Posted Thursday at 07:39 PM I understand exactly what you are saying! It may be different in case this was your daily work. 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted Friday at 02:47 AM Author Report Posted Friday at 02:47 AM Changing the subject just for a moment, but loving the thoughts of woodworkers above! Last night I was watching a programme about restoring some of the walls and ceilings of a gorgeously appointed Bunkazai temple residence somewhere in Japan. (Missed the beginning so not sure where exactly it was.) Imagine large connected tatami rooms in Nijo Jo with colourful Kano-painted fusuma and wall panels, golden, with black-lacquered beams and gold fittings everywhere. That kind of place. One problem which the priest pointed out was a long vertical split in the samite gold cloth trimming down the right side of a sliding panel. They introduced the young artisan expert, wearing a backpack of tools, who assured us he would repair it in the traditional way as he had learned from his father and grandfather before him. The guy spread out a small plastic sheet on the tatami and placed upon it his minimal tool set. He opened a small Tupperware tub and showed us the glistening 'nori' rice-paste glue, the same as traditionally used by schoolchildren. "Repairs may have to be conducted again in the same place in the future" he explained, "so nothing permanent". "In fact," he added, pulling away some yellowed paper residue from out of the crack with his tweezers, "you can see how someone has done this before." He painted the Nori glue onto both sides of a hand-sized sheet of plastic, and slipped it under the edge of the gold cloth fabric, pressing it down with some brown paper as he withdrew his slide. Half an hour of repeating this process, and he declared himself finished. Could we see the line of the 'repair', well, yes, even as the camera crew said "no". Next we moved to a high-ceilinged corridor where one square-framed ceiling panel had a similar fabric split across the painting of flowers. He climbed an A-frame stepladder and used the same process over another half an hour. The after photo still showed a hairline crack and some discolouration where the Nori had seeped through(?) but at least the material was flat, stuck back in place. Educational? Yes, for me it was. 5 Quote
John C Posted yesterday at 02:22 AM Report Posted yesterday at 02:22 AM Well...suzuri-bako is finally finished. Refreshing the old door with a new box. The project was quite challenging in one respect - trying to match the color, grain, finish, and most of all the age of the original door. My wife is not a fan of the "distressed" aesthetic so trying to match the age (tone, damage, repairs, finish, etc) without it looking like it fell off of the back of a truck was challenging. In addition, the original door was not square so the box had to be slightly out of square. It's way easier to make something perfect than to make it look legitimately old. To match the color and grain I used cherry veneer with solid cherry facings. The drawers are a complimentary birdseye maple veneer with solid maple edging. Maple ply for the sides and bottom. All of the hardware was made from patinated copper, embossed with "flowers" with the single exception of the top handle (an original cast iron handle purveyed from ebay). I think I matched the iron look fairly well. The construction was traditional with large lapped tenons and dowel pins on the "ears." The whole box was sealed with shellac followed by a thin coat of satin lacquer, sanded to take some of the shine off. John C. p.s. the color of the box matches the door much better in person than in the pics. 1 1 1 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted 21 hours ago Report Posted 21 hours ago That looks like really good work! Beautiful, admiring it! 1 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted 6 hours ago Author Report Posted 6 hours ago Agreed 100%! Worthy of the ‘We like boxes’ thread!!! (Just add “some small repairs…” hehehe! ) Giving me flashes of old traditional suzuri cabinets. Well done! 1 Quote
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