Musings

One Of These Days… – A Japanese Toolbox As A Solution?

As I mentioned earlier I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the hanging wall cabinet for my Japanese tools was not a successful solution.  I figured a traditional Japanese tool box might be the better path and browsed youtube for examples of folks making them.  None of those examples seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.  After referring back to the mother ship, a/k/a Toshio Odate’s monumental book Japanese Woodworking Tools, my copy of which is well worn, I was validated in his statement that the tool box is made to hold whatever tools were being housed.  Thus there are as many different sizes and proportions of toolboxes as there are craftsmen and their tools.  Duh.

With that level of freedom conferred I spent a couple days making the one that suits my needs perfectly, and will, I suspect, make the tools much more accessible and thus more integrated into my work routine.  Since Japanese tools seem much more kinesiologically sympathetic to my, uh, aging meat machine, it is likely that this method of work might become my dominant habit.  I’m all about cultural appropriation, baby, snowflakes be damned.

Were I to have a conversation with the 1970 Model of Don I would tell him, “You know, playing basketball on asphalt courts several hours a day is going to make your knees really ache some day.”  And believe me that day came a long time ago.

Stay tuned to follow along as I go down this path.