Bootstrapping a tiny house from inside with japanese woodworking

[Campitor]

Japanese woodworking can be done with western hand tools that are probably available in Brazil. Below a starter list - please be aware that saws are designed for hardwoods and softwoods. A hardwood saw can cut hardwood but a softwood saw will lose its teeth trying to cut dense hardwood.

1. A Ryoba (a double edged saw with a side for cross cutting and the opposite side for ripping. The western equivalent is a panel saw (ripping) and a cross cut saw - unlike the japanese saw, they will need to purchased separately.
2. A dozuki (dovetail saw) - the western version is just called a dovetail saw.
3. Chisels suitable for the tasks your undertaking - get a 1" wide chisel, 1/2 Chisel, and a 1/4" chisel - the other sizes can be purchased later if needed.
4. A coping saw for cutting curves into wood or coping joints together.
5. A jointer plane (for flattening surfaces) and a regular jack plane for removing wood quickly where precise flatness across a long distance isn't required - like planing down the bottom of a door.
6. a 600 grit and 1000 grit sharpening stone for sharpening chisels and plane irons - you can get other grits later.
7. Files for sharpening your saws - please be aware that induction heated saws can't be sharpened - they stay sharp longer but the induction hardness makes it extremely difficult to sharpen - the metal is too hard.
8. A good straight edge for making precise lines.
9. A square for marking 90% angles.

The above tools will let you build most of the items needed to renovate this small space and make some minimalist furniture if you up to it. And some japanese woodworkers don't use a dedicated bench - they build sawhorses and just put a thick plank of wood on it for a makeshift workbench.

Some videos to inspire you:

https://youtu.be/yx0TLg10mhU
https://youtu.be/cZN6AtS4LNQ

[7Wannabe5]

I miss owning my place and also miss being able to build stuff.

Yeah, this is why I found myself bouncing hard off of extreme minimalism. For some reason, typing into a computer and/or attempting to increase the musculature of my own abdomen does not satisfy the urge to create something tangible. When I am "homeless", no matter how posh my current accommodations, I have dreams in which I am doing something like scraping old paint off of a windowsill.

Unfortunately, I can't shake this feeling even though my tendency towards being a generalist, also leaves me far from mastery of any given craft. For instance, only helpless babies will wear something I knitted. Therefore, Japanese Woodworking is far beyond my capabilities in carpentry.

Also, due to stupid archaic codes and such, the tiniest house I can build on my urban property is 800 square ft., and the smallest I could subdivide it into independent units would be 400 square ft. That is why I might choose to buy some rural property where I can do just about whatever I want instead.

Good luck with your project! Will look forward to before and after pics.

[FBeyer]

You don't need a Japanese saw to do japanese woodworking.
There is one technical differences between japanese and western saws: Western saws cut on the push, Eastern saws cut on the draw.

That means the metal is thinner on Jap saws compared to western. That means they cut more easily, because they remove less material than a western saw. They pull dust unto the working piece so you have to blow saw dust away from the cut MUCH more often than usual.
Jap saws cut very neatly IFF you start right. The first 5 seconds of a cut determine if it'll be crazy easy or crazy hard to finish the cut accurately.
Jap saws -if ground right- can cut exactly flush with a surface. You can cut dowels off of furniture pieces without needing to sand or plane afterwards, and you can do so without scratching the surface.

Western saws generally explode their way through wood. IME they cut much faster than japs saws, and they 're easier to correct if your cut warps underway.

The jap saw is much more versatile, but it's unforgiving compared to a western saw. And you have to be patient with your work...

[Campitor]

I use western saws and japanese saws. The japanese saw leaves a smoother cut. It's true that japanese saws, because they cut on the pull stroke, will pull sawdust "towards" you. However japanese saws were not meant to be used in the same position as a western saw (overhead push stance). Japanese saws were meant to be positioned either underneath a horizontal piece of wood or the wood positioned vertically while the saw is held perpendicular; this causes the sawdust to fall to the floor and away from the cut line. Obviously this isn't a hard rule but there's a reason why it's done this way - most japanese didn't use western style benches - they worked on the floor so sawing downward was a natural motion - lifting a saw upward and letting gravity assist on the pull stroke was easier. See videos below for reference:

Cutting vertical wood: https://youtu.be/dibIlrai8fU?t=132
Cutting horizontal wood: https://youtu.be/kDbA9N80ioI?t=235

Please note that in the videos the wood is mirrored on the saw - a shiny saw helps you cut straighter - if the reflection of the wood in the saw creates a perfect mirror image in all aspects (angle, pitch, etc) - this means the saw is being held in perfect cutting position - your cut will be straight and parallel.

[jacob]

I'm crude and lazy, so I file all my saws rip (in the tradition of Tage Frid). Filing crosscut is twice as much work and I wouldn't even know where to begin with a Japanese pattern. As far as I understand, Japanese saws are hardened to a higher Rockwell and so last longer ... but that also makes them harder to maintain.

The rip-only approach works because rip also works for crosscutting (but crosscut is terrible for ripping). It does tear the grain a bit but this can be fixed by using a finer toothed saw or end planing.

Lately, I've experimented with building my own frame saws: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4LohjmskEk (Paul Sellers)... The ultimate goal is to make my own blades out of bandsaw blanks/coil stock. Once they get dull, I'd simply replace them. The dull ones can be sold to knifemakers on eBay.

[jacob]

Here's my list similar to Campitor's and constitutes what I would get insofar I knew what I know today. It's Western style handtools and optimized for softwoods (I'm a cheap bastard so I build everything out of cheap pine (lots of knots) and framing timber like SPH/HF).

• Cheap woodworking square 8" or so. People often recommend a fancy $$$ combination square, but these are powertool users.
• Mortise gauge (for mortises and tenons)
• Sliding bevel (for dovetails)
• Panel saw filed rip 8-10tpi (for sawing everything) [ I have a Disston D-8]
• Dovetail saw filed rip 12-14tpi (for sawing finer things, especially dovetails, but also tenons)
• Mortise chisel(s). If you work with 2x4s all you're ever going to use is 1/2". You can use a bench chisel, but the mortising chisel is so much easier.
• Bench chisels, because your mortise chisel is too square you get into the corners of dove tails. 1/4" (corners), 1/2" (most work) and 1" (straight lines).
• #7 jointer plane. For softwoods get a low-angle. For hardwoods get a normal angle. If you only want one, get the low-angle.
• #5 jack plane. Low-angle. You can also use this for planing end grain once you've built a shooting board.
• #4 smooth plane. (If you want your surfaces to feel like glass. If you build "rustic" stuff, you don't need this.)
• Scrub plane. (Used to quickly remove a lot of wood. Sometimes it's faster than resawing!) Some say it's a novelty plane, but I love it.
• Chuck brace and a set of augers. Get a standard chuck (3 jaws, not 2) that will take normal hexbits as well. Then you can also use it as a mighty screwdriver.
• A mill file, a triangle file for each saw, and an auger file.
• A sharpening system of some kind. I started with sandpaper on glass (scary sharp) ($) but am looking to transition to water stones ($$$).

In my experience, tools compensate for lack of skill. After all, all the above is are metal edges arranged in various ways (a chisel is just a knife at the end of a stick, a rip saw is just a bunch of tiny chisels lined up, a plane is just a knife held at a constant angle), so technically everything can be built with a knife. What this means is that you'll probably need to start out with more tools than you'll eventually need or want. At least that has been my experience. Case in point, Paul Sellers in the video above uses his finger+pencil as a mortising gauge. I'm definitely not there yet.

Add: if you don't want all the planes, start with #5. Start with the bench chisels. Start with the panel saw.

As for work benches, I used and abused a Black&Decker workmate for many years. I recently built my own Nicholson style bench which in retrospect I should have done years ago. The reason it took me so long was that I was way overthinking it + there were other things to build instead. I suggest going on youtube and finding a weekend build for a bench made out of 2x4s. It's going to be more functional than the workmate. It's also going to be much uglier and cost about the same ... so ... and if you already have a sturdy(*) table, you can just attach a vise to it.

(*) It does more damage to you than the table if you kick it hard.

[Campitor]

Workbenches and hand tools - they go together like a hand and glove. Workbench designs are a rabbit hole for me. And I agree with Jacob in regards to tools and skills - especially with hand tools. I've seen guys use hacksaws to make tight-fitting dovetails. Jacob's tool list is more complete. My list was a starter list to get you going. Mortising chisels are great and I would buy them but I make do with my regular bench chisels. I keep them razor sharp always and I'll strop them frequently with a 5000 grit sandpaper on a dead flat ceramic tile. You can use an auger to remove most of the waste and then use the regular chisels to remove the rest.

Before you buy any tools, please check what kind of wood you have available and what is cheapest. Hardwoods cost a lot in the US but in South America, where hardwoods are plentiful, they can be cheaper or more readily available than softwoods; sorry rainforest! So if you're going to primarily work with hardwoods (softwoods can be very tough on tools too), make sure your saws and chisels are designed for it. Here is something that can help you determine the toughness of wood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test


PS - hardwoods, especially those from South America (you're in Brazil - correct?), have a lot of resins which can be extremely irritating to the lungs - keep the sawdust to a minimum or wear a mask.

[jacob]

I've been selling some of my "built to last a lifetime" tools on ebay again. I get about the same as what I paid for them (on ebay).

Also I forgot to add a couple of planes to my list: rabbet block plane. Being able to trim your tenons makes life easier until you've learned how to saw perfect lines (1/2 kerf tolerance). Alternatively, a regular block plane + a shoulder plane.