What timber do the Japanese use......

[Mike G]

........in those impressive-but-pointless videos where great sheets of the gossamer-like stuff flow into the air behind their plane?

 

[Trevanion]

Ah, don't fret Mike. In a lot of those videos they've used Polyethylene Glycol on the timber beforehand to stabilise it.

 

[Mike G]

Really? I wonder who first thought to try that, and why?

 

[Trevanion]

PEG has been used for decades for stabilising green timber during the drying process so that it's much less likely to crack, it used to be a big thing amongst woodturners years ago who were preparing their own blanks or part-turned items from green timber, but you don't hear about it much anymore.

Working with PEG-impregnated timber is much like working with green timber, it's much smoother and less likely to tear up whilst planing.

 

[CHJ]

it used to be a big thing amongst woodturners years ago who were preparing their own blanks or part-turned items from green timber, but you don't hear about it much anymore..

Think it was one of those fads alongside boiling/steaming, all of which work to a degree, that got promoted as a "you must do this if your anybody" as part of the speeding up the drying times.

Think most long term (hobby?) turners, if not exactly happy about it initially, accept that life is better spent working with natures timescales than trying to force the issue and spend the time organising long term hording of stock and in-work projects for nature to do the job for them.

 

[AJB Temple]

When I did the woodwork course in Japan, it was evident that the main woods used were Japanese Cyprus, J Cedar and J brown or red pine. They also have a thing called Kiri, for which I can't recall the European name.

They are all relatively soft and easy to work. All will plane off ribbons with a pull plane.

Japanese Cedar is very readily available and used for furniture, baths, paper screens, structural timber, flooring and pretty much everything.

The quality of the joinery woods there is great - not the knotty softwood rubbish we tend to get over here in most sheds and merchants.

 

[AJB Temple]

Oh there is also a thing called parasol pine or umbrella pine, which is used to make wooden baths and sauna furniture. We have such a bath as it happens that I need to sell. Very thick and weighs a lot.

 

[RogerS]

..They also have a thing called Kiri, for which I can't recall the European name.

...

Paulownia.


OK...I Googled

 

[Doug]

The quality of the joinery woods there is great - not the knotty softwood rubbish we tend to get over here in most sheds and merchants.

But the knotty softwood you refer to is carpentry grade timber not Joinery, I’ve never had a problem sourcing clear joinery softwood

 

[Craig Salisbury]

..They also have a thing called Kiri, for which I can't recall the European name.

...

Paulownia.


OK...I Googled

It is indeed Powlonia, I actually asked this question to a craftsman in Fukushima.

 

[Woodbloke]

Oh there is also a thing called parasol pine or umbrella pine, which is used to make wooden baths and sauna furniture. We have such a bath as it happens that I need to sell. Very thick and weighs a lot.

There's also Hinoki or Japanese Cypress, much used in the past for temples and shrines though apparently there's not much original Japanese timber left as all the first growth forests have disappeared. The stuff makes a rather excellent chopping board as well - Rob

 

[meccarroll]

The quality of the joinery woods there is great - not the knotty softwood rubbish we tend to get over here in most sheds and merchants.

But the knotty softwood you refer to is carpentry grade timber not Joinery, I’ve never had a problem sourcing clear joinery softwood

I'm not an expert on wood even though I've been using wood all my life but when refering to lower grades Don't you mean "Framing timber" or "Carcasing grade" Doug. I live around North Suffolk by the sea and I never see clear joinery in the local timber merchants the best we get is tight annular rings that are perpendicular to the edge with small live knots.

 

[spb]

I'm not an expert on wood even though I've been using wood all my life but when refering to lower grades Don't you mean "Framing timber" or "Carcasing grade" Doug. I live around North Suffolk by the sea and I never see clear joinery in the local timber merchants the best we get is tight annular rings that are perpendicular to the edge with small live knots.

Do you not have a local Huws Gray (or Ridgeons, as was)? Every branch I've been in so far has had PAR unsorted redwood in a pretty wide variety of sections, most of which is completely clear and straight grained. It's one of my go-tos for anything that will be visible but doesn't need to be fancy.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A few years ago I went to a local merchants and started looking through the timber for bits with grain/knots/splits most suitable for my usage. The chap told me they had customers who actully requested pieces with the pith in because it was the best. They went out of their way to aid these people. :lol:

 

[Mike G]

.....Do you not have a local Huws Gray (or Ridgeons, as was)? Every branch I've been in so far has had PAR unsorted redwood in a pretty wide variety of sections, most of which is completely clear and straight grained. It's one of my go-tos for anything that will be visible but doesn't need to be fancy.

I'll take a camera next time I pop in to the Sudbury branch. The quality and range of PAR redwood is fantastic.......and the quantity is seriously impressive. There are various grades, and if you want something knot-free (and pith-free) you'll find it easily. I'm always puzzled when I hear people say they can't get decent pine, because it's very hard to avoid around here.

 

[meccarroll]

I'm not an expert on wood even though I've been using wood all my life but when refering to lower grades Don't you mean "Framing timber" or "Carcasing grade" Doug. I live around North Suffolk by the sea and I never see clear joinery in the local timber merchants the best we get is tight annular rings that are perpendicular to the edge with small live knots.

Do you not have a local Huws Gray (or Ridgeons, as was)? Every branch I've been in so far has had PAR unsorted redwood in a pretty wide variety of sections, most of which is completely clear and straight grained. It's one of my go-tos for anything that will be visible but doesn't need to be fancy.

I use, A & W Cushion Timber Merchants who are located in Great Yarmouth (about 12 miles from me) thir timber is OK for joinery if you sort through it but definatly not clear of knots. My local Ridgens is Lowestoft and they did stock Joinery timber which was better than A & W Cushion but they stopped stocking Joinery while back. Next up is Smiths Timber in Lowestoft (they cut and fetch it out to the desk) I have only used them once and when I did I asked for some joinery timber, they brought out some low grade joinery timber. I have been buying timber around Lowestoft, Yarmouth and Norwich for around 40 years and it's never really been that great locally.

You can drop on some clear timber at Travis Perking but it's a limited stock of mainly thin boards (Not the stuff for making doors and windows) and it's expensive!

Mike G mentions Sudbury, which is 66 miles from where I live so not exactly feasable for the odd window/door etc but sounds very worthwhile paying a visit sometime as for a larger job the trip could be well worth it.

 

[GaryR]

In Japan the kezuro-kai competitions use hinoki cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa for qualifying events and Japanese cedar for the final competition. The hinoki is carefully chosen for competition and is not treated in any way other than being held at a higher moisture content than might be used for furniture. Competitions in the USA sometimes use Nootka cypress, also known as yellow cedar or Alaska yellow cedar.

A good description of participating in the competition can be found here:

https://www.bigsandwoodworking.com/kezurou-kai-39/