It’s now been a year since we moved to New Jersey. In my last update, I said that there would be a lot of work needed to get up and working again, and that’s no lie. It’s taken a year, but my new shop is almost operational:

This is more or less the backside view of my post a year ago. I can do hand work reasonably now, or at least, I can when I move the detritus off a benchtop. I had an unpleasant surprise when I found that the soles of several of my planes had developed some rust spots, but I eliminated those and they’re back in action. I don’t have a good sharpening station yet. Several boxes haven’t been unpacked, but they seem to get unpacked as I need things inside.

The item that took the longest amount of time to sort out was the floor, and there, I spent several months trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and who was to do it (sigh). In the end, I tore the carpet out and put the new one in myself with some help from my niece. This is LVP (“luxury vinyl plank”). I don’t know how it’ll work out in the long run, but so far, it seems fine. It’s got a little bit of “give” and won’t shatter cast iron if you drop it, and the color reflects light so that I should be able to see fairly well.

I can’t use the machines yet because of the usual nightmare of dust collection. That, however, is (probably) almost done.

This would all go a lot faster if I didn’t have, like, a day job, and other annoying stuff like that.

And now for something completely different…

One thing that keeps me out of the shop for a month out of most years is the annual trip to Asia. Understand that any sort of woodwoorking-related thing that happens during this trip tends to occur as a “drive-by”–that is, some sort of incidental opportunity along the way (I don’t tend to ask to visit anything in particular for fear of boring the rest of the family to tears).

In any case, we usually visit Japan, and this time, we were able to take a short trip to Niigata (Prefecture). I’ve always wanted to go there, and wouldn’t you know, we took the Shinkansen to Tsumbame-Sanjo. This is a major center for toolmaking and other metalworking, and in the station itself, there is a store showcasing the stuff that they make there. It’s everything from hand tools to sickles to pots and pans to tableware. This was almost perfect, because my family could drool over the cookware while I drooled over the tools.

Then, the staff there mentioned, “Hey, there’s a bigger store just down the street like this if you like this stuff.” That would be the “Regional Industries Promotion Center”, and of course we walked down there.

Here’s some of the stuff that I looked at:

The obligatory planes. These are, of course, the “mass-produced” variety, but they’re still all very nice. Somehow, I avoided buying a rabbet plane (my fetish, or something) but I don’t know how.

Obligatory chisels, similar to the planes. Still didn’t see the one specialty thing that I’ve been looking for.

Some of the nicest pliers you’ll ever see. I picked up a pair of needle-nose pliers. Seriously, I’ve long said that Japan makes some of the best of these sorts of “mundane” tools, like pliers, clamps, and screwdrivers. Tsubame-Sanjo is usually the source. And here’s the thing–it’s really not that expensive. Sure, more than what you’d pay for the run-of-the-mill junk that you see in home centers here, but nothing you’d need a second mortgage for.

Shears and nippers for sewing. I bought some shears. They feel perfect in the hand, cut as well as you’d expect.

We got a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t need to show, like new tableware (some of the nicest I’ve seen, on par with the Berndorf stuff I got from Austria years ago), ice cream shovels/spoons, and so on. It’s true that you can get most of this stuff via mail-order (though it can be difficult from outside of Japan), but there, you can see a huge variety in person and get it tax-free as a foreign tourist.

In addition, here’s some drive-by woodworking content:

This shoji at the Northern Culture Museum (essentially, a rich farmer’s estate), never mind the crazy-nice garden view from here.

This timberwork–I believe it was in the granary, but don’t quote me on that.

Some shoji or other at the hotel we stayed one night. I don’t know why I singled out this one in particular, I guess liked the use of empty spaces and small wood panels or something.