Thank you. I'm glad you found it interesting.

Thank you Ewa.

+Mort Dybert Thanks Mort

Thank you braveheartx72. I'm glad you've found them of some value.

Thank you.

Without you I wouldn' t know why I only hear silence! :D My left soundbox doesn' t work

My right ear had fun, my left ear is pouting

Metric is by far the easiest unit to work in.

@@kskdesign1 I swap between metric and imperial depending on my mood. It's good to understand different systems.

Thank you. These videos are very time-consuming so there's nothing more planned in the medium term. There are a few shorter videos and more pattern info on my Instagram channel at desking01.

And 10:02 that saw just gave my chinese cleaver a raging boner

Thank you. This was raised in one of the early comments a year ago. The answer's there - kakuasa (kaku asa-no-ha) is square asa-no-ha (kaku means square).

It cuts slightly into the inner edges of the jig, but this doesn't affect the actual sit or ride of the plane as it trims. It still trims at the same angle.

I've been racking my brain trying to figure this out, too. I guess it's all about the planer stroke and only eating a little of the INSIDE of the face of the jig. But, yeah, it's been bugging me trying to figure that out!

The jig is basically a very, very minimalist expression of a shooting board. Des makes it look easy to use, but so far I've managed to only carve more jig than kumiko. 😁 The key seems to have a very VERY sharp plane, a very light touch, and lots of muscle memory. I don't think his plane actually touches down on the jig until the final few strokes, and the angle he holds it at relative to the jig seems to keep the lower corner of the planer blade closest to the back fence of the jig. I bet that motion is kanna-esque, but it's definitely an unusual (but obviously very effective) way to use a western plane. I just recently invested in Veritas' most expensive block plane, and I think it might be light and true enough to finally work for me. My previous attempt was with a new Stanley Bailey, and it definitely helped compared to the cheaper options but was still very frustrating because of the weight and balance, and also because I still have a very heavy touch. Meanwhile, I've learned how to flatten and sharpen bench chisels, and have been using them with other types of jigs with more success. I really aspire to mimic Des's technique someday, but anything that keeps me in the shop helps with my lifelong depression and anxiety. I think the best part about kumiko is the process more than the product, but the product is also nice.

Thank you. I'm glad you've found the books of some value. Well done with the hitoe-bishi, because it's certainly not the easiest pattern to make. I never apply finish to kumiko. I apply finish to the frame (lamp on Page 215) but never the kumiko or the tsukeko. You'll find that over the years the unfinished Alaskan yellow cedar will darken slightly and take on its own unique appeal. Alaskan yellow cedar (bei-hiba) is used quite regularly for shoji in Japan and this slight darkening adds to the character of the shoji. If you need to ask any further questions, it's probably best to contact me through my website.

+jimius Thanks jimius. The full name for this style of pattern is kaku asa-no-ha. The "kaku" means the pattern is made within a square jigumi, or base, so it's a square asa-no-ha. The same pattern made within a hexagonal jigumi consisting of six triangles is called simply "asa-no-ha".

When working by hand, small marking or cutting errors invariably creep in, regardless of how small the piece is, and this reduces the effect of those errors. In shoji panels with more than 30 vertical and more than 20 horizontal kumiko (as in my second book) numbering is critical. It's a good habit to get into.

Thanks for the reply. Not sure how that approach to error reduction management works if the errors are random, but I can appreciate that errors on larger panels would be an issue. Thus far I have only worked on the small asa-no-ha.

@@cdbflynow, the errors are more often systematic than random. The bevel on your marking knife is one example that, as Des points out, can consistently push your cuts to one side if you always measure and mark from the same side of the jig.

Thank you. I made all the jigs.

Thank you, I'm glad you find it interesting. The timber is Huon Pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii).

If you make up a tapering jig and secure the assembled kumiko jig to that, carefully run the jig through the table saw (won't be able to cut all the way through), then finish the cut with a handsaw. The angled face can then be cleaned up and minor adjustments made with a hand plane. An alternative is to cut the two sides to the kumiko jig on the tapering jig separately, then assemble the kumiko jig and adjust the angled face with a hand plane. The important point is to make sure all cuts to the jig are done safely. These cuts can also be made on a bandsaw.

Ah, thank you very much!

Hi I'm not Des King, but to answer your question: 10mm is close to 3/8 inch. To be precise 10mm = 0.393 inch and 3/8 inch in decimal format is 0.375. There is no exact conversion between metric and imperial measurements, except that 1 inch = 2.54 cm exactly, or 1 inch = 25.4 mm exactly. Any other imperial measurements (1/16, 1/8, 1/2, 3/4 inch, etc) will never be precise when converted to metric & vice versa. Hope this helps.

3/8 is closer to 9mm than 10. 9mm is 0.354" compared to 0.393 for 10mm. Roughly 1/2mm between them

There are four different ways of making the square asa-no-ha. A single piece cut in the middle to act as a hinge and a shorter locking piece (this is called "ori-mage") is one way. The way shown here is probably the simplest method, and, I believe, results in the best joint.

kskdesign Didn't know there were four. Watching that kinda took me back to my childhood when I used to watch a local craftsman do his work when I was staying with a relative in Japan.

The side support is set at about 5.5mm above the base, and the piece on the other side holding the kumiko firmly against the side support is about 5.5mm thick, so I just cut down to those pieces. Doesn't have to be exactly 5.5mm, but has to be at least half way down. Des

@@kskdesign1 OK thanks for the reply. I didn't notice that the sides were sized to the depth. Its good the see this work without power tools.

I mentioned this in a reply about 3 weeks ago, but the blade only cuts slightly into the inner edge of the jig. The sole of the plane still sits properly on the guides. Any minor cutting into the jig by the blade doesn't affect the way the plane sole sits on the jig. My current jigs are around 7 years old, and they work just as accurately as when I made them. A bit difficult to explain, but it will become clear once you make up and use the jigs. Hope this helps.

@@kskdesign1 Thank you for adding this comment and for the videos. I just made my first jig and found that the plane dug into the jig with the first stroke. If I understand what you are saying, this is normal for the first cuts on a new jig and I should just take care to only allow the plane to move enough to finish the cut. It sounds like the jig will wear away a little right at the mouth of the jig, but then stop.

Thank you. I used to sell them, but not any more.

Thank you. The asa-no-ha is a very effective and beautiful pattern for partitions.

Don't worry, I'm not taking it as criticism. A fair question. It's a different type of woodworking, and a different look to the end product. This is just a single, simple pattern, and made to a fairly large size, so cutting it by scroll saw would be possible, but I would question whether it would be faster or easier. I cut all my joinery by hand, and the largest work I've done had between 10,000 and 12,000 individual pieces, some as small as 1mm thick and 3mm long. I've seen work in Japan with joinery cut by machine that had over 200,000 pieces, most of them less than 1mm thick. That sort of work would be next to impossible with a scroll saw.

Now I see your point. Thanks for the reply