Amazing Japanese craftsman creating a fountain pen

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Been there done that. Took me about a month to get out of the hole. Then started to watch Japanology. The scissors episode was mesmerizing. 🙂
 
GUILLLLTYYYY! as well of that hole. Love the way they work and I too want a Japanese lathe. Would not even know where to start to look for one. I watched one video of a Japanese pen maker whom at the end he explains how apprentices had to go outside and hand forge their own turning tools. Unreal!
 
Fascinating video. I recall seeing a video on Japanese wood joinery. Some observations on the video-
1. Many of the tools look like DIY. The first one to bore the hole looked like a screwdriver with the end heated and forged into the desired shape. Harbor Freight, here I come!
2. The lathe was powered by electricity and the foot pedals for the fine work.
3. His tool rest was most interesting- it "floated" rather than being stationary.
4. Patience to cut, form, and fit. We should take a lesson here.
Humongous, thanks for the video. Used to have a glass or two of the fine wines that come from your part of NY state!
 
So it looks like the Japanese lathe is fundamentally just a headstock with the ways cut off and turned to face the craftsman and modified to allow a foot-powered mechanism to drive the shaft for threading operations. I'm tempted to find a junked mini-lathe and get out the angle grinder.

I also like the taps that are used for hand-threading both internal and external threads. They look like 1/4 taps, so there is only a single small toothed cutting surface instead of an array of cutting surfaces arrayed around a cylinder as in a western style tap. I wonder if these are available outside of Japan?
 
Woodchipper said:
Fascinating video. I recall seeing a video on Japanese wood joinery. Some observations on the video-
1. Many of the tools look like DIY. The first one to bore the hole looked like a screwdriver with the end heated and forged into the desired shape. Harbor Freight, here I come!
2. The lathe was powered by electricity and the foot pedals for the fine work.
3. His tool rest was most interesting- it "floated" rather than being stationary.
4. Patience to cut, form, and fit. We should take a lesson here.
Humongous, thanks for the video. Used to have a glass or two of the fine wines that come from your part of NY state!
Click to expand...
I find it interesting that all of the tools used are scrapers of some kind, it would probably be very hard to use a gouge in that orientation though.
And yes that trestle style tool rest is quite nifty.

You'll have to make a trip up and check out the wine trail! It is absolutely beautiful here this time of year.
 
F
[QUOTE="FGarbrecht, post: 2046241, member: 40884"

I also like the taps that are used for hand-threading both internal and external threads. They look like 1/4 taps, so there is only a single small toothed cutting surface instead of an array of cutting surfaces arrayed around a cylinder as in a western style tap. I wonder if these are available outside of Japan?
[/QUOTE]

Fred,

The technique is called hand chasing and the tools are called chasers. You can probably find videos on YouTube.
The tools are still being sold. Try Craft Supplies for sure or possibly Packard.

I have a set gathering dust. Not an easy skill to master--particularly at 150 rpm.

Bill
 
Humongous, thanks for the invite but don't indulge in my later years. When we lived in Queens, my father's friend visited and brought a good white wine from that area; sautern, if that is the correct spelling.
 
bmachin said:
F
[QUOTE="FGarbrecht, post: 2046241, member: 40884"

I also like the taps that are used for hand-threading both internal and external threads. They look like 1/4 taps, so there is only a single small toothed cutting surface instead of an array of cutting surfaces arrayed around a cylinder as in a western style tap. I wonder if these are available outside of Japan?
Click to expand...

Fred,

The technique is called hand chasing and the tools are called chasers. You can probably find videos on YouTube.
The tools are still being sold. Try Craft Supplies for sure or possibly Packard.

I have a set gathering dust. Not an easy skill to master--particularly at 150 rpm.

Bill
[/QUOTE]
Thanks Bill
Took a fair amount of googling, but Sorby has a bunch of lathe hand thread cutters similar to the video
 
Thanks for sharing,great video
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50 years ago I spent some "quality time" at Camp Drake, just north of Tokyo, then a US Army hospital, recuperating from being wounded. They had a small hobby shop at Camp Drake witha Japanese employee. Minor wounds meant I was free to go and come as I pleased from the hospital ward, only requirement was to be there around 9AM for Doctors rounds. So it was the NCO club or the Camp hobby shop for recreation and to kill time. I got to be friends with the Japanese manager, I also was invited to a local craftsman's shop. The video is good, but doesn't tell the whole story. It takes years to learn those techniques

From what I observed most of the lathes are one off versions designed to make specific items. Custom built to the craftsman's own specifications. Not a cheap option, but done for a valid reason. The chisels are also handmade.

Want to try it? I suggest getting a Taig headstock with the ER32 conversion spindle, add a Sherline variable speed motor. Then Google "traditiional Japanese wood lathes", go to Google images, read the various links, look at the pictures, design your chisels, then make the chisels. Take lots of notes, and keep track of where each note came from, you will want that later. The tool rest, I suggest a piece of 2x4 hardwood, that worked for me. I also found that using the mini chisels work, just not as exotic, Now the kicker, I had the Taig lathe, so no biggy nor any cost, and it was put back into the Taig configuration, so all of my playing was very cheap, just time consumng. Oh the thread chasing, it works, but plan on making a lot of mistakes before you start on an expensive blank. Practice, practice and mor practice. I bought Delrin rods in 5 foot lengths to practice on.

By the way, I got into this because of a similar video, but it was't about pens, and because I wanted to try to convert some of their techniques to making game calls. The entire experiment was fun, but overall it was not as efficient as my own system. If you have years to learn the techniques and to perfect them,, it might be owrth a try.
 
Interesting about the custom lathes and tools. What would a custom lathe cost here?
Off topic- dogcatcher, I got my DD214 50 years ago, 3Dec1969! My how time flies. Quality time could be better spent anywhere but an Army hospital. Welcome home!
 
Welcome home Woodchipper.

A custom lathe cost? If building it yourself, about $200 could cover a basic version. A used lathe spindle off of eBay, a set of pillow block bearings, and a motor. I have seen used lathe spindles for around $50, the pillow block bearingss add another $40, a motor, an industrial sewing machine servo motor adds about a $100, You have $10 left over for wood mounts and a couple of used screwdrivers to make chisels. Using a lathe spindle means you would have a Morse taper, threads so that a chuck would fit, that solves a lot of issues.
 
Woodchipper said:
dogcatcher, wish I knew that before I dropped a few C-notes on my lathe. Thanks for the breakdown. BTW, I have a sewing machine motor with pedal. Hmmm.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm, my wife has a sewing machine in the garage. I bet she would never miss it if I scavenged the motor...
 
There are 2MT sockets that can be added straight shafts, less than $20. But this will be without threads. There are several spindles on eBay, both with 1-8/2MT and 3/4-16/1MT.

My first "trip" into one of these used a 5/8" 1018 shaft, a Shopsmith adapter, pulley, pillow block bearing, and was pole lathe foot powered built using a 2x4. It worked, but the pole lathe power sucked. Version 2, I found a cheap Montgomery Wards lathe at a garage sale, I used the headstock and a 1/2 motor. Better but needed slower speed and reverse. Version 3, was adding the sewing machine servo motor. This all happened over the years starting in about 1975. The MW headstock was last used as a disc sander, I believe my son still has it. Everything else has been scavenged and used on other ideas. The Shopsmith adapter is on a mini rose engine., but that is another story, powered by a Foredom and the sewing machine motor.

This is my advice, unless you have experience at gadget making, and are willing to spend money, then leave this project to someone else. You will also have a learning curve to work on getting the technique down. The road to gadget/jig making is strewn with parts and projects that did not work at the person thought they would. The man in the video did not become proficient at his work in a year, it took several years. He makes it look easy, but from my experience, it is not as easy as using a Jet 1014.
 
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