Hand Tool Journey #3: Amazing find... Maebiki-nokogiri

Asesome find. I only find junk at flea markets.

-- Bill from Lithia Springs, GA I love the smell of sawdust in the morning.

I can’t imagine using a saw that big ,cool photos

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

Great find! Hope you can post some pics or video of it in use.

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

I would imagine a very rare/scarce piece to find anywhere, let alone in a flea market. All you hard work has paid dividends yet again. Well done Blake

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

That’s a real treasure. Man, talk about a real work out, I could hardly imagine using that thing regularly.

-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY

Man that saw is huge! Quite a work I bet!

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

i hope you don’t think this is a dumb question, but would you ever consider trying it out? just to see what its like to try and usera tool like that?

I am overwhelmed with jealousy! Ten dollars? Unheard of. I use a lot of Japanese tools, especially saws and have tried to locate a saw like that with not much luck for anything I could afford. You should find a Japanese sharpener and try to bring it to working order. It’d probably fetch a hefty sum if you sold it to a temple builder. Personally I’d use it. That’s some fine luck you got there!

-- Ooo, er.

that is an amazing find blake!!!!!!!!!! you are one lucky man

You are a very lucky dog, Blake. I’ve been trying to find one here in Japan for a customer for months to no avail.

A1Jim, actually, this is not big at all, this is a ”maebiki”, the big ones are the ”maebiki ooga” and those are similar but about 5 ft. long, some even have two handles.

They were used for milling lumber when building the houses. I have one that is some hundred years old but it is smaller than Blake’s. It’s a mere 28” long and I believe my wife’s grandfather used it to build the house we live in, as well as my in-laws, at the turn of the XXth century.

Here she is, I’ll restore it as soon as I get out of here. Otherwise the soggy climate of Kyoto would do wonders to get it back to this sad state in a hurry.

By the way, isn’t it amazing how thick and heavy they are?

EDIT PS: I almost forgot: I always laugh at the “innovations” like the Lee Valley progressive pitch saw. Hmm… this has been the standard in japanese saws for centuries. Anyone realized the difference in TPI of Blake’s maebiki from shoulder to toe?

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://twitter.com/kagushokunin

That’s awesome, Blake!! Are you gonna clean it up, sharpen it, and put it to good use?

-- Matt, Houston Texas

Blake: Great find! I can’t even find a flea market let alone a useful tool.

Jojo: Thanks for pointing out the progressive tooth pattern, I missed it.

-- Gary, South Central Wisconsin. So much to learn, so little time!

Nice find Blake.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

HOLY CRAP!!!! Thats one wonderfully wierd saw, what a great find. I imagine some serviceman bought that back as a souviner, maybe there,s more.

-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand

Awesome Dovetail saw !! LOL …Such a great find , my friend : ) Yes , I noticed the progressive teeth as well . Modern technology , ay ? hahaha

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

I saw this on ebay and thought of you….

http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-pullsaw-nokogiri-maebiki_W0QQitemZ360204998863QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item53dde418cf

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov