De nuestro servicio de utilidad publica

That was the title of some TV segment they showed when I was a child. Like public service, I don't know the english term. (Or maybe you don't have it since there is no such thing as society, there are individual men and women, and there are families.) Whatever.

I just wanted to share some news and point towards the new directions that this year will bring.

First and foremost, Mark Grable has left some very very interesting comments and I will be realigning the practice accordingly. There is plenty I want to try but it will take some time since we are in preparation for the moving. I got myself a box to put my tools:

I thought it was too small (well, it actually is, doesn't fit the large saws) but once you fill it with stone, steel and japanese oak, boy it gets heavy quite fast.  Half of my planes are not there. I really don't know how many I will be able to take at the end... anyway I need to move or ship them to Germany, they will not stay in Austria.

Next to the box you can see my makeshift sendai. Will be working on that too, I need to increase the angle of it. And put some kind of seat, at the moment is slightly too sexual to sit on it.

Second, I need a place to store the japanese websites I find concerning saw making/sharpening. I have a mess in my computer full of open tabs of stuff I found and have no idea how to find again.

Example one, a smithy. The idea is put the picture and invent the caption. Here's the link http://ameblo.jp/yariganna/theme6-10042138655.html

Rough material for cheap saws. They are cut to size and welded to the tang.

Tools of the trade. What's the yariganna-like tool in the middle?

Funny guy with funny shirt pretending to forge weld a cold piece of steel.

Check the size of the forge. I will be making one like that in Chile. I need to find an anvil.

The sen of the trade. The small tool, second from the left, is for miyagi, brushing the ploughs left by the different sen. I need to see one of those first hand. Look at the crazy hammer on the right.

 Close up. Man I want one like that.

Finally a metal cutter. This I got in Chile.  My dad used to have a side job making signs for construction jobs, so we have a big metal shear in the house. It even looks better than this one. I want to make a whalenokogiri.

Finally, starting this year Murakami, the guy behind sakura pink in ebay, is offering to deal for you in the japanese yahoo auctions. That's crazy. The prices in japan of tools is like 1/3 of the ebay price, which after all the fees for moving money in japan (no wonder the economy is stuck) comes to 2/3 or 5/6 of it. However, there is an infinite amount of stuff that will never or very seldom arrives to ebay. What's cool for me is that you can find cheap old saw files — I guess that with ten boxes I will be set for a few years.

You can find the info here: http://rk-trading.ocnk.net/page/18

Please don't get too addicted and I accept no liability for any divorce resulting from over use of this service.

Here a few pics of stuff laying around the yahoo auction sites:

 Whalenoko

 Zenchuona

 Stonystones

To not to talk about the literally hundred of saws that go for 1000 yen or so. I guess this is the most you can get without going to Kyoto flea market yourself. (Which actually, if you bring something like 100 saws and the like, would pay by itself. I know, I'm thinking of it quite seriously.)

So, the workbench is gone, the desk is planed and sanded ready to be sold, bike is fixed and online and the tool selection is almost complete. The bed and our night table have a new owner who's taking them in March. Julia painted my workspace yesterday and the weekend we hope to finish the living room. Moving is some of the most stressing things in life, and planning with plenty of time is the only way to avoid stress and near death experiences the last week you are here. It doesn't get easy, but you can divide the whole process in smaller annoying tasks that don't wear you as much. (Did I say we are moving by public transport, didn't I? Maybe with some help from the postal service. It's 12 hours of train so you don't want to carry too much stuff.)

That's it.