The Tachibana plane 橘 鉋

I received for a very good price a 65mm wide blade named Tachibana 橘 advertised as made from the famous steel Tougou Reigou. The blacksmith who forged it is unknown but from Tokyo and made blades in the 1930s for Ishiguro of Sanjo. It had some light surface rust , albeit new-old-stock, and the edge was nicked, since the affordable price. These blades are notoriously difficult to condition and most people (not me) prefer to buy them in better shape and for a better price ($300-$1000 only the blade). Let's say these days the prices of quality stuff is depressed and go on.

Everything else about it was excellent except it didn't had a dai. I wanted from a long time to build a dai (just for the experience) and since I didn't want to ruin a good piece of japanese oak (which still costs some 5000¥) I opted instead for a nondescript chunk of eucalyptus (maybe Jarrah) I got from www.dick.biz. A bag of 5 kilos of australian wood was only 30€ shipping included. The wood was dense, with fine pores and workable. I used my trusty D8 Disston to rip to thickness and my Knight Toolworks jack plane (with a high quality chinese laminated blade) to get to the shape. The blade slot was cut using a mix of japanese and 2 Cherries chisels. I modified a file into a scraper and another small one into a sokozarai nomi for cleanup.

Three days after, the dai was finished. This kanna is working so well, I think I'll keep it and use it as is. After oiling it the colour looks somehow like the prized japanese red oak (hon akagashi). Please see the pictures of the finished plane.

No intermediate pictures were made. Maybe the next one will be documented. Mistakes were made and I didn't felt taking snapshots since I wasn't sure everything will finish well.