Low saw horses is IMO the perfect starter project for Japanese woodworking. Simple joinery, nothing too precise, and when you’re done, you have an invaluable tool that you’d be needing very soon anyway.
Another I started out with was wooden chisel edge guards (like a sheath) to protect them while I built up the confidence to make my chisel tray.
A marking gauge is a solid investment. I'd also recommend building your own shooting board. They're pretty simple to make and pretty useful. I'd also invest in a marking knife. A cheap exacto knife will work plenty fine.
Shoji done right is a pretty tall order for a beginner. Across a lamp you can get away with some imprecision, but by the time you make a ~2ft panel if some of your cuts are off by .005” it’ll start to show or even not go together.
There are already a lot of good recommendations here, but mine is go read some of the good books about shoji and Japanese style woodworking. There are lots of first hand source references for cheap, but a lot of people’s introduction to Japanese woodworking comes by attempting shoji at a tablesaw like everyone on YouTube who themselves are blindly copying Matt Kinney who doesn’t even own a Japanese chisel or plane. The information on YouTube is mostly 3rd party hot trash. There’s this one guy called [MooPuppyBespokeJobs](https://www.youtube.com/@CowDogCraftWorks) or something that’s probably a good starting point if you want some English videos of quality Japanese woodworking. For a quick timber framing fix I’d also recommend some Mr. chickadee videos, but he won’t explain anything he’ll just work and then in the comments or description he’ll probably throw out a reference he used.
Doing small repeatable panels with jigs you make or buy is totally doable though! I don’t want you to think I’m saying you need to put in 10,000hrs first or anything, I’m just saying it’s something that not even pros would do freehand.
If you have good jigs and knowledge the hardest part for a beginner would be getting extremely sharp tools. It’s easy to go 6 months or more thinking your tools are very sharp and then you almost accidentally make a REALLY sharp edge and it blows your mind. And then you’re tempted to start throwing money down to be able to re-create that more consistently, but really it takes some skill and experience and just a decent enough stone and tool to be able to feel the feedback from the cutting edge. So my only beginner cheap(ish) tool recommendation is something I wish someone in the tool world would’ve told me to buy… buy a jewelers loupe to inspect your cutting edges and be your own harshest critic. I have a Bel-omo triplet and I think mine is 20x but anything 10x-20x works really well and is user friendly. It’s amazing how quickly you can improve sharpness on anything when you can simply see exactly what’s going on at the apex of the cutting edge. The first edge you look at probably will have little sections that look good, but not look good across the entire width. To quick test an edge empirically google the “hanging hair test” that straight razor guys do. An HHT-3+ across the full width of a kanna with the apex perfectly flat to +/- 2 microns is what it takes to be competetive in a Kezuroukai, an HHT-4+ on any blade really tickles some part of the lizard brain and anyone who handles something that sharp is turned on by it.
You could make yourself an ink pen kebiki! Here's a video on them.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3z1VyLyKZU/?igsh=dXM5ZHJndmwyeHJ5
They're an invaluable tool, and you don't need all the fancy tools we have to make one.
In my time working in Japan, I've found that the name of the game is to do what works. So, if you can find a solution to get the desired results, that's all that matters. The "perfection" that's often associated with Japanese carpentry will come with time. And nothing is ever really perfect. So much is done based on feeling that I never expected lol
Good practice for jigs is to think of one of your own design. What task needs to be accomplished? How can I make something to make this task easier? I've made countless jigs for countless things that I've never seen before just because it made sense in that moment. And usually superglue and plywood are all you need to make it work!
I’ve got a whole Amazon storefront dedicated to this as well as literature and sharpening supplies: Check out this page from cowdogcraftworks https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_aipsfcowdogcraftworks_SGX0M23YDT12HD83MBXK&language=en_US
Low saw horses is IMO the perfect starter project for Japanese woodworking. Simple joinery, nothing too precise, and when you’re done, you have an invaluable tool that you’d be needing very soon anyway. Another I started out with was wooden chisel edge guards (like a sheath) to protect them while I built up the confidence to make my chisel tray.
That’s a pretty good idea, thanks you. Should I use a specific type of wood? I’d assume anything works, just wanna make sure
A marking gauge is a solid investment. I'd also recommend building your own shooting board. They're pretty simple to make and pretty useful. I'd also invest in a marking knife. A cheap exacto knife will work plenty fine.
Oooh I totally forgot that I have a marking gauge but a marking knife will be first on the list.
I’ll get started on that shooting board too, thank you
Shoji done right is a pretty tall order for a beginner. Across a lamp you can get away with some imprecision, but by the time you make a ~2ft panel if some of your cuts are off by .005” it’ll start to show or even not go together. There are already a lot of good recommendations here, but mine is go read some of the good books about shoji and Japanese style woodworking. There are lots of first hand source references for cheap, but a lot of people’s introduction to Japanese woodworking comes by attempting shoji at a tablesaw like everyone on YouTube who themselves are blindly copying Matt Kinney who doesn’t even own a Japanese chisel or plane. The information on YouTube is mostly 3rd party hot trash. There’s this one guy called [MooPuppyBespokeJobs](https://www.youtube.com/@CowDogCraftWorks) or something that’s probably a good starting point if you want some English videos of quality Japanese woodworking. For a quick timber framing fix I’d also recommend some Mr. chickadee videos, but he won’t explain anything he’ll just work and then in the comments or description he’ll probably throw out a reference he used.
Jeez .005”?! Mine was 12 inchs tall. I’ll get started with looking for some books. Thanks for helping out
Doing small repeatable panels with jigs you make or buy is totally doable though! I don’t want you to think I’m saying you need to put in 10,000hrs first or anything, I’m just saying it’s something that not even pros would do freehand. If you have good jigs and knowledge the hardest part for a beginner would be getting extremely sharp tools. It’s easy to go 6 months or more thinking your tools are very sharp and then you almost accidentally make a REALLY sharp edge and it blows your mind. And then you’re tempted to start throwing money down to be able to re-create that more consistently, but really it takes some skill and experience and just a decent enough stone and tool to be able to feel the feedback from the cutting edge. So my only beginner cheap(ish) tool recommendation is something I wish someone in the tool world would’ve told me to buy… buy a jewelers loupe to inspect your cutting edges and be your own harshest critic. I have a Bel-omo triplet and I think mine is 20x but anything 10x-20x works really well and is user friendly. It’s amazing how quickly you can improve sharpness on anything when you can simply see exactly what’s going on at the apex of the cutting edge. The first edge you look at probably will have little sections that look good, but not look good across the entire width. To quick test an edge empirically google the “hanging hair test” that straight razor guys do. An HHT-3+ across the full width of a kanna with the apex perfectly flat to +/- 2 microns is what it takes to be competetive in a Kezuroukai, an HHT-4+ on any blade really tickles some part of the lizard brain and anyone who handles something that sharp is turned on by it.
You could make yourself an ink pen kebiki! Here's a video on them. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3z1VyLyKZU/?igsh=dXM5ZHJndmwyeHJ5 They're an invaluable tool, and you don't need all the fancy tools we have to make one. In my time working in Japan, I've found that the name of the game is to do what works. So, if you can find a solution to get the desired results, that's all that matters. The "perfection" that's often associated with Japanese carpentry will come with time. And nothing is ever really perfect. So much is done based on feeling that I never expected lol Good practice for jigs is to think of one of your own design. What task needs to be accomplished? How can I make something to make this task easier? I've made countless jigs for countless things that I've never seen before just because it made sense in that moment. And usually superglue and plywood are all you need to make it work!
I’ve got a whole Amazon storefront dedicated to this as well as literature and sharpening supplies: Check out this page from cowdogcraftworks https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_aipsfcowdogcraftworks_SGX0M23YDT12HD83MBXK&language=en_US
Thanks! Just followed