New Work

from

 Matsu Kaze Woodworking

Aloha One and All thanks for checking in at the Matsukaze Blogspot.

 I recently completed an Isho Yaro Dansu.

18.25 x 38 x 42

curly koa, silk oak, port orford cedar, australian cedar, 

western red cedar, bronze, iron

The Isho Yaro were a single piece tansu. There were many differing drawer configurations

some implementing safe doors and drop fit doors.

I enjoy this particular style with the two small drawers for keepsakes or small clothing accessories.

The small drawers also allow for secret compartments and boxes known as hesokuribako.

Which loosely means belly button chestnut box .....

An elderly Japanese lady  had said  to me  that wives would stash kuri ( or coins) in their heso away from their husbands. Who knows, maybe when the husband was looking for some cash to go to the pub or some other

nonessential expenditure.

Either way, I enjoyed the story and pass it on to you.

 So without further ado here's some images in a variety of day time light.......

 The carcass top and sides are  made from rare single 18.25" wide boards in the typical Matsu Kaze fashion.

Beautiful Hawaiian Gold Koa from salvaged dead trees in upper Kaiwiki  just a stones throw from our house on the foot hills of Mauna Kea. Elevation approx.2500'

 The carcass is fully joined with through double tenons and dovetails , hand cut of course. The corners are mitered to facilitate the oval faced edge of the front  to flow around the exterior and the dividing partitions terminate in sword tip miters.

The drawer front material is quite elegant. The board that I was able to eek out two tansu from came from under a house in Mountain View area. A widow of an off bearer was selling off boards that her late husband had collected and stashed over forty years ago and had been air drying since.

I would love to know who has the rest of the tree or see what they made from it.

 It's absolutely stunning Koa. A true 5A Curl with sweet cat's paw burls scattered about.

The color changes in the light from a vibrant gold amber to a rich  Kona coffee. Very dynamic.

The drawer side and back material is Silk Oak from Australia, planted here in the early 1900's

It's easy to work and very beautiful itself.  I had saved some of my best pieces for this project.

This drawer in particular has some nice wide ray flecks. It contrasts nicely with the darker Koa highlighting the joinery.

Drawer bottoms are made from  Port Orford Cedar and left with only a hand planed finish

so not to restrict the aromatic quality of the wood.

The drawer bottoms are .45" solid Port Orford Cedar made in a traditional  Western style with beveled edges beneath  and secured with a brass screw.

The kanagu , metal fittings, on the chest are of the Mokko Style. It's shape is reminiscent of a half cross section of a melon I do not know the name of. I like the mating of these Mokko with a Matsu or Pine bow motif back plate. The handles are caste in bronze and the back plates are steel. The straps that hold the handles to the drawer are forged steel and all is presented in a blackened oil patina.The back plates are worked with a hammer, edges are hand filed to a  neat bevel, and the four nails are of a wrought appearance.

The handles were caste by Daniel Chisler, now retired.  He was the only place in the world to source these handles. I still have a small inventory and a couple sizes to round out a suite that he and I developed together. Exceptional work by an exceptional craftsman. Thank-you Dan.

When you remove the small top drawer you will find a hidden box behind.......

The box is made from koa left over from the Koa Sugi Chadansu from last year.

Lined with Toon an Australian Cedar, which to me is exactly like Spanish mahogany..... 

Toon polishes to a exceptional sheen with hand planes.

There is one more hidden box but out of respect for the future owner I can not disclose the location.

It's made from Toon with a curly koa top.

The back of the Tansu is made of Western red cedar. Some tight grained quarter sawn boards. 

I make the backs in a frame and panel style with through tenons for extra rigidity.

 The cedar helps keep down the overall weight of the tansu and adds to the bouquet of cedars used in the piece.

The finish is Super Blonde Shellac, made from flake here at my shop to ensure freshness

and clarity. It is applied in a french polish method.  To me there is no finer finish than shellac over a hand planed surface save for urushi. Super Blonde is lighter in tone to Blonde which I use from time to time for it's vintage appearance.

So now we have a Japanese tansu of Hawaiian woods with a French polish built by one haole from Maine..... 

 If you can find a more cross cultural piece please share!

Thank-you for taking a moment to view the new Tansu.

 This Piece is Exclusively Available  from

The Harbor Gallery 

Located in Kawaihae , Hawaii

808-882-1510

say hello to Gunner and Elli for me.

 The Harbor Gallery represents over 100 of

The Island of Hawaii's

Best Artists and Artisans

On the way out I will  share some images I snapped during the construction of the piece.

 The process inherently affects the finished work.  

Matsu Kaze Tansu are uniquely handcrafted.

Po napping on the job.....

this is a hand planed surface prior to the french polish......

Another member of the zoo......

Everyone has to be in the show......

 M a t s u  K a z e  W o o d w o r k i n g

simple   devices   for   inspired   living

H    I    L    O             H    A    W    A    I    I 

 info@matsukazewoodworking.com

New Work For November

From

Matsu Kaze Woodworking

Aloha everyone. Much going on in around the shop and Hilo town lately.

I completed another Isho yaro, a single section tansu this month.

It measures 17x34x36.

It is made of some exceptionally nice flat sawn koa. Most of the koa milled in Hawaii is quarter sawn. Quartering, will give you the best chance of catching a glimmer of curl figure. A little bit of curl isn't worth losing the some of the gorgeous swirling figure that a flat sawn koa board can exhibit.

I flat saw a large portion of the logs I bring in. This particular tree was pretty lively in figure. The flatsawn faces are filled with circular swirls and little babbles. The top drawer has a splash of  little bird's eye that looks like the Milky Way, 

and then as you can see, the whole piece has a ruffled golden crushed velvet look.

THIS is GREAT Wood!

It features antique hand forged warabite hardware on the front. I am guessing that they were pre Meiji. Making them about 150 years old or so, beautiful Edo era hand work.

Here they are restored, in place.

They are really sweet. You can see the hammer trace and they have a nice shape to them. They are bit wider than tall with a long slow curve at the bottom.

I fabricated the straps and oil blackened the handles. The back plates are newer, from Japan.

The Kendon buta, a lift out door, or drop fit door, to your choosing, is of a fancy design.

I added the bead detail to the inside edge which I had not seen on any tansu before with this 

particular frame cut out. I think it came out nice.

The pull on the door is made from iron and deer antler donated by an axis deer from Lanai. I've made a few of these, this one came out pretty good. I like the door panel alot. It's flatsawn curl ( not common). It was a bit of stress curl at the end of an otherwise ugly duck of a board. I had spotted it in the flitch early on and saved it aside for this purpose.

Here's peek behind the curly door......

Another two small drawers with contrasting hardware in the Hirute style.

Sometimes, as is the case here, I configure the kendon buta with a secret catch .

You can see it operate here.....

                                        

So far in the pics I hope you can see the deep inner golden glow Koa has to offer. This is , to me, the uniqueness of the material. Some woods come close, but the gold, only with koa.

The base in the next pic, is mortise and tenoned together, all from the same tree as the cabinet. 

I enjoy how the light changes the feel of the cabinet throughout the day.

It's bright, shimmers gold in the morning sun, and mellows with the soft afternoon ambient light.

 The finish is a hand rubbed blonde shellac polish. It gives it a very vintage look. The whole piece feels very endearing, handsome, analog, heirloom-esque. You can tell at once it is hand crafted with much attention to detail. It feels old but is clearly new. Like a fresh antique.

If your still reading on I will show some process pics now.

 Hmmm... let's go way back. Here we have the log cut to boards. Now washed, just before being stickered for a year. You will probably see the top of the cabinet....

I've taken to collecting wide pieces. They always look better than a glue up. Hard to compete with nature.

Here's a couple pics of shop work....

This is the corner joinery. The carcass is thru dovetailed together. But when you have an edge profile that needs a mitered corner, such as is the case here with the slight radius on the edges. The miter being a weak glue joint, I reinforce them now with a small blind dovetails. "It's what's on the inside that counts" eh?

 And the female part...

Here we are , cabinet assembled, drawers fitted, and finish planed.

The silver oak is exceptional drawer material. It really should serve a higher purpose. It polishes nice, makes nice joinery, medium density, and contrasts with the Koa making the half blind dovetails pop! I hand picked 300 bft out of 2000bft just for drawer boxes. All the drawers have high lace wood figure if not wide abstract banding like old school quartersawn white oak popular on mission furnishings.

The drawer bottoms are of solid silver oak too( no plywood bottoms here!!) as well as the back of the cabinet which is frame and panel. But in these places I use flat sawn.

The outside was then finished with hand planes. Very glassy smooth in appearance. You can see reflections of machinery on the surface even without a top coat.

 My little kendon buta door dry fitted together.

Here's a happen stance before and after blackening of the hardware picture. It just happened I forgot one.... ooops!

Here's the whole suite restored ...

I make the straps now. Even the best hardware I find has poor straps.

They will always need fine fitting before mounting anyway. 

So now they are all forged from 1/8" round stock. That way I can harden the knuckle but leave the tangs softer for bending when mounting. They are much stouter than the over the counter variety. And they taper two ways which is the proper way anyhow.

My living room re-purposed as a finishing studio. Best light under cover of roof, so, it just has to happen. I have a very tolerant wife.

Here the cabinet sits for a week~10 days while the finish cures enough for rubbing out.

Many people do not rub out their finishes. This is really where you can correct any sheen inconsistencies and dial in the proper sheen for the piece. This isho yaro went out as a satin finish. I stopped with a 4F pumice powder.

The hardware was all installed in the same manner as covered in previous posts.

  a few parting images......

                                               

Thanks for taking the time, see you again I hope.

This is new work. The Harbor Gallery in Kawaihea, Hawaii

has made this piece available exclusively thru them.

You can contact Gunner or Elli at 808-882-1510

Or  go to their site Harborgallery.biz

I am starting an isho yaro. It will be a largish piece. Several drawers for clothing and personal storage.

If interested in owning it please contact me now. Available in 8 weeks-ish.

MATSU KAZE WOODWORKING

simple  devices  for  inspired  living

H    i   l   o   ,   H    a    w    a    i    i

www.matsukazewoodworking.com

There is currently no completed works for sale. Contact me for info on forth coming tansu. I am not accepting commissions unless they are of special interest and/or you are currently an owner of my work.

My work appears annually at The Winter Wood Show at Harbor Gallery and their Summer Wood Show. 

January and July respectively. If you would like to be updated as to new work please email with your contact info and you will be put on the list. Thank-you for taking the time to consider my work.