Kanna finish
Miki city has long prospered as a town of ironware. Things have changed, but when I met a unique blacksmith in this town, I thought of a chair with curves and curved surfaces finished with kanna (Japanese plane). The kanna he makes is extremely sharp and shears lines into shapes without stagnation. It creates a beautiful figure.
In the TOKUNAGA studio, each creator makes various planes depending on the shape of the chair.
Making your own plane and getting familiar with the tools is the first step to enjoy your work.
One of the features of the kanna finish is good appearance and feel. It is the difference between a fine-cut tissue and a sand-rubbed surface. The difference from sandpaper is clear just by immediate touch, but when viewed under a microscope a miraculous world springs to life in full detail.
A “tatara” is an ancient blast furnace used for producing steel from iron sand.
Te molten ball of iron in the tatara is called a “bloom of iron” or just a “bloom” Inside the tatara’s mouth wood charcoal is added to iron to increase its carbon content to produce a steel best suited to blade making.
Japanese methods produce finest quality steel by skilfully managing the iron sand, charcoal and wind put in the tatara over a period of days.
