Recently I was perusing through a back issue of Fine Woodworking (No. 21, March/April 1980, to be precise) to help a reader who had written in to the editor’s mailbox. Although the reader’s question referenced the now-scarce bench knife, shown on page 80 of that issue in the able hands of David Pye (more on that in a future Hand Work blog), my wandering eyes read on and found an additional entry for that installment of the “Editor’s Notebook.” At the time, the machines in question were touted as “New Japanese planers” and were described as moving wood against the knife. Not too wacky an idea, since the Japanese Katsuobushi Kezuriki (bonito shaving plane) operates on exactly the same principle. Alan Marks, who wrote the entry, mentioned that if “you put a hand plane upside-down in a vise and ran a piece of wood against the sole, you’d have a fair representation of what these machines do. Why not just use a plane?” Marks continues: “It would take a plane with a 4-in. knife to duplicate the feat, and who’d be strong enough to push it?” Good point, though I’m sure that like those Japanese sawyers of yore with maebiki-ooga “humpback saws” who could rip a log into 1/8 in. panels, there are strong and precise folks who could do it.

If any of you happen upon any more information about any of these kinds of machines, drop me a line here, or post a video to GlueTube. I found the video above on YouTube and it’s for a similar machine, the Newton Supersurfacer with a return mechanism. There are a couple of videos that follow it, including one for a Hitachi fixed-knife model–I love the way these machines create deliciously thin and even shavings. But for a really good time, check out the video titled “Makita precision planer.” The way the stock flies out of the machine after planing and drops to the ground is simply priceless. So, if you are lucky enough to witness or even use one of these machines, let me know if I should add it to my shop, if only to get my double fix of Japanese and power tools. I promise I won’t let the wood fly out of the other end.