Does the Japanese plane in the photo above look a little strange? It should. It’s a specialized plane for cutting decorative latticework used in traditional Japanese joinery and casework. There are more photos of this plane below.
We have a limited number of planes in-stock by a famous craftsman that used the brand name “Kinshiro” 金四郎 when he was active. This brand name translates to “golden fourth man.” It was once common in Japan to give male children names that reflected their order of birth.
Kinshiro is a Niigata Prefecture solo craftsman named Kuriyama Noboru 栗山昇. Born in 1932, he is the second generation in this line. The brand name came from his father’s name, “Kinshiro,” the first craftsman in the line, and reportedly a very severe master. Mr. Kuriyama retired in December 2011.
Mr. Kuriyama specialized in making plane bodies, but made various other tools as well, including marking gauges, cutting gauges, and kudegoshi using blades provided by his distributor. Mr. Kuriyama’s dual-blade marking gauges (二丁鎌毛引き) are famous even outside Japan.
The blades were forged by a Niigata Prefecture blacksmith named Ishibashi Kenji, who has since left us for the big woodpile in the sky. Mr. Ishibashi used Aogami No.1 steel. I assume he used jigane from the same bridge in Yokohama that Niigata blacksmiths are still using today.
Small tool blades are a niche market served by specialist blacksmiths, so you may have not heard of Ishibashi Kenji-san before, but whatever you do, please do not mistake him with Ishibashi Toshichiro, a Niigata blacksmith who made standard plane blades and got in trouble for unknowingly making weapons for the Yakuza. Tsk tsk. Toshichiro’s blades were unimpressive.
Kinshiro’s products are well-known for their precision, functionality, extremely high quality and subtle style. We have been using Kinshiro products for many years with absolute satisfaction. They have always been expensive, but worth every penny. They have not decreased in value since his retirement.
Although new, and of course never used, these planes are old stock and a few of the blocks have some patina.
Most of them are extremely rare and are no longer made anywhere in Japan. When they are gone there will be no more. We wish we could hold onto them forever, but the time has come to release them into the world.
If you like rare collectable Japanese planes and appreciate exceptional craftsmanship, these will interest you. But don’t wait too long.
The Kinshiro planes we have in-stock are listed in the table below. Prices and more photos are the link below. Even if you aren’t interested in purchasing a Kinshiro plane, the photos are worth seeing. Be our guest. If you have questions please use the Questions Form below.
| Kinshiro Planes | Width |
|---|---|
| Ireko moulding plane 入子面鉋 | 27mm |
| Ireko moulding plane 入子面鉋 | 36mm |
| Etemen Adjustable Chamfer Plane 猿面鉋 | 30mm 30 °/ 60° |
| Kiwaganna Skewed Rabbet Plane right hand | 36mm |
| Kiwaganna Skewed Rabbet Plane left hand | 36mm |
| Kiwaganna Small Skewed Rabbet Plane right hand single blade | 30mm |
| Kiwaganna Small Skewed Rabbet Plane right hand single blade | 15mm |
| Ovolo Moulding Plane 銀杏面鉋 | 6mm |
| Ovolo Moulding Plane 銀杏面鉋 | 9mm |
| Ovolo Moulding Plane 銀杏面鉋 | 15mm |
| Flat Ovolo Moulding Plane 平銀杏面鉋 | 5.4mm |
| Flat Ovolo Moulding Plane 平銀杏面鉋 | 6mm |
| Flat Ovolo Moulding Plane 平銀杏面鉋 | 12mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 6mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 7.5mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 9mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 12mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 15mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 18mm |
| Ogee Moulding Plane 瓢箪面鉋 | 24mm |
| Roundover Moulding Plane 坊主面鉋 | 4.5mm |
| Roundover Moulding Plane 坊主面鉋 | 7.5mm |
| Roundover Moulding Plane 坊主面鉋 | 9mm |
| Small Roundover Moulding Plane 豆坊主面鉋 | 2mm |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 9㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 12㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 15㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 18㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 21㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 24㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 36㎜ |
| Round Moulding Plane 外丸鉋 | 42㎜ |
| Hollow Moulding Plane 内丸鉋 | 7.5㎜ |
| Hollow Moulding Plane 内丸鉋 | 9㎜ |
| Hollow Moulding Plane 内丸鉋 | 30㎜ |
| 18㎜ | |
| Narrow Chamfer Plane 糸面鉋 | 3㎜ |
| Hanagata Kumiko Plane Square No.1 Extra-large 花形組子 角１号特大 | |
| Hanagata Kumiko Plane Round No.3 Large 花形組子 ３号丸 | |
| Osaka Dado Plane 大阪作里 | 18㎜ |
If you have questions or would like to learn more about our tools, please use the questions form located immediately below. Please share your insights and comments with everyone in the form located further below labeled “Leave a Reply.”
Covington & Sons Tools 
I had no idea such a thing existed, thank you for showing us this plane. It’s hard to imagine a setup with western tools that would make these attractive strips. Does the craftsman cut parallel long grooves and then shape the arches? How is the grain oriented for strength?
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Tim, If you look up “Kumiko Zaiku” on the internet (you might paste these characters into Google to get a more powerful search 組子細工) you will see many examples. It’s a crazy world of beautiful patterns. I received formal training in the basic 5 or 6 patterns and made them for a living for a while, but have no experience using the exotic hanagata planes listed. Sorry. The patterns they create are fragile with very little continuous grain. In this case, the craftsman would cut each kumiko lattice piece, thickness plane them by hand with a special plane or a super finisher machine, clamp them together, do layout, and then gang cutting using these planes. The plane pictured in the blog cuts the depressed areas where two kumiko meet with a half-lap joint. That’s why it has a flat projection at the center. The craftsman then uses rounds and hollows to shape the rest of the profiles. These are very rare planes no longer made. The demand was never very high and production costs are high.
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Great post as usual, I first heard about these planes in Desmond King’s blog and someone saying they were the price of a second hand car! That’s the highest precision plane I’ve ever seen!
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Great post as usual, I first heard about these planes in Desmond King’s blog and someone saying they were the price of a second hand car! That’s the highest precision plane I’ve ever seen!
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