Hida Tool (pronounced Hee-Dah) is an American seller of Japanese hand tools, and as many followers of this site may have read, I commonly use Japanese carving chisels when building my wasen models. Well, for the month of December, Hida Tool is having a sale, so it’s a good time to buy.

I specifically use a line of carving chisels from an inexpensive brand called Power Grip. I’ve noticed it’s a little hard to find these chisels on their site unless you specifically do a search for Power Grip. But, sure enough, they come up and are marked down 10%.

POWER GRIP CARVING CHISELS

They sell them in sets, but I mostly use the straight edged chisels, and they are available in a variety of sizes. I’ve even ground the edge of their smallest chisel to get to an even finer tip.

POWER GRIP WOODCUTTING CHISELS / STRAIGHT

Then, for those who follow the Japanese boatbuilding work of Douglas Brooks, you might find it nice to learn to work in traditional Japanese units of Shaku and Sun (and Bu), using a Japanese carpenters ruler or square. Just be aware when choosing one that they also have these in inch and centimeter measures, so make sure you know which one you’re getting.

Working in Shaku measure, by the way, is particularly nice if you’re building in 1/10 scale, since Shaku measure is divided up into 1/10 (Sun) and 1/100 (Bu) units.

RULERS AND CARPENTER’S SQUARES

And, of course, there’s all sort of other cool stuff you can find there if you look around, including sharpening stones, saws, and such. But, if you’re interested in Japanese carpentry, just be aware that those Japanese hand tools are high quality, and VERY expensive. But, then of course, getting those on sale can save you a lot of money. Ω