วีดีโอ

🙏😃

I haven’t covered Tagua nut much as a material so feel free to ask questions. I don't actually purchase Tagua nut from Australia, I'm sure there are good suppliers here I just haven't had a good look. I shop around a lot as Tagua should be fairly inexpensive, but a lot of suppliers do rip people off. There was a supplier in Australia on eBay charging $40 dollars a nut. This was about 5 years ago which was just ridiculous, I did not purchase it. Shortly after that I was able to get really large Tagua nuts from a shop in England, but they are now closed. They were just under $10 AUD a nut, really cheap. My most recent Tagua nut purchase was from an Etsy store in Scotland, the nuts were listed as medium and cost around $20 AUD a nut. A good carving size for me but I prefer slightly smaller netsuke at 2.5-4.5 cm. The average netsuke made today is about 4.5- 5-7 cm which would be an XL or XXL sized Tagua nut at that store. Unfortunately, they are not trading anymore otherwise I would have provided a link. My advice would be to shop around, try eBay and Etsy. Try every now and then. I can currently see a decent listing from the US but the shipping is not worth it. This one is not too bad and the shipping is a little better, unfortunately it is still outside of Australia: www.etsy.com/au/listing/1702479680/4-large-natural-tagua-nut-whole-nuts?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=whole+tagua+nut&ref=sr_gallery-1-38&content_source=0ff9c35ce80511c6820805f231214ce292f774fa%253A1702479680&search_preloaded_img=1&organic_search_click=1 I have not used this shop, but the reviews are good. If I were to buy Tagua nuts right now today, I would try the aforementioned listing. Customs opened my last shipment of Tagua nut, they found no issues and sent it to me. But it did add a little delay, so you know. Until you remove the skin, it is almost impossible to gauge the quality, so on rare occasions you may get a dud. They will have a stronger than usual sweet smell and will appear yellow as if stained by tea. It is a bit of a lucky dip. I have heard of people finding the nuts rotten deep inside, I have never observed this before. I am sorry I could not be of more help. Thank you for watching!

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421 Thanks a lot for this info. I was wondering about customs as well so glad to hear it's not been a huge issue for you.

😄

Thank you for putting a name to the tool. I did not realize it counted as a graver. There are quite a few variations of them. It is so versatile; it is one of the first tools I made myself. I will add the Stephen Myhre book to my reading list. Thank you for the suggestion. I have always admired New Zealand and Maori carvers. Such exquisite motifs and enviable technique. Thank you for watching! 😄 P.S I just remembered I watched your video on how to carve wood into a spherical shape a few years ago. I have used a similar method for some of my marubori netsuke based on what you showed. Many thanks! 🙏

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421 Thanks! Glad it helped, not that I've made many videos since! I've been doing netsuke (ish) pieces for the last 3 or so years, mostly in deer antler these days. Thoroughly enjoying it, it's been a good step up in skill.

@@SymanWoodcarving Whatever it is you are doing, keep it up! I saw a few of your works on your Instagram. I am utterly taken with that little frog in the cup, it is absolutely adorable! If I had not blown my annual netsuke budget a few times over, I would buy it (I am an active collector). 😄

I used a rotary tool in my early days of carving. I haven’t used it in years for a variety of reasons. While I am a bit of a purist and a tad old fashioned most of my reasoning comes from experience. It does not speed up the carving process as fast as one might think, in some cases it can add to the time. The bulk of netsuke carving time comes from the middle and later stages of carving where there are seldom few appropriate occasions to use power tools. I have carpal tunnel syndrome, so even a high-quality unit with a separate motor is too difficult for me to control and worsens my symptoms. I care more for quality than quantity. Whilst I do make some money from this, I don’t do it for the money. If I did, I would have set up the most efficient and profitable workshop years ago. 💰 The absolute top carvers in netsuke only use power tools in limited circumstances. Some might use them in the beginning to speed up the rough carving, but it only saves a negligible amount of time. The few that use them in later stages of carving are using them for very specific techniques. I also use all my senses with carving (with the exception of taste), the vibrations I feel and sounds I hear between tool and material are immensely important. One does not get that kind of feedback from power tools. I have contemplated acquiring a bandsaw, but I take enough chances with the chemicals I work with to add a bandsaw to the mix. The only power tool I wish to acquire is a lathe as I have a lot of surplus boxwood that is not suitable for netsuke carving but would make lovely turned objects. Otherwise, it is a matter of preference. Thank you for watching! 😄

I totally agree with what you've said. I just assumed you hadn't tried power carving. You do amazing work.

@@johnwilkinson5718 😄

That is very kind. I am not as knowledgeable as some people give me credit for, but I appreciate the compliment. The antler farm I sourced that chital from is about 2 hours and 15 minutes from my house. That is not too bad in terms of distances between places in Australia. I don’t think they would be keen on giving it to me for free. It is still cheaper than buying it through a third party and the gentleman that runs the farm is very knowledgeable. You have probably already watched it, but I did a video on my tools recently. I very briefly covered how I make tools. I also provide some sources in the description that will help a little: th-cam.com/video/TGB3Q1THio4/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=NetsukebyScottA.Aschauer There is a very good ivory carving manual I have been slowly reading. It is in Japanese and was published in 1900. There are some diagrams of tools there. I will eventually start to replicate these tools. When I do that, I will try to film a video of me making them. I am currently working on a video tutorial for a boxwood netsuke, so that is taking up some of my time. I will post some videos of me carving an antler netsuke, not as a tutorial though.

🙏

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective, it is great to hear from someone who has a lot of experience with antler. I will give moose and elk a try. I have heard so many contradictory accounts of those species and how they perform for netsuke carving. I have used renaissance wax in the past but I don't anymore after using ibotaro. I find it is more suitable to netsuke but that is just my opinion. Everything I do is with hand tools only but I always wear a mask when working on all materials. I vacuum my workshop several times a session especially after sawing and sanding.

I have not tried it and I haven't been able to see photos of the cross section so I am not the best person to ask. I hear so many contradictory accounts of certain deer species and their suitability for carving. I don't have it recorded on any of my notes from some of the old carving forums. It is something you will need to try for yourself. Your tools will be the best judge. Best of luck!

Never fear, I will still cover boxwood 😄

It depends on exactly which wax you mean. Wood wax can mean many different things. If you don't have access to ibotaro, the next best thing is renaissance wax: www.japanesetools.com.au/products/renaissance-wax-65ml Best of luck!

Thank you for the questions. They deserve their own video. I will work on this in the next few days and try to address all of your questions. Thank you for watching!

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421 Thanks for making these videos, The information is hard to find/

@@williamno.1450 My pleasure! I have just uploaded the video on antler: th-cam.com/video/OO0Lea1BxBw/w-d-xo.html I did not cover much of the finishing. I just spoke about two colouring methods and waxing. When I get closer to finishing another antler netsuke I will try to film it. To put it simply I use sanding, micromesh, polishing powders just like I would on wood, ivory and tagua nut. It is as easy to finish as boxwood, ivory and tagua nut.

That is such a nice compliment. I am not as knowledgeable as you might think, but I appreciate what you said. I am constantly studying and learning everything I can about netsuke. I know Daishin’s channel well; I have been following him for years. I really love his work and admire the Ise carvers immensely. He is part of the reason why I started to upload videos. I can understand a little Japanese and I can read it to an extent. I like how his style is friendly and approachable. I will try to do more videos and point people to the direction of good resources I have picked up on over the years. My tools are very rough and poorly made but I can work on a video on it in the next few days. I have been thinking of a project that would be of help to you and others. I am also currently working on a somewhat tricky antler netsuke at the moment which is why I am a tad busy. I have filmed and photographed a bit of it. I can upload that eventually. Just to put it into perspective, I have only been carving “properly” for just under 5 years. I did carve two years prior to this but I don’t count this time for reasons I won’t get into. I have been studying netsuke as a whole subject for 9 years and I have been collecting for 8. While nearly 10 years of experience on the topic of netsuke sounds like a lot, it is little in the grand scheme of things. I am glad that my videos are of some use.

I will consider it for my next video

Thank you for watching! I hope it helped! Thank you for subscribing 😃

I am currently writing a script for a video to show how netsuke are stained once and for all. What I will say for now is that boxwood does not usually take stain well. I use a rather dangerous oxidising agent I made myself and a series of chemical baths to achieve the dark colour. It is technically a chemical reaction that changes the colour of the surface of the wood. It is not truly a stain or dye as there is no pigment involved. There are many variations of this method, each more dangerous than the last. I can't remember exactly which method I used for the chestnut as I have used many methods over the years. I don't know when this video will be ready but I am hoping to do it within a week. Feel free to check my channel for a new video then, hopefully it will be finished! As a side note I don't recommend using basswood for netsuke carving. Whilst it is soft, accessible and easy to stain, it is too soft for netsuke carving. You are better off with boxwood, ebony or fruitwoods like cherry, apple, pear etc. Thank you for watching. Best of luck!

It took me longer to make the video than I anticipated... If you are still interested here is the link: th-cam.com/video/GtLEzmu206s/w-d-xo.html

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421 Thanks for this!

@@Erwin_AMS ☺

That is great to hear! Normally people get cords that are too thin like the one in my video. It is tricky to properly match the cord, netsuke and inro size. On average a single cord should have a thickness of 3mm. It might be thicker for an unusually large inro or thinner for a very small inro. Most inro, large and small tend to accommodate a 3mm cord. Also the style of cord is important. When I get the chance to do a follow up video I will explain more. Best of luck, thank you for watching! 😀

@@tinadriskell4469 At the time of this video I purchased most of my tools from "Japanese Tools Australia" (www.japanesetools.com.au) it is a store in Sydney Australia. I don't know if they deliver outside of Australia. In the video I am mostly using Powergrip tools. They are a begginer set more suited to general wood carving. You may be able to get them off Amazon. There are better begginer tools out there. I wouldn't spend too much or too little. You just need something until you make your own tools. The tools with the ash-brown handles are a set I purchased from Japanese Tools Australia. I think they are called "Tomo". They were sold as a netsuke carving set. They are, however, simply small wood carving tools, not remotely specific to netsuke carving. The tools with the reddish-brown handles I made myself. I make almost all of my own tools these days. I still get saws, files, and sharpening stones from Japanese Tools Australia Best of luck!

Thank you for watching. I am glad you enjoyed it! 😊

I definitely do, you can either request a custom order on my Etsy store: www.etsy.com/shop/VellaswenGuildofArt Alternatively you may reach me on my Gmail: s.a.aschauer@gmail.com Most of my clients request copies of existing designs. Occasionally I do get a request for something original or a design a customer comes up with. Thank you for watching!

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421Great thank you

Hello, I have emailed you 😊

@@Iiheosnjabskidbxbd Thank you for that I have just received it. I have almost finished writing my response, you should get an email within the hour. ✍

Thank you for your nice compliment. I am glad you appreciated the video and my little collection. I am hoping to do more videos in the not too distant future. Thank you for watching! 🙏

I did use buffalo horn... I even mention it in the video @ 3:12. I just didn't show the shaping of the horn. Due to poor photo editing the buffalo horn is duller in the video than it is in real life. I nearly always use black buffalo horn for pupils as it takes a nice polish and being made of keratin is less brittle than ebony. I usually get black buffalo horn either from a knife shop (as knife scales/blanks) or directly from a farm. The horns and antlers from pet stores are usually not suitable for carving. The only time I use plastics in my carvings is when I mix epoxy adhesive with genuine pigment powders to simulate coloured lacquer. Thank you for watching!

My goodness it has been a while since we chatted. I took a brief hiatus during the COVID era that is when I started to do my netsuke carvings professionally. I have done the odd thing here and there with music. I am currently working on two operas, one chamber and one full scale. It has been tricky to put up anything online as most of my music is caught up in copyright hell (specifically the recordings). I am slowly getting back into it and I will still do my carvings.

So proud of you! You should totally drop us an email one day, so we can organise a catch up!

@@ChocoDocco1 You are making me blush😊 I will be sure to, take care!

🙏

🙏

🤭😂🤣

The stain I am applying is only one part of the process (I really should be wearing gloves). This stain is not too dangerous to touch at this stage, but the fumes induce nausea an hour after exposure without adequate respiratory protection. While this stain is responsible for the colour it is so unstable it requires a series of chemical baths to fix the colour. This is where the real danger is. These reactions can be quite violent and are too dangerous to film (I am too fond of my camera). After this the netsuke is neutralized and washed to ensure it is safe to handle.

I see, thank you for the explanation. Why not use plain boxwood for netsuke? Boxwood netsuke can change color when used in years

@@Iiheosnjabskidbxbd Excellent question! For the same reason the carvers of the Edo period usually stained their netsuke. Boxwood has many imperfections and knot holes that ruin the appearance of the unstained wood. These strong chemical stains disguise this. Personally, I prefer the stained boxwood to the plain. Contrary to popular belief. boxwood does not darken much with age. If you have a look at the European gothic boxwood miniatures, you will see that these 600 plus year old carvings look indistinguishable (in terms of colour) from unstained boxwood carvings from only 100 years ago. Occasionally when I do find a truly unspoiled piece of boxwood, I just lightly stain it with yashadama (alder cone stain). I know that many scholars and dealers claim that netsuke develop a “patina” with age. This is, however, untrue in the case of boxwood as the only way you can get the colour I show in the video is through chemistry. Masatoshi confirms this in his book “The Art of Netsuke Carving”. This is also true of other woods like mahogany. Most true species of mahogany do not develop a rich burgundy colour through natural aging, but rather through strong oxidising chemicals. Unstained mahogany even over 300 years old looks more like a dark custard in colour. The reason why reproduction mahogany looks “fake” is because most of the chemicals required to recreate the old staining methods can no longer be used commercially. Hence, they use modern dyes and stains. Thank you for watching!

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421 I see, thank you very much for the information.

Which kind of wood that changes color automatically when it’s aged and as hard as boxwood?

Yashadama stain is only used to accentuate the colour and details of boxwood. You can use yashadama to stain ivory and antler dark by simmering them in yahsadama over the stove. This cannot be done to wood as it will crack. The Japanese rarely used yashadama in the Edo and Meiji periods for staining boxwood. Instead, they would have used very strong oxidising chemicals. The so called “patina” with black contrast lines can only be achieved through chemistry and not “natural” stains nor aging. I use a rather dangerous oxidising stain I made myself and a series of chemical baths to achieve the dark colour. It is too dangerous to film it in its entirety. I do briefly show some of the early application and ibotaro wax polish in this video: th-cam.com/video/_468sKsSAZs/w-d-xo.html Thanks for watching!

Tagua nut, also known as vegetable ivory.

@@netsukebyscotta.aschauer3421 interesting, thank you

It is great you got to see the exhibition at the DAI. Seeing netsuke in photos is one thing but seeing them in person is as an amazing experience. The only thing better would be to handle them, as the tactile nature of netsuke is half the experience.

Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Most of the boxwood I use including the one in this video is from the French Pyrenees.

Thank you for taking the time to write feedback. I am responding to this comment and partially to a longer one you wrote that I can’t find outside of my email notification (did you edit the comment by any chance?) Everything you have said is nothing new to me at all, I regularly berate myself for not sharpening enough during filming. Normally I do keep my tools very sharp, however, with the camera and light set-up, I am stuck in a tiny corner with all of this equipment blocking my path and I often forgo sharpening as I dread having to move from my set-up. Keep in mind I have condensed 4 plus hours of carving in a 27 minute video. I sharpen at nauseatingly regular intervals when I am not filming. I am gradually phasing out all of my commercially bought tools (excluding saws and files). Even the best commercially made tools are easily beaten by the tools made by oneself. As toolmaking is a time consuming and tedious process, I tend to use the power grip and my other Japanese tools in ways that aren’t suitable to fill the void as I have been focusing my efforts on detailing tools. Also, I have studied netsuke carving using traditional ivory carving techniques. I am not a wood carver at all, I tend to use a hybrid of ivory and wood carving when working on boxwood. This is more apparent when I carve tagua nut. I don’t consider anything in this video to be scraping but rather shaving. This is the early kezuri stage, shaving is done before scraping. Thank you again for taking the time to write feedback, it is always great to hear from the community 😊

I consider power grip tools to generally of limited use for netsuke. I suggest you try some Michihamono tools which are hand forged of either

Oops. To continue about Michihamono tools. Their higher end tools I.e. those above their student grade sets, are either made of Azouri (?) or Blue Steel like power grips (equivalent to a more advanced middle grade) or the high end High Speed Steel or White Steel. I’ve almost two dozen of their often unique products suitable for micro carving. For example I have 0.5mm, 1mm, 1.5mm, 3mm, 4.5mm, et al gouges and chisels (fewer chisels than gouges as well as short bent and even short bent skews) which are well beyond the ranges and types of tools like power grips. I mention this source for such tools after years of searching for appropriate wood carving tools. I do not use ivory but do use (when available) French boxwood. I found some at Griffin Exotic Woods. Furthermore, I recommend you try Costelo boxwood (engravers refer to it as Lemonwood), which is comparable in quality to Asian boxwood. Netsuke are made by techniques often determined by their tools. Specifically various scraping tools for finishing work but mainly rely on exceptionally sharp micro carving tools otherwise. Power Grips do not have the smallest sizes needed for the finer details. Also a honing board to touch up an already sharp tool would help. My online source for the Michihamono tools was Goods Japan. Best of luck, enjoy carving!

@@wereflea8496 Thank you again for your detailed feedback. I absolutely agree that powergrip tools are very limited which is why I only use them in the early stages of carving. I am familiar with the Michihamono tools, my supplier of tools and sharpening stones stocks an extensive range of them (www.japanesetools.com.au/). They are good woodcarving tools but are hardly netsuke specific. I am rather fond of the Michihamono yari kana in a noh mask carving style. It has limited use in netsuke carving due to its size but I have been making smaller duplicates more suited to netsuke carving which are standard amongst 20th and 21st century netsuke-shi. If I were at an earlier stage of my carving journey, they would have been far more useful to me than the powergrip. As I have learnt more traditional ivory carving techniques, most commercial blades are useless at all stages of carving and I have little use for them. I am very well acquainted with castello boxwood. Back in my very early days of netsuke carving I was unable to find boxwood but was able to get castello instead. The similarity to boxwood is there but as I am sure you know it is softer and doesn’t take detail or polish to the same degree as boxwood. It does make a fantastic wood for beginners. Especially as one doesn’t have to contend with knot holes. That being said it is unforgiving with cracks and splits. I still have a piece of it left but after trying French boxwood there is no going back. I have also carved English, South-African and Japanese (don’t ask how I got it) boxwood. French beats them all hands down. That being said, the Japanese boxwood I tried wasn’t from Ise or other areas famed for producing high quality wood. I would love to try Ise boxwood one day. I have also worked in Indian ebony, kurogaki (Japanese black persimmon), lime wood (my least favourite) and black cherry. The honing board is a good suggestion, I use to use a leather strop with polishing compound for touching up. I don’t know why I stopped using it, I suspect it is part of an elaborate conspiracy to make my life more complicated. In all seriousness, thank you again for your feedback it is always appreciated. 👍

Thank you for liking and subscribing! 😃 Your guess is quite good and I would have thought the same if I weren't the one carving. The aquatic theme is spot on but it is not a crab. If you haven't had a chance to peruse through my channel, You will find the answer in this video: th-cam.com/video/Na8OtOUeoAA/w-d-xo.html

Thank you for watching! I source most of my commercially made tools from a shop called Japanese Tools Australia: www.japanesetools.com.au/ The chisels in this video are mostly from this set www.japanesetools.com.au/products/tomo-netsuke-10-pcs-set It is advertised as a netsuke carving by the manufacturer set but there is not a single tool that is exclusive or vital to netsuke carving and is more of a small scale wood carving set. The tools are strong enough to work on boxwood, tagua nut and ivory but are very delicate. It is quite an expensive set and quite frankly, I am not sure if they were the best investment. For the most part I only use the four skew chisels as hidariba and migiba. V-tools and gouges are hardly used in traditional netsuke carving. I hope this helps, best of luck 😄

😄

🙏