Japanese Hand Planes

The kanna is the traditional Japanese hand plane, pulled rather than pushed, and prized for the fine, glass-like finish it can leave on a surface.

Our range includes:

• Replacement blades for tuning or upgrading an existing dai
• Jointer and roughing planes for flattening and dimensioning stock
• Specialist planes for tasks such as chamfering and curved surfaces

Most kanna blades are laminated, with a hard cutting steel forged onto a softer iron body. This construction allows the edge to take a fine sharpening while the softer backing absorbs shock, a combination that suits the thin, controlled shavings the plane is designed to take.

The wooden body, or dai, requires periodic adjustment as it moves with humidity, which is part of the ritual of using these tools well. For woodworkers willing to learn the setup, a well-tuned kanna rewards with a quality of cut that's hard to match.