Japanese Carving Knives for Woodblock Printing

  By Jim Hingst 
@hingst_jim

Japanese carving knives for woodblock printing typically feature chisel ground blades. This particular grind is sharpened with a single bevel on one side of the blade, while the other side is completely flat. (Although only one side of the blade is ground at an angle, the flat side of the blade must be honed to remove the burr that develops in the sharpening process.)

High quality Japanese carving knives are comprised of layers of steel of
different hardness to prevent breakage. The hard layer of steel produces
a very sharp edge. This hard steel, however, is brittle. In cutting harder
woods this brittle steel could break. To lessen the chance of breakage,
the hard steel is fused to a softer layer, which provides the blade with
the necessary strength. The Hangi To carving knives that I use are
chisel ground and sharpened only on the harder side.

The angle, at which the beveled side of a chisel ground blade is generally sharpened, is between 25° and 35°. This angle creates a very sharp yet durable edge. In carving a woodblock this type of knife produces a very clean edge in the wood. Chisel bevel knives are available with either a right or left hand blade (see the photo below).

Chisel ground knives are angled
on one side of the blade with the
other side being flat. Flat ground 
knives have a "V" shaped profile
with both sides of the blade at the
same angle. 

Compared to a chip carving knife, which features a flat grind, in which both sides of the blade are sharpened at a very shallow 10° angle, the Japanese carving knives have more metal at the edge. This makes the chisel grind better suited when cutting hard woods. In carving panels for relief carving, cherry wood, which is a hard wood capable of holding good detail, was traditionally used in Japanese relief printing. Chip carving knives, on the other hand, are designed for softer woods, such as basswood or butternut.

NOTE: There are many different types of flat ground blades, sharpened at different angles. High Flat and Saber style blades, both of which are ground at relative shallow angles, are often used for carving and woodworking. While these knives may be very sharp, they typically dull quickly, because there is not much steel near the edge of the blade. Whether you are carving with a knife with a chisel ground blade or a flat ground blade, you should get in the practice of sharpening your knife prior to every carving session.

Video showing the carving of a Japanese woodblock

Several other types of Japanese tools are available. An excellent source of tools and materials for relief carving is:

McClain's Printmaking Supplies

15685 SW 116th Avenue PMB 202

King City, OR 97224-2695

www.imcclains.com

800.832.4264  

International: 00.1.503.641.3555

RELATED ARTICLES

What is Relief Printing?
What are Ukiyo-e Prints?
How Japanese Printmaking Influenced Western Art
The Evolution of Color in Japanese Woodblock Printing

How do Woodblocks, Woodcuts and Wood Engravings Differ?

The Division of Labor in Ancient Japanese Print Production

The Shin-hanga and Sōsaku-hanga Art Movements

Checklist for Relief Printing with Oil Based Ink
Japanese Carving Tools for Woodblock Relief Printing
Japanese Carving Knives for Woodblock Printing
Safely Carving Woodblocks, Woodcuts and Linocuts
Linocut Tips
Japanese Papers for Printmaking
How Japanese Mulberry Paper is Made
How Handmade Papers in the West are Made
Selecting a Brayer for Relief Printing
Selecting Wood for Relief Printing
Selecting an Ink for Relief Printing
Inking the Woodblock Panel
Clean Up After Relief Printing

About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 450 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

Slides of Jim's Artwork

© 2017 Jim Hingst