Stu in Tokyo

Sorry for taking so long to notice this thread!
The blacksmith in the pics is Tasai, I'm fairly sure, I have to check my notes. I do have video, at the time, my computer was dying, so I did not process much video, but we now have a new Mac, so I'll get some done. I do have video of Tasai Junior lighting the forge, amazing!

Very nice set up, I love your spray room, that would be so very nice to have!
My Dungeon workshop is about 320 square feet and accessed through a hatch in the floor of my parking area, still, it is sure nice to have my own shop.
I really like your lumber rack, I need to modify mine, it holds too much lumber, in one large pile, so getting anything out of it is a real chore.
Thanks for the tour!

Hey Garrett, looks like you are racking up those frequent flier miles again :)

When are you coming back to Japan! :)

Hey Garrett, I'm glad you had a good time, you are certainly welcome back anytime you like!

Stu

Hi Patrick

Thanks for the additional information, I honestly hope that the saw is a roaring success and sparks more innovation!

Cheers!

Very cool, and I hope the price comes down after a while.

The advantage of there being no rails behind the saw is a big one, but this is NOT the first SCMS to feature this, Hitachi has had their side rail saws out for quite some time, and you lose almost nothing behind the saw.

Still, there are a lot of other sweet features on this saw, and I'm all for new innovative ideas on our tools.

I would like to hear more about some other features, like the tool to change the blade, is it onboard the saw, or will it get lost in the shuffle if this is a saw the travels to jobsites, is there an integral spindle lock to ease blade changes? What about a laser and work light?

Lastly, while the new knuckle design certainly is cool, what about the old nemesis of SCMSs, Dust Collection? Anything new and improved on that front? I'd sure like to see some :)

Cheers!

Wonderful work space to be sure, I'm green with envy for all the free space you have!

Thanks for sharing!

Great Bench Garrett, I'll be building a new bench for my Dungeon soon, and it will certainly take some points from your fine work!

Stu

YonedaD wrote:Stu - Kudos on the creative use of space. I also live in Japan, though way down here in Kochi. I have space you'd kill for, no doubt. Do have a couple of questions, though: I too thought about buying a SawStop until I saw the price the Japanese distributor was asking. !!! How did you manage to bring one from abroad? And, does running it on a Japanese current void warranty? Thanks!

Hi Yoneda, I had a friend buy the saw for me in Canada and ship it to me in Japan, I paid a brokerage fee and local shipping, all told came to about $5400 Canadian when it sat in my workshop, not bad as the Canadian dollar was at about 75 yen at the time :)

Taking the saw out of the area I bought it, that is Canada, voids the warranty right there, Can't be helped, but as you say the Japanese distributor wanted something close to $11,000 US for the saw setup the way I have it, I can buy a LOT of repair service and shipping for that kind of money. The saw has a motor and electrics that will run on the single phase 200V power I have here in Tokyo, they do sell a slightly different pulley to offset the slower speed because of the difference in power, but I've not bothered, and I've had no issues with the saw cutting, I've ripped 3" thick Hard Maple without any trouble.

Sorry for the late reply.

Stu.

PS if you are ever in Tokyo, come by for a visit, I'll give you the nickle tour :)

OK, I finally got around to it......

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRbKhmyysIU

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjSGI7brFPs

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCfGf7BNfao

The first tour I did was just right around 10 minutes, for this one, well, I guess I had more to show and more to say :o

The three videos run around 27 minutes all together.

Cheers!

On getting things out of the Dungeon, the hatch does open to a 4'x 4' square opening, and that is actually fairly big. I do have an electric hoist above the hatch, which I use for getting stuff up and down, it will do until 120Kgs, or about 260 lbs. Also remember, I'm in Japan, most people do not have the large amount of personal living space, so I would not be building huge entertainment centers, and even if I did, there would be the problem of getting a large cabinet into a client's home, the elevators are small, and the hallways are too, so I'd have to build it in small sections.

Plywood, well, that is not a problem, as the plywood comes in sheets that are 91cm x 182cm or about 3'x6', I can and do get those down into the Dungeon without a problem.

For larger stuff, here is a link to some wine shelves I built for our liquor shop.....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/wine_shelves/wine_shelves_in_place2.jpg

.... each shelf is about 3' wide, 18" deep and maybe 5'6" tall...? I got them out of the hatch... just.... but I did get it done. I usually don't build large stuff, and I do a lot of turning down there. I also have three phase power, which is great, as I got some good deals on used industrial equipment.

Cheers!

PS, thanks Brandster for noticing the music on the video, I did get in some trouble for that...... copyright infringement.....

Just a few answers and clarifications;

I have two escapes, one out the ladder to the hatch, and one to the next room through the hole in the wall. I also have two well placed fire extinguishers in the Dungeon. Perfect, no, but I'm a clean freak, and most above ground shops I see are often fairly untidy and fire traps too. I do the best I can with what I have. Also, I'm in "JAPAN" not the US, so the codes here and there are not the same. I know my 7 story building is well built and can withstand earthquakes, I know most buildings in the US could not, well ones outside of earthquake areas, no reason to build them for earthquakes if you don't have earthquakes.

Wow, I'm really surprised that you guys did this, I had no idea, thanks!

To fill in a couple blanks, I'm in Tokyo, yes, downtown Tokyo and my space is around 14' x 23' or 322 sqft. I do have an AC that provides cooling in the summer and some heat in the winter, but being completely underground helps with a lot of the heating, and Tokyo seldom gets below freezing. Yes, no plumbing, so I have a catch tank to get the water produced by my AC (in the summer only) and my little dehumidifier I keep in the annex, not much water, but it is usually enough to wash my hands. I keep a case of bottled water on hand to drink, as well as a well stocked mini fridge.
I'll have to make up a new video tour as things have certainly changed since I put that last one up.

We certainly enjoyed Garret's visit, and I know that I learned a lot from him, even though the visit was short.

Thank you very much for posting this, I'm honored.

Stuart Ablett
Tokyo
Japan

Greetings from Tomorrow!

Love the Lie Nielsen stuff!

Mike, that is just simply fantastic!

It is so very cool to see this kind of quality work still being done, by hand, by skilled craftsmen like yourself.

Bravo!