For hundreds of years blacksmiths in Japan have excelled in creating beautiful and functional tools for woodworkers. During this course, students will explore traditional Japanese techniques for creating hand-made chisels and planes. These simple devices work wonders on wood in part because of their construction, which welds together hard tool steel (for the cuting edge) with soft iron (as a support). By the end of the class students will have created both a hand chisel and a working wood plane. Prior blacksmithing experience is required.