Kanna finish
The furniture studiovoll makes is, without exception, made by hand using traditional Japanese tools and techniques passed to me through my apprenticeship with Toshio Tokunaga. Furniture is shaped and finished with kanna imparting rich smooth surfaces that age more beautifully than other techniques.
Kanna, 鉋, is Japanese for a hand plane. The use of kanna has about a 600-year, mostly architectural, history. The steel and iron blade tapers to a fine cutting edge that shears wood fibers so cleanly you can see the cellular structure of the tree under a microscope. Kanna can be made in many shapes and sizes to suit an endless variety of surfaces, curvatures, and forms. Wood is shaped through a series of lines; paths are directed by body and hand concentrated through the very edge of the Kanna. By working in this manner you can feel the routes the wood has taken throughout its life. The successive lines cut with kanna, each slightly different, together accumulate into the whole form of the furniture.
Using Kanna is about the balance between what the tree has known and what expressions you impart within that record of time.
Microscope images of kanna finished wood
Left: kanna finish reveals a clear cellular structure of the wood fibers
Right: sandpaper finish wood imparts an artificial sense of smoothness
Toshio Tokunaga, in his studio, trying a new type of kanna we co-developed together
A selection of studiovoll’s kanna. The wood blocks, or dai, that hold the Kanna blade are handmade by studiovoll to suit the personalities of my work.
A tamahangane kanna made by Yasuhiko Ohara of Miki City, Japan
concentric lines are cut one by one accumulating into the overall form of the piece worked on
adjusting kanna is done with a small copper hammer
Kanna can be made into any shape desired by the craftsperson. The wooden body, the dai, which holds the blade is hand made to suit the individual’s needs.