Every piece in the shop is turned to order. Some of what this lathe can do is not in the shop at all.
What has been made before
The pieces below are not for sale here. They have come off this lathe already, and they can come off it again — a sake flask, a lidded box turned from a whole log, a hollow vessel opened only at the mouth, a dish in urushi.
And what has not
A commission does not have to resemble any of these. Tell us the size, the wood and what it is for, and we will tell you whether it can be turned.
The honest limit is the machine itself: a lathe cuts around an axis. Anything round — bowls, cups, lidded boxes, finials, spheres, stands — is within reach. Anything that is not turned is not. If you are unsure, ask.
How it works
- Write to us with what you have in mind. A rough sketch or a photograph is enough.
- We reply with whether it can be turned, what it would cost, and how long it would take.
- Nothing is cut until you accept the quote.
- When it is finished we email you, and it ships from Tokyo with a tracking number.
Wood
The wood is chosen from what is in the workshop that season — zelkova, cherry, chestnut, magnolia, hinoki and others, including timber recovered from the ground. If you want a particular species, say so. It may have to be found first, and that adds time.
Time and price
There is no standard price. It depends on the wood, the size, and how long the piece takes on the lathe. A commission takes longer than a piece from the shop, and how much longer depends on what it is. Both are quoted before anything begins.
Shipping
The same terms as the shop: shipped from Japan, with shipping charged separately from the price of the piece. Pieces thicker than 1.5 cm cannot be sent to Canada — Canadian plant-health rules require heat treatment the workshop does not use. Timber that is not Japanese cannot be sent to the United States unless we know where it was harvested, which US law requires.
No two are the same
Wood is never uniform, and each piece is turned individually. Colour, grain, figure, dimensions and weight differ from piece to piece, and from any photograph. That variation is the material, not a fault.