SURFACE PLATE (Joban)
The surface plate is divided into the bottom layer and the portion used for coating. In general, the width is 45cm, depth 30cm and height is 30cm. It is necessary that the upper side is perfectly level and in order to mix the materials various ingredients and tools are put in and scooped out of the lower part.
LACQUER KNIFE (Nushikatana)
The small round tipped knife which may also be referred to as 'heratachi' in Japanese is used mainly as a scoop and pointed knife for sharpening brushes. The sleeve shaped small knife used for precision corners is also used for sculpting. In addition, there is a bamboo style, short knife used for cutting the corners of the spatula and a small knife for cutting paper.
SPATULA (Hera)
The spatula is the most important tool when dealing with lacquer. There are two varieties: the wooden spatula and the metal spatula which are used for attaching the bottom, filling, aligning colors and coating.
Wooden spatulas which are made of thin, straight Cypress board have good quality thin boards used and the spatulas cut more finely as the tip thins and are built for pliancy. Cypress spatulas are mainly used for the attached bottom portions and for filling. For the layering of surface paint, the elm, Ehretia ovalifolia Hassk, and spindle tree spatulas which are all rich in elasticity are used.
BRUSH (Hake)
Recently, lacquer artistry has undergone improvement and become mechanised. The importance of brushes used to paint by hand is extremely big and for good or for bad, it has changed the workmanship of lacquer ware.
Lacquer ware production brushes have women's hair which has been hardened, and a light layer of cypress is wrapped around that , and glue is applied densely and hardened. The brushes will then be used and then sharpened and cut on each subsequent use.
WRITING BRUSH (Fude)
This is used when adding additional pattern and designs. Clean artistry is necessary especially for pictures.
Varieties include screw brushes ( to produce clean lines for pictures) and komo brushes or face brushes for the outlining of lines.
WHETSTONE (Toishi)
The whetstone used for completion, the middle grade whetstone (blue whetstone),
Omura whetstone and gold whetstone (Ara whetstone) are the three grades of
roughness.
They are used for sharpening knives, spatulas, materials, and grinding coal.
The whetstone for materials is suitably sized for grinding the surface and is also used for precision lines.
WHETKNIFE CHARCOAL (Togisumi)
This is used for grinding the lacquer surface smoothly. There is a hard, rough type of coal called Hozumi or needle whetstone, a semi-hard and smooth variety called Tsubaki and a soft and smooth type known as Roshiro.
Each is used for sharpening the materials and for finishing touches and so depending on the purpose, an appropriate shape is chosen.
The alternative consists of waterproof material and is synthetic.
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