When I'm making things like shakuhachi or shinobue, I need very specialized tools that just aren't available commercially.
My choices are limited to either making it myself or having someone custom make it for me. If I have someone else make it, it's never really exactly what I want so, really, my only choice is to make it myself.
These small carving knives are essential when I'm cutting an inlay for a shakuhachi mouth piece or widening an emboucher hole or even under cutting a tone hole for tuning. 