The thinnest Kerf-Starter (.020) works well for Japanese and other very thin saws. Like the other Kerf-Starters, it removes a shaving the same way other scrapers remove shavings, leaving a shallow kerf that captures your saw. Use the Kerf-Starter with a square to layout square lines across end grain and with the long grain. You may also use it to layout one part of a joint from another as in laying out dovetail pins from already-cut tails (offset the tail piece to keep the kerf in the waste……see our Offset-Gauge). Prepare the Kerf-Starter the same way you would prepare any other scraper, filing and then burnishing the point (see our combination Scraper File-Burnisher).