Acornhouseworkshop

The third session that I attended got the learning environment right. Jay van Arsdale tales about Japanese Joinery. One of the reasons that it is fundamentally different than Western joinery, and tends to be more complex, is the nature of the environment. Because of the frequency of earthquakes in that part of the world, buildings had to be able to withstand the earth movements. Japanese joinery does not rely on glue, but rather on compression joints, often with a locking key. And, the compression is always focussed on the end grain, so that the wood does not split as it moves.
Numerous examples of just some of the varied number of joints that are used in practice were passed around. The layout of these is critical, since they need to fit tight for the compression to work. Also, all surfacing is done BEFORE the joints are assembled.
There will be two more sessions tomorrow on Japanese WW’ing techniques and shoji making.
Good recovery from the stumble!

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