tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post789207554076648996..comments2023-11-05T06:16:56.961-05:00Comments on the Carpentry Way: Long way to goAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-3240406453028056662009-02-05T06:46:00.000-05:002009-02-05T06:46:00.000-05:00Chris -Thanks for your thoughts.MarkChris -<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your thoughts.<BR/><BR/>MarkMark Bergmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17591900847189435834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-59860443440184057892009-02-04T16:35:00.000-05:002009-02-04T16:35:00.000-05:00Interesting question Mark. I think there are reaso...Interesting question Mark. I think there are reasons of continuity that bear upon this issue - there has been a longer continuous tradition of timber frame carpentry in Japan than anywhere else, and the timber frame work, as it originated in China, was the source for the furniture building. That is, the architecture developed first, and the furniture second. The joints used in Chinese and Japanese furniture derive largely from the timber frame joinery. <BR/><BR/>Also, due to high fluctuations in seasonal humidity, frame and panel furniture, with a preference for concealing end grain, developed to deal with that, perfected over time. Thus, Chinese and Japanese furniture has closer relation to the timber carpentry than in our culture I think. <BR/><BR/>It is true that in the West that building arts preceded furniture arts, however, the links are not quite so close any more and each field seem quite distinct from one another. Most timber framing is roof-framing in Europe for one thing, and thus even further away from the sorts of forms one might expect to use in furniture. Most furniture work in the N. America has come to revolve around sheet goods and veneers. <BR/><BR/>A further point is the preference to use power tools in western woodworking, which have led to ever more disparate specializations in tools and methods of work for each particular trade. Most western timber frame shops I have seen do not own a jointer, for example. Japanese timber framing often employs less chunky components than in the west, and this the jointer and planer are standard fixtures in Japanese timber framing shops. The norm in Japanese architecture is that all exposed surfaces are hand-planed - this is considered quite beyond the pale by the Western builder, an outrageous idea. <BR/><BR/>And if you make furniture for a living in the West, rather few of the tools of that trade can be carried over for making a timber frame. I think this is less true in Japan- there are more commonalities in tools and technique - not a complete overlap, but a substantial one. <BR/><BR/>There are timber framers in the west who build furniture, and furniture makers who tackle timber frames, usually their own shop, and a perusal of commercial timber frame web sites will reveal some of them.<BR/><BR/>I think it would be an over-simplification to say that a timber frame is simply furniture-making on a large scale, as some would assert, however if you make objects in solid wood, using joinery, then scaling up or down is not much of an issue.<BR/><BR/>Those are some thoughts that come to mind anyhow. Thanks for the question!<BR/><BR/>~ChrisAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-3243667838249738842009-02-04T12:03:00.000-05:002009-02-04T12:03:00.000-05:00Good stuff. I've been wondering why "Japanese" woo...Good stuff. I've been wondering why "Japanese" woodworkers, and by that I mean westerners who work primarily in a Japanese esthetic using Japanese tools, seem to be more eager, anxious even, to scale their work up and down, from timber frames to furniture to carving, than do traditional western woodworkers. I am not aware of any western woodworkers who build timberframes nor any timberframers that build fine furniture. Any notions why this may be?Mark Bergmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17591900847189435834noreply@blogger.com