I'm offering a couple of workshops in Japanese joinery this Summer. Location is in Leeds, MA, in the western portion of the state near to the city of Northampton. Here are some of the details:
Workshop 1: Introduction to Japanese Joinery I
This 3-day workshop will explore the basics of Japanese joinery, tackling representative examples of pegged mortise and tenon, kama tsugi (gooseneck) scarfs and variations, wedged pole joints, and others. A detailed curricula will be available to interested individuals prior to the course commencement. No prior experience in Japanese carpentry required. A small portion of time may be devoted to tool set up and sharpening techniques. No mathematics or geometry involved.
Limited to 12 participants.
Tentative Dates: July 24~26th, 2010
Cost: $350 (instruction only)
Closing Date for registration is June 20th, 2010, $50 deposit secures your place.
Workshop 2: Introduction to Japanese Joinery II
This 5-day workshop builds upon the first workshop and delves more deeply into scarf joints, along with 2-, 3-, and 4-way joints, corner and other miter joints. A focus will be on the construction of a 1/2-scale house wall section using traditional Japanese joints. A detailed curricula will be available to interested individuals. No prior experience in Japanese carpentry required, however demonstrated competence in some joinery work or completion of Japanese Joinery I course is required. Some use of the framing square, sashigane, will be covered.
Tentative Dates: August 21~25, 2010.
Limited to 12 participants.
Cost: $600 (instruction only)
Closing Date for registration is July 15th, 2010, $100 deposit required to secure your place.
For both courses, participants are required to bring their own tools, which need not be Japanese tools. A detailed tool list will be sent to all participants. workshop will be primarily hand-tool focused, though some use of circular saws and routers is anticipated. Materials (wood) will be supplied.
Please contact me directly to indicate your interest in these courses, or with any questions you may have - here's my e-mail:
kurisuhoru [at] gmail [dot] com
I'm hopeful there will be some interest in these courses and promise that they will be fun and and filled with opportunities for learning traditional Japanese joints. If these courses go well, then further courses will be entertained, delving into more advanced material.
The material will suit both furniture makers and timber carpenters alike. Class hours are anticipated to be 8~9 hours/day, with a slide show or similar presentation likely on one evening. Bad puns very likely, so be forewarned.
If you're new to this site and are arriving at this page via a link, please have a look around - the
'Blog Archive' at the right of the page or the 'labels' index, also to the right, will take you to various different postings on a variety of topics. Enjoy!
--> for 2011 course information, click --> here <--
Right on. I've taken at least two workshops with Chris, all very worth every penny. In my opinion, Chris is one of the most knowledgable people in the country on traditional Japanese woodworking and he brings more than a decade of passion to every workshop, in which he gives that research and experience generously. I highly recommend any learning opportunity with him.
ReplyDeleteEric,
ReplyDeletewow, maybe I should put you on the payroll! (if I had a payroll, a marketing department would be on the list of 'needs'). Very kind words indeed! Eric has attended a couple of roof compound joinery workshops I have given in past years and runs a furniture studio in Brooklyn NY.
~Chris