tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post7277412076088112430..comments2023-11-05T06:16:56.961-05:00Comments on the Carpentry Way: French Connection 6Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-3386931532594219742009-11-06T12:43:58.107-05:002009-11-06T12:43:58.107-05:00Extremely interesting, especially after I just sta...Extremely interesting, especially after I just started reading Mazerolle's book and staring at this drawing for a while. I am definitely not there yet, but nevertheless your work is very inspiring.<br /><br />What does the "1st Level Japanese Carpentry exam" exist of? How many levels are there? Do you have any literature/resource material of these tests, or can you tell me where to find these? I would be interested in them as a way of practice.<br /><br />MathieuMathieuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02598299531607920548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-79594770099719621912009-10-31T00:31:27.152-04:002009-10-31T00:31:27.152-04:00Woodjoint, it is definitely a fairly challenging p...Woodjoint, it is definitely a fairly challenging piece to make, but 90% of it is the drawing. Once the drawing is figured out, then the making shouldn't be too onerous, though some of the angled mortising and the thin 'beards' on many of the pieces will be entertaining to form. Compared to the lantern, this piece only has 18 pieces so the build won't take nearly as long (ha-ha, famous last words?).<br /><br />gregore', that was a good question. I have heard that in France that the typical 'masterpiece' is undertaken after 5~7 years of study and apprenticeship. It seems in many countries, the length of the carpentry apprenticeship varied at different times in history. Probably the length of time for a carpenter to achieve basic competency with some breadth of knowledge in the art would be, on average, after at least 5 years of application. I don't mean simply 5 years of working, or 5 years of studying, but some mixture of the two as most apprenticeships offer.<br /><br />I think one aspect of the 'masterpiece' finale to the apprenticeship is the idea that might entrain with that, of it being a sort of 'peak' from which one slowly retreats from as the career advances forward. It would really not amount to much, it seems to me, if several years down the line from completing a masterpiece, one could no longer remember how to do it. It's like cramming for an exam, and after passing forgetting almost all of it - what's the point, other than in passing exams?<br /><br />As a similar example, the Japanese 1st level carpentry exam is a very stiff test of skill, but it does not represent the pinnacle of technical difficulty in Japanese carpentry, only what is testable in a day. <br /><br />I think it is good to strive to master difficult things, but more important is to see it all as a process, and of taking the lessons forward, bringing them to a point of being second nature in the skill set, and from that platform move into further challenges. Carpentry is a deep art and there is a lifetime of material to learn and practice - that's one of the main reasons I'm into it. The more I learn, the more I see there is to learn, like some sort of receding horizon towards which one can never catch. <br /><br />~ChrisAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14328401081765407624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-75528682710963536762009-10-30T20:20:16.048-04:002009-10-30T20:20:16.048-04:00at what point in the career of the wood worker(fro...at what point in the career of the wood worker(from the past) would such a masters project be designed and taken on as a project? and how many years of study would one have gone through as an apprentice to have arrived at such a level?gregore'http://www.gregorejoailliers.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261993076995357307.post-60217485547790704932009-10-28T18:28:28.286-04:002009-10-28T18:28:28.286-04:00Oh boy does this look like a toughie! As usual you...Oh boy does this look like a toughie! As usual you never come up with an easy build. What would be the point? Great stuff...can't wait to see the build.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com