If you’ve been wondering why the apparent slowdown in the blog posting rate the past week, well, one reason is that I’ve been putting quite a few hours into completing Volume III of my essay series on Japanese carpentry drawing and techniques. I had released a ‘part 1A’ of this essay, which delves into splicing joints, in January, promising the rest, a part 1B, in another ‘month or so’. Well, I’m afraid it took a lot longer than I thought, and part of the reason for that is that I got a bit more ambitious in what I was trying to achieve. Volume 3 now runs to three parts, A, B, and C, and totals out at 284 pages! I believe it is the most detailed look at Japanese splicing joints you will find anywhere, in any language.
Those who are interested in the series but wanting more information can contact me and I’ll send you screen shots from the tables of contents and that sort of thing. Hundreds and hundreds of hours work went into it, so the $40.00 selling price is quite reasonable I feel. Obviously, if I were selling thousands of copies, the pricing would come down, but that sort of situation remains a,uh, mist-shrouded dream at this point.
It was surprising in my course of research for this volume how much misinformation and confusion I found on this topic, even on Japanese sites and in Japanese books.
I appreciate all the support and feedback I’ve received so far in this endeavor, both from readers and family.
Excellent!! I started following you a couple months ago and didn't realize you had started an essay series. I'll be buying it. I don't know of anyone else, that I have access to, that knows more than you about Japanese joinery. I'd love to learn to incorporate some into my designs. Thanks!!
Vic,
thanks! I appreciate your support very much.
~Chris
very, very, cool…i have been reading your blog for hours…glad to see you rocking something you love and doing it right…wish you were still on the west coast…do you have any plans to release a printed and bound edition of the essays? i think the illustrated joints especially would look great sitting open on the workbench in large format…keep it up, peace and love from 日本…
http://project77.org
Hi,
Vol 1 vol 2 and vol 3 are preliminary each other (I mean you have to read first vol 1 then vol 2 then vol 3) or are indipendent ?
thanks
Sergio
DaveJ,
thanks for your positive and warm comment – much appreciated. Hardcover editions are in the planning stages.
Sergio,
thanks for your question. Volume III is completely independent. If you have a strong grasp of math then you could skip Volume I. Volume II presents alternative solutions for a given drawing problem, and one of those alternative methods will involve mathematics, so if you aren't sure about trigonometry, you may find those sections challenging.
Volume II is a necessary preliminary to the soon-to-be-released Volume IV.
If you have any further questions about the essays, don't hesitate to contact me.
~C
What type of joints shall I focus on when my objective is to join
unfinished cylindrical forms together (such as a Shinto gate with two supports?
1LTLos,
thanks for your question. Those joints are usually wedged rod joints (sao shachi-sen tsugi) with scribe-fitted ends. The rod joint is covered extensively in Volume III, including the connection of a cross-beam meeting a post, however the scribed variant is not described. Perhaps I will include it in a future revised version of the text.
~C
hello
I'm french i m 27 and i want to learn with someone japanese carpentery if i need to travel no matter where i want to learn. Do you think you can help me in anyway to give me contact to advice me . Cause carpentery its what i love and the art of japanese carpentery its like the cherry on the pie . thanks to answer
PS congratulation for what u done one this blog
THANKS
guillaume / misterevil@yahoo.fr
Guillaume,
thanks for your comment and it has been good to be in touch with you.
~C
Bom dia!
Eu sou novo em arquitetura japonesa e gostaria de saber como começar e por onde leio os seus conteúdos, mas vejo que bem dificil, existe algum livro que eu poça começar? e se existe em mídea pois preciso traduzir para o portugues brasil.
O seu livro tem na versão digital?
Grato desde já agradeço
Meu nome é DANILO cidade Belo Horizonte Brasil
Danilo,
this volume, as all volumes in the series, comes in .pdf format, so shipping is free and easy. Please contact me directly by email to purchase.
~C