Post 77 in an ongoing series describing the design and construction of a kabukimon, a type of Japanese gate. This is a project for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
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While it may not be obvious from the above sketch, the rear posts are wider apart than the front posts, so the lower nuki splay outwards on the horizontal axis, and have simple angled cuts for the abutments and end cuts. The upper nuki, however, splay outwards and slope downwards, creating compound joinery at the intersections with other members, one of my favorite things.
To avoid creating parallelogram-shaped mortises, the upper nuki are ‘backed’ so that they are no longer squared sections:
A little closer look:
So, though the gate structure looks elementally simple in many respects, we have the situation of non-square penetrating ties passing through non-square rear posts, and virtually nobody looking at it is going to notice any of that. That aspect – apparent simplicity as a product of underlying complexity- is one of the things I like the most about the Japanese carpentry tradition.
The stock had been roughly dimensioned a couple of months ago or more, and being quartersawn premium material have remained very straight in the interim. I took them down to size, processed the uppers into parallelogram-sections, and then super surfaced everything. Then it was joinery layout and cut out. There went most of the day. The afternoon rolled along without a hitch, and I could fit the stretchers one by one to the main posts. Here’s a short video showing the fitting of one lower nuki:
A while later, all four were in place on the main posts:
The cogged joints on the under-surfaces of the nuki are visible in this view, if you look towards the top of the pic.
Why not a view from the other direction as well?:
Chris,
I've been following your work for at least an year now, and you amaze me in a continuous fashion..lol I admire the intricacy of the work you do and japanese carpentry just as well. My dream to build a japanese style house will come someday and you're definitely an inspiration!
Cheers from Brazil,
Diego
Too cool for words, Chris!! The Kabukimon is gonna put Boston on the map.
Tom
Diego,
one of the rewarding things about the blog for me is making connections with people in some far-flung corners of the globe. I wish you well in realizing your dreams!
~C
Tom,
I'm glad you like this structure and I think it will be an asset to the Museum, and to my portfolio as well!
~C