I'm Amazed At The Intricacy Of These Joints

[JoeLee]

Although these joints are cut in wood I think the joinery is a work of art as well as a puzzle. Tapered wedges driven at angles locking notches DT etc.

But all those fancy joints are big dust and water collectors and I would guess are prone to rot. Who ever built that house wasn't in much of a hurry to get it done.

Try copying some of those joints out of aluminum.

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...use_joints.mp4

JL............

[Willy]

Thanks for sharing that!
Always amazing to see the joinery in old school wooden structures. No screws, nails, or bolts. Would be interesting to see this going together.
What craftsmanship!

[eKretz]

Japanese joinery, no question. They are famous for it.

[Willy]

Japanese joinery, no question. They are famous for it.

Big dope-slap to my forehead, that's where I've seen it!

https://www.openculture.com/2020/03/...s-or-wood.html

[RB211]

Only the Japanese!

[Lew Hartswick]

Only the Japanese!

Well they didn't have any iron ore to waste on nails. :-)

[Noitoen]

Even the mighty Samurai sword, what keeps the handle and the blade together is a small bamboo pin.

[Arcane]

Although these joints are cut in wood I think the joinery is a work of art as well as a puzzle. Tapered wedges driven at angles locking notches DT etc.

But all those fancy joints are big dust and water collectors and I would guess are prone to rot. Who ever built that house wasn't in much of a hurry to get it done.

Try copying some of those joints out of aluminum.

https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...use_joints.mp4

JL............

I didn't see where any of those joints were rotted.

[J Tiers]

Considering that many of the buildings constructed that way were temples, and those buildings have in many cases lasted hundreds of years since the last re-building, it does not appear that rot was an issue.

If you notice the construction of Japanese buildings of the type likely to be built that way, you will see that features like overhanging eaves, etc, are designed to keep rain off of the structural elements.

Most "traditional" things, including construction methods, are based on experience and are practical adaptations to the environment as well as material availability, etc. It is "fashionable" to consider them "obsolete" and even "superstitious", but that is often a wrong assumption.

[JoeLee]

Even the mighty Samurai sword, what keeps the handle and the blade together is a small bamboo pin.

That's correct, a small maybe 3/16" dia. approx. wood dowel holds that whole thing together.

JL............

[JoeLee]

I didn't see where any of those joints were rotted.

Neither did I. They must have been well protected from water.

JL.............

[BCRider]

Not rotted but certainly somewhat worn. There was a lot of dust coming out of some of the joints. Some would be wood dust and some was likely dirt that acted like an abrasive over the many decades that this building was clearly standing and in use.

YT has a lot of videos of modern workers making joints for their temples or to repair the old classic buildings. It's highly interesting to watch them mark out then cut such joints.

[JoeLee]

Not rotted but certainly somewhat worn. There was a lot of dust coming out of some of the joints. Some would be wood dust and some was likely dirt that acted like an abrasive over the many decades that this building was clearly standing and in use.

YT has a lot of videos of modern workers making joints for their temples or to repair the old classic buildings. It's highly interesting to watch them mark out then cut such joints.

I would guess that the wear was from the house rocking around during the tsunami's and that also accounts for the dust buildup in the joints.

JL............

[Mcostello]

I have always wondered where is the eraser for Their layout knives.

[JoeLee]

I have always wondered where is the eraser for Their layout knives.

I've been waiting to see their squares and angle gauges.

JL....