Japanese Joinery

[Admiral]

A lot of wisdom on Steve's webpage. Just sayin.......

[ruffcutt]

Are these Japanese joint in wide spread use today or are the more of a show and tell sort of thing?

[Chris Watson]

That's what I am trying to learn.

The one I mentioned the 3 way miter looks very practical to me, but I can see why most just use a dovetail or easier joint. It's more complex than the more common joints. But to me it seems like a very solid practical joint that just requires more work, skill?

[Trusty Rusty]

PLook at 
Advanced joinery with Dearl Peart and William Ng
On utube
They show the 3 way miter
Rusty

[Steve N]

Further proving my point that the joints aren't thought of by nationality I just added the words How to make a in front of your words 3 way miter joint


A nice tidy PDF file for you or you can choose "video" if you want to see it made in action.

Maybe not the best, just the first that popped up





I think you are adding difficulty adding the word Japanese to your searches. It isn't an exclusive Japanese joint

[Steve Altman]

I think it may depend on what is meant by "wide spread use."  I doubt there's many furniture manufacturers anywhere who use hand cut joinery of any kind. But if it can be machined quickly and accurately (economically) using jigs and templates, then why not?
And I certainly would bet that there are craftsmen in Asia who can hand cut those joints, though I'd guess their numbers are dropping rapidly at time goes on.

There definitely are some craftsmen in the US that use that type of joinery in creating custom or studio furniture. Is that a form of "show and tell"? Maybe.

It's just that there may be more to that sort of joinery than what meets the eye directly. Not just a question of how tight or well-executed a particular joint is. More subtle than that, maybe about the specific woods being used, their relative elasticity, how the all the pieces in a structure (all the joints) work together to hold the piece taut.

Or not. Who knows? Does it matter at all?

[Chris Watson]

I think it may depend on what is meant by "wide spread use."  I doubt there's many furniture manufacturers anywhere who use hand cut joinery of any kind. But if it can be machined quickly and accurately (economically) using jigs and templates, then why not?
And I certainly would bet that there are craftsmen in Asia who can hand cut those joints, though I'd guess their numbers are dropping rapidly at time goes on.

There definitely are some craftsmen in the US that use that type of joinery in creating custom or studio furniture. Is that a form of "show and tell"? Maybe.

It's just that there may be more to that sort of joinery than what meets the eye directly. Not just a question of how tight or well-executed a particular joint is. More subtle than that, maybe about the specific woods being used, their relative elasticity, how the all the pieces in a structure (all the joints) work together to hold the piece taut.

Or not. Who knows? Does it matter at all?

Right, I have no doubt almost all furniture today is robo furniture.

I have never personally seen joints like these: http://joinerynotebook.blogspot.com/p/jo...mples.html
used on anything I have ever seen in woodwork in the US. Except the blind dovetails.

As you say I can't be certain no one man artisan shops are not using them.

I'm certain they have functionality and it's not just a "look at me" joinery.

Does it matter? For me it does. I want to learn if it is all just flash or if it is based on real knowledge learned over time to create incredibly solid joinery. What is the purpose of each joint? Is it stronger than contemporary joinery? How do they apply to the types of wood I would have available.
What works best for each problem?

Experimentation, I suspect, will be the only thing that nets me definitive knowledge on these questions.

But that is the joy of being on a quest for knowledge, you never know what you are going to find.