joint session

October 10, 2016 8:49 AM

The Joinery contains animated illustrations of wooden joints coming together.
posted by griphus (23 comments total)

Oh, wow . . . these get me as close to ASMR as I'll likely ever get. Beautiful and so soothing. Thanks!
posted by Kat Allison at 8:53 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

Hah! I was just thinking that these would be a perfect thing to fall asleep to.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:07 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is probably obvious from the descriptions, but many of these joints are specific to Japanese woodworking. The many variations on splice joints, in particular, are a hallmark of classical Japanese architecture [pdf, scanned book on joints in Japanese architecture].
posted by jedicus at 9:28 AM on October 10, 2016 [10 favorites]

Traditional Japanese joinery is possibly the most intricate, beautiful, and strong of any joinery tradition. These are great, thanks for sharing.
posted by biogeo at 10:01 AM on October 10, 2016

These are beautiful animations of beautiful joins, but many of them seem pointlessly complicated. The PDF Jedicus links actually does describe pros and cons of each (e.g., "effective against torsion but cannot resist any tensile forces").
posted by fatbird at 10:02 AM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

griphus shares a joint ...
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:14 AM on October 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

Sent this to a friend who promptly texted me to ask, "What is this, porn for carpenters?"

Now I'm sitting here and staring at my Twitter feed feeling slightly unsure about my life and my interests.
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:36 AM on October 10, 2016 [10 favorites]

You can imagine where it goes from here.

Jigokuhozo?

Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:58 AM on October 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

This makes even my prettiest woodworking efforts look like Homer Simpson's birdhouses.
posted by rokusan at 12:21 PM on October 10, 2016

Something about the joints that use little extra linchpin pieces is just incredibly satisfying to me.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:39 PM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

This one is deffo my favourite.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:42 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is one of my favorite accounts, but half of what they post would either require a computerized cutter or a very patient carpenter with 1-4 hours to kill for each joint they hand-cut. There's a kind of "nobody with a realistic shop could ever DO that" hollow joy to some of them for me.

I'm the sort of guy who literally boos New Yankee Workshop every time Norm pulls out some special piece of hardware nobody owns, though.
posted by middleclasstool at 12:49 PM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Surely the chief of staff joints
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:56 PM on October 10, 2016

...every time Norm pulls out some special piece of hardware nobody owns...

"Hey everyone check out this guitar I made from scratch. the first step is to get out your CNC laser powered guitar cutting out machine."
posted by griphus at 1:06 PM on October 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

and yet...
posted by regularfry at 3:15 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is one of my favorite accounts, but half of what they post would either require a computerized cutter or a very patient carpenter with 1-4 hours to kill for each joint they hand-cut. There's a kind of "nobody with a realistic shop could ever DO that" hollow joy to some of them for me.

I dunno, a log of the really gnarly looking ones really are used in traditional Japanese joinery, particularly architectural joinery, and are meant to be cut with hand tools. Plenty of shops in Japan really did and do cut these joints.
posted by biogeo at 3:42 PM on October 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

As someone who is still trying to get his mortise & tenon and dovetail joints consistent these are very impressive.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:47 PM on October 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've always been a fan of this one. A joint which can rotate in 3 planes and still be sound.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:06 PM on October 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

I was impressed by that one, too. Extremely clever.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:41 PM on October 10, 2016

I had the extreme privilege of watching a master Japanese carpenter create some joints in a demonstration. He had various small saws and chisels and he moved very quickly. He used a pencil and a metal carpenter's square to make small marks but the speed and accuracy was amazing. He would fit things together and then refine, fit and refine and then done. Beautiful and amazing work.
posted by amanda at 7:14 PM on October 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

The book linked above is epic, and you must all read it immediately.
posted by aramaic at 9:52 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is very relevant to my interests now. I'm planning a lean-to pergola which is quite complicated (lots of angles), and am deciding between carpentry joints vs. screws/plates/nails. It is a tough choice, because labour-wise, the screwed/nailed construction is much easier to do (and requires less experience), and the number of people who would appreciate all the pretty hand-made joints is quite limited. I'm still leaning towards investing the time and effort anyway, just so I improve my skill. I'm sort of hoping this could be my livelihood in the future.

Also, Matthias Wandel covered this earlier. (YT link)
posted by Laotic at 3:32 AM on October 11, 2016 [5 favorites]

Laotic: YOU will appreciate all the hand-made joints. And that's far more satisfying than a pat on the back. Art is not a thing. It is a way - Elbert Hubbard.

I'd love to see a drawing or photo of the finished project.
posted by sixpack at 9:02 AM on October 11, 2016 [1 favorite]