Japan, 1875, woodworker

[Igor Petrenko]

Very simple but effective bench and holdfast:

woodworker_1875_japan.jpg

[Daniel Shnitka]

Framable picture.

[Steve Griffin]

Before "quick-grips" we had the "quick leg"...

[Guy Belleman]

Umm, folks. I am in Japan, and you could put 2012 on that picture and it would still be true.

[Andrew Kertesz]

I just wish I was that flexible....

[Jim Matthews]

The original "leg vise".

I can get into this position, I just can't get out of it.
It's not that the floor is such a long way down, it's that it's such a long way up from there.

[John McClanahan]

I have enough trouble keeping my fingers out from under the hammer. Now I would have to worry about my toes, too!

[Terry Beadle]

A sudden chill came over me. I passed thru time and convention. I see myself sitting and hoping my toe holds out..... Could this be me in a previous life?

Hoot!

It goes to show, it's a poor workman who blames his tools when all you need is craftsmanship and some basic tools. This guy made his living out of it. Many kido's to him and his decendants.

Thanks for posting !

[Gary Curtis]

Though I wasn't interested in WWing at the time, I watched craftsmen in Tokyo build a house (from my office window) and make Shoji Screens and Doors and Windows. I worked there for 4 years. And when my office moved close by, I passed a lumber mill daily.

By the way, how do the Japanese build a house? They start with the roof, building it on the ground. Then, they prop it up and it gives them cover from the rain while the structure is completed beneath it. At a Buddhist temple near my lodgings I watched carpenters completely dismantle and then rebuild a small wood structure serving as a library. First they took the structure apart — no nails, just joinery. Then they laid all the parts on the ground, numbered them and noted their location. Then, they got to work recarving all the components by hand and power tool. When done with the duplication process, they reassembled the new structure on the old foundation, using only sketches made earlier to guide them. Again, no nails.

What people seldom notice is that wood species used in homebuilding and finish carpentry is very, very soft. Because of scarcity.

[Neil Brooks]

The original photo -- if memory serves -- had a caption that read, "I would rather be driving my Unisaw"