There are many commonalities between furniture making and writing.
Start with an idea, sketch it out / outline it, decide on a structure /
style for it, revise / refine the sketch /outline and begin building /
writing it, modifying/adapting as you go.

Thinking about the process, I began to think about one component of
what makes a good furniture maker / writer - having a good “vocabulary”.
In writing it’s words - using just the write word(s) in key sentences.
In
furniture making part of the “vocabulary” is joinery - using just the
right joint in a particular situation. A wrong choice of words or a
wrong
choice of joinery can make the difference between mere communication/
functionality and something that touches the reader / maker/ owner,
something that sings.

I’ve gone through DiCristofora’s book on joinery, amazed at the number
of ways two (or more) pieces of wood can be put together. His book,
while loaded with great illustrations of some of the possibilities,
really just scratches the surface. The joinery of Japanese, and
especially Chinese, furniture is difficult to convey with two
dimensional
representations. Even with an actual three dimensional example to
take apart, put back together and study, I’d be hard pressed to
figure out how some of these joints were made.

For most hobbyists / amateurs, “complicated” joinery is pretty
intimidating and thus often avoided, even though what appears
complicated and difficult in fact really isn’t that hard. Take for
example, handcut dovetails. Making them isn’t really all that
difficult, though making them really well comes with practice.
And wouldn’t it be easier, if, in addition to instructions, with good
illustrations, you had an actual sample joint to play with and
study? And some examples of applications for this joint would
be nice too.

What if there was a “dictionary”/”thesaurus” of joinery? Imagine
having 3-D models of a joint - perhaps in clear colored plastic - say
one part blue and one yellow, so the common areas/interfaces would
obvious - green? And what if, in addition to the two parts, there were
models of each step in the joints creation - with accompanying text
and 2-D illustrations of the steps and tools used in making each step
along the way to the final joint - with cautionary notes as well?

Think of it - The Joint of The Month Club. Or, if you don’t like
surprises - a Joint Catalogue . Pick the ones you’re interested,
in, place your order, then wait anxiously for the UPS truck.

How would this affect your woodworking experience, your
design possibilities, how your choice of projects would
change?

Just something I thought up while trying to make a triple
mitered corner, with integral mortise and tenons, from
non-square rectangular components - just to make it more
difficult.

A pipe dream or an idea for some entrepreneur out there?

charlie b

To some degree it's a cool idea, but I think "joint of the month club" would
sell better to upscale rastafarians

I think the analogy would work better to consider joints to the conjunctions
of woodworking. Perhaps finishes would be adjectives and application methods
(wipe-on, brush, spray french polish) the adverbs.

Wood species, of course, would be the nouns.

My point is that while I agree that good design is helped tremendously by a
prolific "vocabulary", joinery is just one aspect of a design. A wide range
if designs could be created with a limitted repitoire of joints when coupled
with variable woods, profiles, proportions etc.

My 2 cents,

Steve



"charlie b" wrote in message
...
There are many commonalities between furniture making and writing.
Start with an idea, sketch it out / outline it, decide on a structure /
style for it, revise / refine the sketch /outline and begin building /
writing it, modifying/adapting as you go.

Thinking about the process, I began to think about one component of
what makes a good furniture maker / writer - having a good "vocabulary".
In writing it's words - using just the write word(s) in key sentences.
In
furniture making part of the "vocabulary" is joinery - using just the
right joint in a particular situation. A wrong choice of words or a
wrong
choice of joinery can make the difference between mere communication/
functionality and something that touches the reader / maker/ owner,
something that sings.

I've gone through DiCristofora's book on joinery, amazed at the number
of ways two (or more) pieces of wood can be put together. His book,
while loaded with great illustrations of some of the possibilities,
really just scratches the surface. The joinery of Japanese, and
especially Chinese, furniture is difficult to convey with two
dimensional
representations. Even with an actual three dimensional example to
take apart, put back together and study, I'd be hard pressed to
figure out how some of these joints were made.

For most hobbyists / amateurs, "complicated" joinery is pretty
intimidating and thus often avoided, even though what appears
complicated and difficult in fact really isn't that hard. Take for
example, handcut dovetails. Making them isn't really all that
difficult, though making them really well comes with practice.
And wouldn't it be easier, if, in addition to instructions, with good
illustrations, you had an actual sample joint to play with and
study? And some examples of applications for this joint would
be nice too.

What if there was a "dictionary"/"thesaurus" of joinery? Imagine
having 3-D models of a joint - perhaps in clear colored plastic - say
one part blue and one yellow, so the common areas/interfaces would
obvious - green? And what if, in addition to the two parts, there were
models of each step in the joints creation - with accompanying text
and 2-D illustrations of the steps and tools used in making each step
along the way to the final joint - with cautionary notes as well?

Think of it - The Joint of The Month Club. Or, if you don't like
surprises - a Joint Catalogue . Pick the ones you're interested,
in, place your order, then wait anxiously for the UPS truck.

How would this affect your woodworking experience, your
design possibilities, how your choice of projects would
change?

Just something I thought up while trying to make a triple
mitered corner, with integral mortise and tenons, from
non-square rectangular components - just to make it more
difficult.

A pipe dream or an idea for some entrepreneur out there?

charlie b

charlie b wrote:

....
Think of it - The Joint of The Month Club. ...

Didn't the Supreme Court just knock this down???

I like the analogy of "words to joinery". Yes, the write word(s) do
make a difference in interactions between us all. Imagine having an
interpreter, or a "maple-to-mesquite dictionary" to relate to people or
wood. And joinery is just that, relating wood (or whatever) to
whatever. But Steve's right about design being more than just joinery.
The woodworker's design skills will include good joinery, but something
about "form follows function", or the reverse might get in the way
sometimes. Maybe even when you're trimming an integrally-tenonned
triple mitre. I wonder what the start-up costs would be for a 3-D
joint model-making business? Tom

Hi,

I saaw an ad for an interesting type of
turning. It is based on the optical illusion in
which one sees either two people facing each other
or a vase, depending on where one preceives there
to be open air. You send this company your
profile and they turn the life size vase that
mirrors your profile.

Thanks
Roger Haar