A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with Yann Giguere of Mokuchi, which was recorded and just came out on the Mokuchi Studio Podcast. I talked with Yann about my background in woodworking beginning with guitar building, my path into carving and art, and eventually how I came to be interested in Japanese woodworking… Read More »Mokuchi Studio Podcast The post Mokuchi Studio Podcast appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

Continuing on with joinery models this week… Aside from making the 50 kanawa-tsugi joinery models (see the previous posts 1, 2), I was also tasked with making a set of 4 slightly larger joints which will become available for guests and visitors of the Japanese garden to play with. The idea is to show a… Read More »Kama-tsugi / Gooseneck Joint The post Kama-tsugi / Gooseneck Joint appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

Continuing along from last week’s post on making a batch of kanawa-tsugi joinery models…. With the joinery cutout complete, one of the remaining tasks for these joinery models was making wedges. The wedges are a bit tricky to make since they are tapered along their length and are also trapezoid shaped in cross section. The… Read More »Kanawa-tsugi Joinery Models Part 2 The post Kanawa-tsugi Joinery Models Part 2 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

March 2024 has proven to be a jammed packed month. After a somewhat slow start to the year a few different projects and craft fairs all came together this month, making for an intense period of work. One interesting project that has been occupying my time the past couple of weeks are some kanawa-tsugi (金輪継ぎ)… Read More »Kanawa-tsugi Joinery Models Part 1 The post Kanawa-tsugi Joinery Models Part 1 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

Once again I’m behind the ball sharing this, but this summer I’ll be assisting with a Japanese Timber Framing workshop in Maine with Yamamoto-san of Somakosha and Jason Fox of Never Stop Building. Jason is organizing the workshop and it will coincide with the Maine Japanese Woodworking Festival. Check out the link below for registration… Read More »Summer 2024 Maine Workshop The post Summer 2024 Maine Workshop appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

Still waiting on confirmation of a few final details before I can truly embark on fabricating the set of Modular Tansu that I introduced a couple weeks back. It’s been a slow process going back and forth discussing various details about the cabinet, so slow that I’m wondering if it’s really going to happen. Nevertheless… Read More »Modular Tansu – 2.0 – Joinery Considerations The post Modular Tansu – 2.0 – Joinery Considerations appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

It’s been close to a year and a half since I first posted about liquid glass wood finishes that are common here in Japan, and since that time I’ve been consistently using one finish in particular on wooden bowls and plates, some of which I’ve been testing out personally to see how the finish holds… Read More »Liquid Glass Wood Finish – Update The post Liquid Glass Wood Finish – Update appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

A few months back a customer reached out asking if I could build a version of my Low Cherry Tansu as well replicas of the accompanying smaller tabi-dansu. They more or less wanted the same thing as what’s pictured here on my site, including the same hidden mitered dovetails on the low cherry tansu, as… Read More »Modular Tansu 2.0 The post Modular Tansu 2.0 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

Recently I’ve been working on a special order set of 3 leg stools in maple. The height is a custom height, which was pretty easy to accomodate with a few minor changes to the layout and positioning of various parts, and while I was making those changes I thought it’d be a good opportunity to… Read More »3 Leg Stools – Drilling Mishaps The post 3 Leg Stools – Drilling Mishaps appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more

Quick announcement, I’ll be assisting with a couple Japanese Carpentry Workshop this June, along with my friend and master carpenter Kohei Yamamoto from Somakosha. The workshops are being conducted by The Year of Mud in Kentucky. Space is running out quick so sign up soon if you’d like to join. Hope to see you there! The post Japanese Carpentry Workshop 2024 appeared first on Big Sand Woodworking ..read more