Kotatsu

mb2, member

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Please forgive the garage shop ambiance in these photos.  My aspiring anime artist daughter has been pleading for a kotatsu - a what?  After a good googling, I learned a kotatsu is basically a square "coffee table" with an unattached top, that is made for floor seating.  This permits a comforter to be placed between the frame and top.  The comforter can then drape over one's lower body for warmth while sitting with legs beneath the frame.  In Japan, where central heating is less common, additional warmth is provided by a small space heater attached to the underside of the frame.

While nixing the space heater accessory, I obliged her this kotatsu made of incense cedar - a wood plentiful from my northern California local small wood miller, who set aside some better grain/knot 2" actual lumber for me.  More commonly, incense cedar lumber is somewhat rougher in quality and used for fencing and decking rather than furniture.

The design is simple framing with mortise and tenon construction.  Use of incense cedar allowed for visual "mass" without weight.  The legs are glued to 4"x4" and curves are shaped in the legs and aprons to add stylistic interest and better accommodate sitting.  The 1-1/4" thick glue-up top provides dimensional stability (another cedar plus) without weight - both important due to lack of bracing by mechanical attachment to the frame and possible frequent lifting of the top for a comforter,  The internal "web" keeps the comforter from sagging and would also allow mounting of the heater in the kotatsu's native Japan.  The top is 38" square with top surface at 17" above floor level.  The finish is a good soak-in coat of Zinnser shellac sealer and several coats of semi-gloss polyurethane.

There's no gilding the lilly in design of this intentional teenager "abuse" piece, but a wee bit of elegance in its simple functionality.

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Comments (6)

MikeGlenbrook writes: I don't know, Beaulieu. It looks pretty flimsy to me. I'd put at least 20 or 30 nails in it. You probably won't bend too many of 'em over with a soft wood like that.
Posted: 8:42 am on April 28th

mb2 writes: "Now what's she going to do with it?"
In between art, sewing, homework, computers, entertaining and general pondering - she's going to spill, scratch, and forget to use coasters!

"I'm sure your daughter will cherish this forever."
Or destroy it and have me build her another one?

"I would never be able to sit on the floor and make use of them."
Sitting at it is easier than getting back up afterward.

"Is the maker a professional"
I take commission work and steal gallery floor space in a local artist collective, but I "sunlight" as an engineer.

Thanks for the comments!
Posted: 10:24 pm on January 28th

GEide writes: Wow, you're a really nice dad. Now what's she going to do with it? I can attest it gets really cold in winter in Japan without that lovely central heating!
Posted: 4:10 pm on January 28th

zbop writes: Excellent. I'm sure your daughter will cherish this forever. The fact that her daddy made it especially for her makes it all the more valuable and special. That's the great thing about the furniture that we make for our loved ones ... it will be here long after we are gone.
Posted: 8:21 pm on January 27th

tmu writes: I'm always drawn to these Japanese tables, although I would never be able to sit on the floor and make use of them. This is a nice design, well executed in the workmanship.
Posted: 8:44 am on January 27th

ukmeager writes: This looks like a great table well made and well finished Is the maker a professional.GED MEAGER
Posted: 7:46 am on January 27th

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