Hello to all
I was asked to make a fully functioning wooden bath tub.
I would like to base it on the traditonal Japanese way and it seems like information as how they used to make them is not common.
if any of tou can think of a book, web site or has personal knowladge that could help me continue my research – I’ll be very thankfull
Ariel
Replies
Hi Ariel,
I may be wrong but a search on "Coopering" or wine barrel construction might be a start. They should have a lot of similar construction techniques.
Bill
Thanks Bill,
The general design I have in mind is rectangular so it's the corners that interest me more
Ariel
Hi Ariel,
I've always dreamed of building an Ofuro and have had the same difficulty finding information on the joints,
One thing I have learned is the Ofuros are intended to "weep" water through their seams to some degree. So the bathroom floor needs to account for that.
I think the basic principle is the same as wooden boatbuilding. When the water hits the timbers they swell together and seal out, or in, the water.
My guess is that a simple but very accurate rabbet joint would work well for the corners.
The bottom is a different problem. Since the bottom will be at cross grain to 2 sides how does one have a good seal but allow for expansion and contraction as well.
My suggestion would be a make a small model from the wood you will be using and fill it with water and see what happens!
Good luck and please keep us updated!
Tom
Look for books and articles about information about building wooden hot tubs -- y'know, those things from your hippie days. The principals should be the same.
My mental picture of an ofuro is that it is round, not retangular. Like coopers and hot-tub makers, ofuro-makers probably found that it is much easier to strap the staves together with steel when the tub is round, and withstand the wood's expansion when it gets wet.
One more thought -- wooden hot tubs, and, I believe, wooden ofuro are kept full of water. The wood stays wet. It stays expanded, and the staves seal against each other. You said "bath tub" in your original post. I'm concerned that your client expects to treat the tub like a conventional bath tub -- specifically fill it and drain it every day. If the client does that, there's little hope of keeping the tub water-tight.
Edited 4/30/2003 7:02:13 PM ET by JAMIE_BUXTON
Ofuro's and barrel's are made of what woods? Oak is one specie's I know that but it would seem that the ironbanding points would also be important what about that, great thread also!
Just use fiberglass interior and you'll be alright ;-)
Dryad
I lived in Japan for a few years. The traditional wooden baths that I saw were always round, or if square, were lined with fiberglass or some such. The wood was just a skin to provide a more traditional ambiance.
Also, while I was there I caught a few glimpses of a traditional Japanese cooper at work in a town nearby where I was living. That memory brings up one note that is of interest. Many of you mentioned the steel or iron banding that goes around European barrels. In Japan, a country poor in metals, the barrels (and buckets, and tubs) were more often banded with wet hemp rope which was allowed to dry, thus tightening and sealing the staves.
The comment about dovetails would seem like a good idea. As the wood swelled with exposure to water, a well-made dovetail joint should become quite watertight.
Did anyone see the laminated wooden tub that appeared in FWW (or was it FHB?) a few months back? Very cool.
Kevin
Edited 5/1/2003 5:27:17 PM ET by IBKEVIN
Hello
I just read about a company who sells wooden bathtubs, thay are dryed and then injected with some kind of epoxy.
I belive thay are made in France.
I personaly like the idea of useing ceder stripe and fiberglass. (just like you make small boats with.) its the fiberglass that makes up the boat,but its the wood you see.
Good Luck on this project.
sincerly
C.A.G.
Ariel -
Something to keep in mind with respect to Japanese hygine - they do not bathe in their bathtubs! This was pointed out to me some time ago when I did some prototype housing designs for a prefab company in Japan.
The wife usually has the bath drawn for the husband when he comes home from work. First he showers in the bathroom. I mean IN the bathroom since the whole room is designed as a shower. Once showered, then he gets in the tub. The rep for the company said the Japanese were surprised that we westerners actually sat around in the same water we bathed in.
All that by way of saying .... The finish for a bathtub used here in the western world will be subject to serious soap film buildup and subsequent scrubbing.
With respect to wooden hot tub design - the closest I've come to it is having demo'd an old redwood hot tub some years ago. I doubt seriously one could find the quality of material that was in that tub. Each stave was milled outside and inside to the overall curvature of the tub (about 5' in diameter). The edges were double toungue and grooved. The bottom was set into a dado at the lower end of the staves 'capturing' the bottom within the circle.
The years of use as a hot tub resulted in chlorine penetration about half way into the 1-1/2" thickness of the staves and bottom boards. But then, as has been pointed out, it was probably full of water more than it was empty.
Dennis in Bellevue WA
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Ariel,
I can't help much but at a WW show last fall Klaus was demonstrating cutting dovetails. By his side was a rectangular box that held water and contained his water stone. Klaus said he would demonstrate how the box was made but I did not stick around to watch.
BG
He uses an old boatbuilder trick.
Planes wood flat, hammers a 1/8 in wire into it to make a groove.
Planes again to the groove depth.
When it swells with water the hammered in area swells more and forms a seal.
Doesn't seem to leak any.
As for the water tanks made of wood on top of buildings:
They're made of Redwood, angled to make them round, held together tightly with metal bands.
Once wet, they swell and don't leak.
They're never dry except for maintenance and last easily 50 years,
probably more.
Jeff
Ariel-
Ok , as for your joints, to make them REALLY water tight. Go online to American Woodworker and get issue# 56. December 1996. The waterstone box is shown, really cool way to water proof joints. Good luck.
This post may be a little off the mark relative to a hot tub but here goes. Many years ago when I was around ten or twelve, a neighbor kid offered to take me to his fathers shop. His dad and several of his dads brothers had a coopering shop making wooden oak barrels. They took me through the whole process and I recall that when they assembled the staves into a barrel, they put one dried leaf from a marsh cattail between each stave to seal the joint. The whole family used to go out in the fall to cut cattails. I seem to remenber that their big customers were breweries.
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