Hello All,
Cscholtz asked if I would post some pictures my brother sent from China. I am glad to do so, but I can’t offer much more information than what is in the pictures. They were taken in Anhua in 2008.
Most are of a nailless bridge, and one is of a woodworker’s shop.
At the other end of the spectrum of the sturdy bridge joinery we have an account of a wood-buying experience he had not long ago. Used with his permission, of course.
“My experience with squaring the conference table top was nasty. They cut my overlaying mdf at the wood market but you should have seen the tablesaw. An upturned skilsaw tacked onto the underside of a thin sheet of ply, resting on four legs comprised of two paint buckets each. (And can you believe when I got it home none of the edges were true!?)
The on/off button was a girl standing with thinly jacketed copper wire (who knows what happened to the saw’s existing cord) which she jammed into a socket at the yell of the sawyer. The whole scene either made you laugh, cringe or cry–or all three.”
Happy Fourth of July, everyone!
-jonnieboy
Edited 7/3/2009 11:57 pm ET by jonnieboy
Replies
j,
the first paid cabinet work i did was accomplished using a skil saw mounted onto a sheet of plywood, a 2x4 fence and it was fun reaching under the whole thing to engage the on/off switch.
that bridge is amazing.
eef
Hey Eef, you too!
I did that years back - bolted my circular saw to a sheet of plywood, put it on horses, found a pretty straight 2x4 and a pair of c clamps and had me a table saw.
Then I got all kinds of fancy and twisted some 12g copper wire around the trigger to keep it depressed and wired in a switch box.
Blade height adjustments were tricky. Not sure if I even though about bevels.
Good memories, thanks for bringing it up.
Frank
frank,
"good memories..."
guess so. don't miss the poverty all that much. desperation is sho' 'nuff the mother of some of my inventions.
eef
My first saw was a lowes 99 dollar special that its fence was so bad I used a 2x4 with c clamps for a good cut (even then it was iffy). Sure makes me appreicate the Cabinet saw I use now!The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' - Renaldus Magnus
b,
doing much with very little has been very educational. i, also, am grateful.
eef
Thank you jonnieboy,
great stuff! I suppose this is in the Anhui province?
Just a quick comment: in the workshop photo the support for the workbench, those are typical Chinese sawhorses.
Thanks for sharing! Have a happy 4th y'all
Chris
Chris Scholz
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Galoot-Tools
Chris,
Those sawhorses look pretty handy, don't they?
I love all the drawbore and through-tenons in the structural beams of the bridge.
Jonnieboy
CH,
I checked more closely, and this bridge is in Hunan Province. Apparently Anhua is a more specific locale within the Province? I don't know about that.
You didn't go to Anhui looking for it, did you?
Thanks for your posts of the Chinese woodworking shop. They're great.
jonnieboy
Yes, Anhua is a town in Hunan Province (at least that's what Google says).
Looks like that is way off the beaten path, certainly curious to get the whole story (as in what motivates your brother to travel to the boonies, of course that might to be way OT)
Chris---
Chris Scholz
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Galoot-Tools
Thanks for the pictures.. Great!
I sure wish I could find the picture of huge wooden doors from China I posted in here a few years back. The guide said they were in this 'new' building about 400 years and they were obtained from some other structure about 1000 years old.
Will,
It's pretty amazing, isn't it? I mean, here in the States, there's nothing built here that's more than, what, 240 years old. Some of those bridges and other structures like the one pictured have been standing for a millennium. Longer, even! And holding strong. I find it fascinating.
When they "build to last," it's an entirely different time frame they're talking about.
--jonnieboy
Yes!
And I think were made with ALOT of folks that received just food for their work!
I would think they loved the food and something to do to receive it!
Yes, indeed
Had to feed the Chinese woodworker well
If you did not they put a spell on you, hidden dolls in the rafters, magic symbols on the support beams (sort of in a voodoo kind of way, but of course a few thousand years older than our own voodoo). According to some excessive stinginess (food is VERY important in China) and mistreating the craftsmen has ruined many rich family clans.
Chris---
Chris Scholz
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Galoot-Tools
I like it. Metaphysical revenge on "bad tippers."
-jonnieboy
"here in the States, there's nothing built here that's more than, what, 240 years old. "
Native American structures in the Southwest are considerably older than 240 years; as I recall, Taos Pueblo, for example, has been continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years. Spanish structures from the early 1600's are still in use in the Southwest if one wishes early examples of European architecture.
I do apologize. Of course you're right.
About an hour after I posted that, I thought, "Why did I write that?"
-jonnieboy
Cool pics! Thanks for sharing.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' - Renaldus Magnus
Bones,
You're very welcome. Fun stuff.
--jonnieboy
Jonnieboy:
Beautiful pics. The bridge is amazing, but the sagging part makes me a little nervous. Then again I'm not quite as old and I sag here and there as well.
Thanks for those neat joinery pics.
Jim
chinese joinery
There are a few more Chinese joinery images and diagrams here for those interested - its a fairly complicated topic...
http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/2011/09/04/traditional-chinese-houses-from-the-countryside-into-the-city-with-million-dollar-profits-too/ (some closeup shots of the complex joints and construction)
http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/2009/02/27/excellent-diagrams-on-chinese-joinery-and-chinese-furniture-construction/ (joinery diagrams)
http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/2010/10/18/carved-wooden-architectural-elements-salvaged-from-traditional-chinese-homes-gain-a-new-lease-on-life/ (model of how the joints fit together
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