Craftsmanship in Wood

I found it odd that the title of the book indicates it concerns stereotomy yet the plates show almost no stereotomy.

There were some interesting joinery examples and built up beams.

For those of you interested in the french "art du trait " or french scribing, go give a look to a new blog by a french compagnon called Michel Verdon, he's got two versions of his blog, one english, one french, nice 3D animation, pdf drawings, you'll learn about "devers de pas", "coupe à la sauterelle", "piquage et lignage", etc...
The english version: http://frenchtimberframing.blogspot.fr/
The french version: http://apprendrelacharpente.blogspot.fr/
He is doing a really big effort to translate in English the concept of french carpentry scribing.
And yes Chris, I didn't read your book on japanese hopper drawing, your books have been on my to do list for quite a long time!

Chris, I think stereotomy is the name the guy uses for joinery. The spanish definition is "Arte de cortar piedras y maderas," the art of cutting stone and wood. I've seen called it "ensamblaje" too...

Thanks for the link Francois, really good reading.

I didn't know that the definition of that word in Spanish had a different connotation - thanks for the info

Thinking about that for a moment...

Nah, I can't believe that.

While a simple Spanish dictionary might give "Arte de cortar piedras y maderas," the art of cutting stone and wood", that is an overly broad and non-specific definition. Sterotomy is an art which is practiced on wood and stone, however it derives from the French word and the etymology is clear enough. Here's a different online dictionary giving the following definition for estereotomía:

"stereotomy, technique of cutting solids to specified forms and dimensions."

Sterotomy was developed for stone cutting initially, by Gaspard Mongé.

The more accurate definition of Sterotomy, regardless of language, is:

Stereotomy (Greek: στερεός (stereós) "solid" and τομή (tomē) "cut ") is the set of geometrical knowledge and techniques of drawing and cutting the blocks of stone and their assembly into complex structures (wall, vault, arch, etc.) related to architectural construction. Stereotomy represents an alternative to building techniques based on the use of small pieces of stone or brick, which make up the complex geometry structures and sometimes due to its small size and joints.