Re: Hollow chisel mortiser
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:14 pm
I asked him the same question about whether he used it and haven't heard back yet.
The story to the extent that I know it:
He met a Japanese carpenter on Long Island and later started building himself a house with the daiku's help. The daiku did all the koya-gumi-bari (curved interlocking logwork) - house looks quite amazing, let me tell you. Anyway, as he was getting most of the way along in that project, and the house was basically covered with a tarped shell, a guy came along and saw it and wanted him to build the same again. But he wanted it all done in a big hurry. Ever met a client like that?
The deal they struck was that they would go to Japan and buy some machinery to expedite the timber frame work. That's how he got the running planer. In those days, any extra room in a shipping container could be stuffed with more things (unlike today where every object has to have its own crate and documentation), so he filled it with more used Japanese machines. That's how he acquired the 5-head mortiser, the Hidaka dado crosscut machine, the Petty work table saws, a Tōkai sliding table saw, a couple of super-surfacers, several other mortisers...you get the picture. That job basically set him up with a well-equipped timber frame shop Japanese style.
I think after they finished framing that house for the client they haven't used the timber framing machinery too much. When I visited they were making a bunch of windows and he is thinking of selling some of the machines, like the 5-head mortiser.
The story to the extent that I know it:
He met a Japanese carpenter on Long Island and later started building himself a house with the daiku's help. The daiku did all the koya-gumi-bari (curved interlocking logwork) - house looks quite amazing, let me tell you. Anyway, as he was getting most of the way along in that project, and the house was basically covered with a tarped shell, a guy came along and saw it and wanted him to build the same again. But he wanted it all done in a big hurry. Ever met a client like that?
The deal they struck was that they would go to Japan and buy some machinery to expedite the timber frame work. That's how he got the running planer. In those days, any extra room in a shipping container could be stuffed with more things (unlike today where every object has to have its own crate and documentation), so he filled it with more used Japanese machines. That's how he acquired the 5-head mortiser, the Hidaka dado crosscut machine, the Petty work table saws, a Tōkai sliding table saw, a couple of super-surfacers, several other mortisers...you get the picture. That job basically set him up with a well-equipped timber frame shop Japanese style.
I think after they finished framing that house for the client they haven't used the timber framing machinery too much. When I visited they were making a bunch of windows and he is thinking of selling some of the machines, like the 5-head mortiser.