That Old House in Yoneda

A Small Box for Tea

Davey — Sun, 06 May 2012 05:57:16 +0000

While I gather my wood, wits and courage to begin my next big project (a pair of small writing desks for my next-door nieces), I’ve been getting my shop kicks by building little doo-dads that stretch my abilities. A “case” in point is this little box to hold the tea bags we use at our school. It ain’t much and it’s built with scraps, but the case is put together with mitered full-blind dovetails, a joint I have puzzled over for many years in The Bible (otherwise known as “Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: A Step-By-Step Guide to Essential Woodworking Techniques”). The joint is actually not as hard as I thought it would be since, 1) sins are basically hidden, and 2) I used nice squishy softwood. Is it perfect? Of course not. Still, a nice little box, methinks. And more to the point, so thinks Mika.

Sound, Spirit, Sanity

Davey — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:36:53 +0000

Of all the arts, perhaps music is the most primal, most intimate, the one we participate in at the deepest levels of our being. It literally animates us, fills us with spirit, and it both lifts us out of ourselves and returns us to our truest selves. The big re-set button, hard-wired deep in our mainframe:

… and, just for future reference, Mika, this is what does it for me:

Visiting Charlie

Davey — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:58:34 +0000

Got to spend a few days with Charlie up in Kanagawa. Visited Kamakura, Enoshima, Hakone, and downtown Saturday night Tokyo… and lived to tell the tale.

TV-Viewing Doors

Davey — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:32:28 +0000

Here is the finished project. For the two side doors, I used draw-bored mortice and tenon joints and discovered, to my dismay, how little an offset is tolerated by such softwood. (Yes, I cracked some joints. Ouch!) Anyway. Done. Ish.

A Cabinet for the Washroom

Davey — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:10:30 +0000

The original indoor toilet here was a two and a half holer (two stalls and a urinal). I don’t know if this was common in a private home or not, but it had a certain usability to it. But the holes were just holes over a common pit and uhm… no. Just no.

When we converted to Western Toiletism, one and a half holes were removed and half the room given over to a wash basin. The sink counter is out of a rough slab of teak and the little washroom is quite lovely etc. etc. but there’s a problem illustrated by the piling up of assorted crap that tends to collect in such a place.

That’s right, Sparky! No storage!

I thought for awhile about building a large medicine cabinet, but there’s not really wall space for a full sized proper cabinet. Here is my solution. The overall design is sort of my take on Greene and Greene and points a way forward for me. I really like this period of design and it’s a natural fit with this house and this occupancy. The Arts and Crafts movement took inspiration from traditional Japanese architecture and this house was built about 1912, near as we can figure. The vibe is right. But even more than that, I think the aesthetics click. This house is all about rectangles. The dragonflies break that of course, but I think I did a fair job of balancing the asymmetry.

One hint that maybe I got it right: Mika’s sister, Rumi, assumed it was a genuine Japanese antique cabinet that we’d ~~bought online~~ pulled out of storage. Har!