Butsudan Stand

I’m stymied with my kotatsu table because I haven’t bitten the bullet and tried to negotiate my way through a wood deal at the hard wood mill. That’s going to take some doing since the old guy, cool as he is, speaks a very thick version of local dialect, which means I have to rely on Mika, who’s never keen to haggle over anything. Also, he’s got the idea that I’m going to show up with several trucks and buy — I don’t know — thousands and thousands of dollars worth of wood.

So, I’m into a new project.

Don’t know if I’ve mentioned this or not, but most every Japanese family home, including ours, has a family altar, called a “butsudan”. A reasonable explanation from Wikipedia:

A butsudan (佛壇 or 仏壇) is a shrine found in religious temples and homes of Japanese and other Buddhist cultures. A butsudan is a wooden cabinet with doors that enclose and protect a religious icon, typically a statue or a mandala scroll. The doors are opened to display the icon during religious observances. A butsudan usually contains subsidiary religious items called “butsugu,” such as candlesticks, incense burners, bells, and platforms for placing offerings. Some buddhist sects place “ihai”, memorial tablets for deceased relatives, within or near the butsudan.

We don’t have mandalas, but we do have the ihai. Anyway, Mika and her mother decided they wanted to move the butsudan from a closet in the seldom-used formal room, to a more heavily trafficked area in the family side of the house. Well and good, but the stand the butsudan sits on is kind of Home Depot-ish. Mika’s mom asked me if I could build something nicer. So I’m trying.

I had a couple pieces of this strange not-mahogany left over from grandpa’s shop that I have been saving for something special. Well, this is the project and I think the old buzzard would approve. I’m building what is basically a side table with one drawer. It’ll be wider than the bustudan (so flowers and other offerings can be placed in front of and next to the altar). I had originally thought to do some Krenov-like legs that would curve outward, but don’t really have the wood for it. The legs join the rails with haunched mortise and tenons and will be pegged. I’ll hand cut the half-blinds for for the drawer. So far, knock on wood, the build is going quickly. Basically two days in the shop got me all my major pieces cut and sized, all the mortise and tenon joints cut and fit and the top glued up.

One thing that’s really speeding up the process is having my big 3 1/4″ wide Japanese finishing plane tuned up right. Man, what joy to use. Finally. Had that thing for five years maybe, but wasn’t set up right. I suspect there will be very little sanding on this project, the finish it leaves is that fine and alive. The wood is a bit brittle and wants to chip, but I think I’ve basically caught the “feel” of working it.

I didn’t have enough wood for the back rail, so I found a funky plank of god knows what, all warped and cupped, but with a flat section just big enough to use. Figured what the hell? It’s the back, right? Took my plane to it and — Yeow! It’s gorgeous. Don’t know what it is but wish I had a shop full of it. It’s relatively heavy and cuts like a dream.

The following weekend, I put in solid shop days. Got the main frame assembled and glued up. The construction technique is the basic Shaker approach to a table with a drawer. The drawer side has two thin rails, the bottom of which joins each leg with two small tenons. The upper rail joins each leg with a stepped dovetail. The leg itself is small, so the intersection is a bit crowded. Tried not to remove too much meat from the leg.