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Early Access Video: Chinese Workholding

🕑 Added 2024-12-14 12:00:11 +0000 UTC

Comments

Andy

Question—how would a Chinese carpenter set that up to flatten/face-plane boards significantly wider than the bench? Just by keeping the area being planed over the bench?

Lacci Battafarano

Kind of, but the object would be held in the jaws on the small side if it was a hemostat so it's not too similar. I think it's a really ingenious tool. Thanks for showing us how it works. I bet someone could make a versatile planing stop that's very similar with a scissor action that anchors to a bench less destructively too. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in China already has.

Christopher Hopkins

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for responding.

Peter

Since your video on Chinese wood working came out nearly all copies of China at Work have been sold say for a few in the $200+ any chance you want to talk to MIT press about reprinting and selling it on your website?

Tom K

That upload can do some wonky stuff. I've had that happen with some of my stuff before. I'm not losing sleep over it. I have plenty of other things to lose sleep over, apparently. LOL

Todd Maurer

I can’t speak for everyone, but I see it as an opportunity for us to help vet you videos before they go public.

Rex Krueger

We're super sorry about that drop out in the sound. We've been having trouble with gliches in the upload. Things look fine in the edit, but there's a problem after putting it up on YouTube. Still, it's on us to get it fixed.

Rex Krueger

Amazing the solutions other cultures come up with, isn't it?

Rex Krueger

Regardless of that era, it seems that there's always been a interplay between Chinese and European woodworking. The handplane seems to have come to China through European trade and European furniture was deeply influenced by Chinese styles.

Rex Krueger

Thanks! I'm going to knock out one more video this week and then we'll go on Holiday break.

Rex Krueger

I guess glue is pretty common now, even in traditional carpentry. These benches were often made of Elm (or a similar wood) with interlocking grain, so the damage was minimized.

Rex Krueger

You have it exactly. Chinese benches are more disposable. (Honestly, I see my benches that way. I never use one for more than a few years).

Rex Krueger

I guess it is similar!

Lacci Battafarano

That device looks like it's a hemostat that is meant to be locked closed and held in place by sticking those two projections into holes that also hold the hemostat in place.

Christopher Hopkins

What do you do about the potentially hundreds of holes that the planing stop puts in your bench as you keep hammering them in and digging them out? That seems like a way to chew up your bench. Are they considered more effemeral in this tradition than in European ones?

Richard C von Brecht

I can see how a pragmatist like you can get into the Chinese wood working style. It is direct and to the point. There's not a lot of money tied up in it. The only issue is the durability of the bench as you reuse the plaining stops several times. I guess the solution is knock it apart, replace the top and contimue on. After all, they didn't use glue.

Dave West

Great to alternate methods of woodworking. Keep the videos coming but after the holidays. Enjoy some time with them and friends

judd

I'm really excited about this journey into Chinese woodwork. It's not really your thing, but I'd be so curious how the techniques overlap with the "100 years of humiliation" the Chinese suffered under Western and Japanese colonialism, impoverishment, and war. It'd be so interesting to see the difference between the tools of the great craftspeople of pre-British and colonial times.

Tom K

Others have commented on the sound, so I won't. But I will say I was a little bummed that there wasn't a link to a planing stop like that. It's an ingenious design that I'd love to incorporate into my low bench work.

Daniel Bohrer

But in general: This was a very interesting video, and I think I will adopt some of the workholding technique for my own woodworking! It's always good to look into other cultures for inspiration.