View Full Version : A Japanese timber framed garden shed
GRadice
18th August 2024, 01:26 PM
Potting bench is done. I oiled the top (commercial linseed oil, pine rosin, beeswax, citrus oil mix) and milled, joined, and finished the border boards. The border boards are giant chinkapin, an uncommon wood even in the USA because of its narrow distribution along the Oregon coastal mountains, down into northern California, and up into Washington states. Its properties are usually described as being between chestnut and beech. I got several boards from a friend.
https://www.wood-database.com/giant-chinkapin/
I (https://www.wood-database.com/giant-chinkapin/)t worked wonderfully but was a little plain. I added a little repeating decoration made with a square hole punch.
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I'm leaving it outside until I finish the floor, but it will go against the end wall by the window.
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Optimark
18th August 2024, 06:54 PM
That really looks too good to start throwing pots and earth around, but like a new workbench, once the first nick or scar is made, it doesn't matter.
I've never heard of Chinkapin, the link was interesting; to say the least.
I've been following this since the start, its been a great journey.
Mick.
GRadice
19th August 2024, 01:47 AM
Yes, I actually think it will look better once it ages and gets dirty. The wabi sabi esthetic is what I'm after but that takes time.
Here is a better link to info about giant chinkapin:
https://owic.oregonstate.edu/giant-chinkapin-castanopsis-chrysophylla
Optimark
27th August 2024, 07:02 PM
Thanks, that is certainly a link with more information.
It would seem that this species is virtually irreplaceable due to the slow growth, among other things.
From seedlings, 6 to 18 inches after 4 to 12 years, plus its life expectancy appears to be somewhere around 500 years, with maturity seemingly measured in centuries.
The fact that honey from the flowers is thought to impart a bad taste to honey; at least the timber in the form of your furniture looks magnificent!!!!
Mick.
GRadice
16th September 2024, 12:35 PM
I've been working off and on around summer (for us) travel with friends and family. The latest project is to make three sash to fill in the transom spaces above the window and doors.
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My original plan was to make lattices for the sash to provide extra light and ventilation. But the more I thought about it the more I thought that would be superfluous, and look too busy, and be more work than I wanted to take on. I also had one more clear vertical grained cedar board from the stock I used for the doors. So I decided to fill the spaces with frame and panels. Here is one dry fit. The others will be identical.
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GRadice
4th October 2024, 01:52 AM
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- - - Updated - - -
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GRadice
5th October 2024, 12:06 PM
And one better pic of the finished panels trimmed out.
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That is it for the shed project this year. I still have to plaster the walls, make the permanent steps, and put in a finished floor but the cold and rainy season is about to start here so I'm going to shift to a furniture project for the next few months. I expect to be back to the garden shed in April.
r3nov8or
5th October 2024, 11:05 PM
Thanks for all the updates!!
mic-d
7th October 2024, 10:52 AM
It's beautiful and very wabi sabi. It's a tribute to your skills and persistance.
GRadice
1st November 2024, 01:30 PM
Well, one more little task before I wrap up for the winter. I am making some screens for the gable end lattices to keep flying creatures outside. These are bronze mesh on Port Orford cedar frames. The frames have glued bridle joints at the corners. To make the screens removable I'm mounting them with three bamboo pegs left proud so they can be pulled out. I have two screens done and should finish the other two tomorrow.
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GRadice
10th November 2024, 01:37 PM
I can't seem to keep away. Now that our rainy season has started I became concerned about doing more to keep water out. So I installed some weather resistant barrier. It is held on with plastic capped nails. I was trying to avoid plastic for this project but sometimes you have to compromise. I ran out of the Jumbo Tex barrier so I finished off with some leftover barrier that I used on the roof.
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GRadice
28th January 2025, 01:37 PM
No news, just a picture I like of the shed in morning light today.
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r3nov8or
29th January 2025, 03:35 PM
@Admins, weird thing... using Android mobile browsers, I could Like the above post using Brave, after trying with Chrome where it didn't work