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Planning a Japanese inspired garden shed

Started by GRadice, February 13, 2021, 05:37:35 PM

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GRadice

The perimeter roof boards are up, finally. And for fun I temporarily attached one of the gable pendants to celebrate. Today and tomorrow we are putting up the ceiling boards. I hope to get that done before the rains come in again on Saturday.



 

 
Gary

JRWoodchuck

Really glad you're taking the time to document and share this with us. Really awesome structure!
Home built bandsaw mill still trying find the owners manual!

GRadice

Quote from: JRWoodchuck on November 17, 2023, 05:49:50 PM
Really glad you're taking the time to document and share this with us. Really awesome structure!
As I tell everyone now: this is the least amount of shed you can get for the most amount of effort! But I'm having fun and so are the friends helping out. At least, they keep coming back for more.
We (mostly they, I'm too old to get up on a roof safely) got the ceiling boards and furring strips up. I ran around trimming and being the go-fer and makeing executive decisions when needed. Then we re-tarped since it is supposed to rain this weekend.


 

 

 
Gary

GRadice

I've installed the lattices on one gable end. I still need to install some trim pieces on the outside and next year some demountable screens on the inside to keep the bugs out.

 
Gary

GRadice

And now the other gable end lattices are done, except for some small trim pieces.



 

This end faces west. Just before sunset the low angle light makes it through the lattice for this nice effect.



 
Gary

Planeiron

This build is brilliant. The light coming through the lattice is a beautiful touch. You're gonna have some envious neighbours and requests for sheds!

GRadice

Thanks. Yes, it is starting to come together. That is gratifying after so many weeks and months of just making parts and then putting them under a tarp.

We had a week of unusual (for us in November) clear weather so I worked hard to get the roof decked. The last of the POC planks. Here's where I was Tuesday morning:



 

Got it done just before dark yesterday with some last minute help from my neighbor. Thanks, Dean! For a small roof it sure was a whole lot of screws and many recharges of the drivers. Then got the tarp back up to face another 7-10 days of rain.

While I was doing this I came across this article:

Repair workers turn up 400-yr-old chisel found left under roof of Kyoto temple - The Mainichi

Which included this charming tidbit:

"The Kyoto prefectural education board will hold free tours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Nov. 5 and 6 for the public to introduce the chisel and see the spot where it was found."


That got me thinking. And yes I did.




Gary

GRadice

A friend who was at the frame raising four months ago took some short video clips from the day and I've finally figured out how to assemble them into a rough movie.

I'm the guy at the end whom my crew allowed to make the last few whacks to set the ridge beam and the laurel bough.

We are all amateurs doing this for the first time. We had a blast.

Shed raising 29 July 2023 - YouTube
Gary

Jim_Rogers

One of my favorite things is the topping out ceremony.

My favorite saying during this event is:

Thank Mother nature for the timber in the structure.
Thank the old masters for creating the craft of timber framing.
And thank the creator for giving us the brains to learn the craft.
Amen.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Jim_Rogers

@GRadice just wondering if you're ok over there after the earthquake?

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

GRadice

Jim, thanks for thinking of me. But despite building a Japanese style shed, I'm actually in Oregon. No earthquake here—yet!
Gary

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: GRadice on January 03, 2024, 11:20:35 AM
Jim, thanks for thinking of me. But despite building a Japanese style shed, I'm actually in Oregon. No earthquake here—yet!

Well, I guess this post should be moved to "did something dumb today." :D

Jim Rogers

P.S. as other's would say: "fill out your profile, so we know where you are."
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

GRadice

Quote from: Jim_Rogers on January 03, 2024, 11:45:27 AM

P.S. as other's would say: "fill out your profile, so we know where you are."

I'm trying to avoid the paparazzi. You know how annoying they can be.
Gary

beenthere

Do you find it annoying when reading other's posts that you don't know where the poster is located?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

GRadice

Not unless he is inviting me to dinner! 

Some people choose to keep a lower profile on the internet. Like not revealing their location.

Others choose to not use their real name.

Both are fine with me. If I want to know, I figure I can just ask.

Gary

GRadice

Back to the shed build. It is the rainy season here in Oregon, which means it rains 3-6 days per week but usually just a couple of tenths of inches when it does. Not enough to be miserable but enough to prevent getting up on a roof. so back into the shop to work on the exterior jambs for the sliding windows and sliding doors.

From what I have read and from what my Japanese carpenter friend has told me, this is not a common construction and it isn't in my few Japanese carpentry books. But my friend likes it because it helps keeps the weather off of the frame. I also like way it looks.

Here is the sketch of the window jamb and sill. It is made as a separate piece that is attached (somehow) to the surface of the shed frame. I can imagine joinery ways to do this but they are beyond my current skills so I'm using screws that will be hidden by wood plugs.



 

And the window jamb and sill so far. I still have a little fitting and finishing to do. The jamb assembly has shallow tongues let into the back sides that fit into grooves cut into the frame long ago to help register the jambs to the window opening. The trick here is that unlike western framing, which has a jamb set into an opening and plumbed with shims and then caulked and trimmed to hide the gaps and provide weather proofing; there is none of that. The window jamb is just fit tightly to the already assembled frame, and good luck. Tight joinery and a roof overhang provides weather resistance. Maybe? We'll see.



 

 

Gary

GRadice

The external jambs for the windows and doors will be screwed onto the shed frame. On the window the lower part of the jamb is also the sill, which overlaps a stool that faces the inside. In Western framing a smaller jamb is fit into a larger rough opening and shimmed square, and then the gaps between the jamb and framing are maybe caulked and flashed and covered with trim. In old school (but not modern) Japanese construction the jamb is scribed to the frame and fit tightly. No shims, caulk or trim.

That means the fitting needs to be right and tight to keep water out of the joinery to prevent rot. Japanese carpenters go through a long apprenticeship to learn how to do this properly. As an amateur in the West trying this for the first time mostly by myself I know I may not get it done properly. But this shed is for the fun and challenge so I'm giving it a go. 

Here is a Japanese carpentry text image for a combined stool/sill/window/door track (called a shikii) and pronounced "shkee-ee." It shows a stub tenon on one end, a two way mortise on the other end, and a mortise for a dovetailed tenon in the middle. The grooves on the upper surface are for the bottom edges of two wooden sliding doors or windows. In modern times those grooves would be replaced by metal tracks for rollers.



 

And here is my attempt at the end joinery for the window stool.



 


 

And installed. Mostly OK but I didn't get the ends scribed for a perfectly tight fit to the posts. Here is one side. It actually looks pretty good, but the spline I added later is exposed on the inside of the shed. I didn't plan for that. Best practice would be to install the spline so that it would not be visible. I was following a method in which the spline would be covered by flooring. Oh well. 



 

Next I'll post how I did a similar part for the doors. That came out better.








Gary

GRadice

I installed half of the two-part door threshold. Like the window stool and sill it is fit tightly to the posts it lies between with the ends fixed by splines. Since it is longer, to prevent it bowing up in the middle it has in addition two dovetailed tenons let into its underside that project through mortises in the floor beam and are wedged below. A lot of work to replace what could be done with screws. But also a lot more fun.








Gary

GRadice

Alternating between installing the metal roof panels on dry days and making windows on rainy days. This time of year in Oregon it is about 50:50.



Gary

GRadice

Roof done except for the ridge caps. I'm one piece short and I'm waiting on the order. Which is fine because it is supposed to be cold and rainy for the next week. The cobbled together roof ladder with yoga mat pads was a life saver (literally) and was great for keeping muddy feet from scratching the panels.

I didn't plan it but the way the roof panels are installed over the rake flashing gives them a little swoop up at the rake ends. A nice Asian touch.



Gary

GRadice

Windows almost done. These are slide-by style. They will get glass panels.


Gary

GRadice

Both the windows and doors are slide-by with the interior of each pair fitting between the frame posts and the exterior of each pair fitting within an applied exterior jamb. That requires a lot of careful fitting compared with making a jamb that can be shimmed plumb and square within a rough opening and any remaining gaps covered with trim pieces. As an amateur doing this for the first time I hoped but did not expect to get it perfect. But I think I'm close.







Gary

GRadice

Since this external jamb construction is unusual in the West I thought I'd show a picture to show that I didn't make it up. Here is a small outbuilding at a museum site near Tokyo that uses an exterior jamb for the window shutters. I also love the bark siding held in place by split bamboo.



And a tusk tenon for the jamb. This looks like rough carpentry but it fits the structure.



And I added a little more sculpting to the gable pendants and mounted them.




Gary

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