any good info on Chinese woodworking?

[Matt Lau]

Recently, I've found some interesting stuff on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKBaqYskb68

It makes me want to get off my duff, and make stuff.
With my fancy japanese saws, top shelf planes, and $400 blum workbench...I've been twiddling my thumbs.


Would a fellow creaker mind sharing information on Chinese woodworking techniques/tools/etc?

[steven c newman]

There was a site called Traditional Chinese Woodworking....might want to dial that up....

[Tom Trees]

I think this video might have some interesting stuff, if you haven't seen it before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD6qdJNU7GE

Tom

[Jim Matthews]

https://www.amazon.com/Domestic-Furniture-Photographs-Measured-Drawings/dp/0486251713

Gustav Ecke made some exquisite drawings on the subject.

[Jeff Bartley]

That is an excellent book Jim! I bought a used copy awhile back and was really pleased with it.

[Oskar Sedell]

what about skipping the videos and reading altogether, and just start building. Use your time and fine tools to make something.

[john zulu]

The chinese philosophy is very different compared to the West. They are very practical ppl. For example. They would take the axe head for chiseling. Wooden stool for planing.
This is one of the channels I know well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Hqlyl2j9I

There is a chinese master . He talks about the west taking smoothing too far. Which makes sense for his application. Anyway, he is very capable to achieve that finish but does not bother to do so out of practicality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxYqjDsylr4 Here is a video of his.

One of the oddest but practical way is to use a bench vise to plane wood. He cares little for the right tools at times. :)

[Matt Lau]

Hey John,

Do you have a channel on Chinese woodworking on youtube? John Zhu?
I'm a huge fan.

I've been following the links you posted for years.

What draws me to chinese woodworking is:
1. I'm Chinese. Americanized, but still Chinese.
2. It's way more practical/flexible than the Western/Japanese stuff I've seen...no need for a nice bench, good vise, or expensive tools.
3. It's made to last a really long time, unlike what we associate with Made in China nowadays.

[Jim Matthews]

Similar basic approaches can be found at Bob Rozaieski's blog. Bob's approach will allow building case goods.

http://brfinewoodworking.com/

Given the finest surviving examples of Chinese furniture were patiently lacquered, and polished, perhaps the observation was about finish levels to suit usage.

Chinese-furniture.com/Index.shtml

[Jim Matthews]

https://youtu.be/7UVmZV--J98

Modern examples, to be sure - but finely polished.

[Brian Holcombe]

It’s very hard to draw a conclusion on the tools. Personally I’ve not been able to find any information about what may or may not have been available to the master craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, as example. They produced clearly exceptional work in very dense hardwoods and did so quite effectively.

[john zulu]

Hey John,

Do you have a channel on Chinese woodworking on youtube? John Zhu?
I'm a huge fan.

I've been following the links you posted for years.

What draws me to chinese woodworking is:
1. I'm Chinese. Americanized, but still Chinese.
2. It's way more practical/flexible than the Western/Japanese stuff I've seen...no need for a nice bench, good vise, or expensive tools.
3. It's made to last a really long time, unlike what we associate with Made in China nowadays.

I have a utube channel but not Chinese methods.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBiE5DqAbpikhhyyB7u4jhw/videos
My methods are more western as I learn it first.

I am Chinese Malaysian.

[Edwin Santos]

I only know enough to be a tiny bit dangerous on the subject, but I wonder if some of the information you seek might not have survived the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's and 1970's.

During this time, artisanal furniture was considered part of the Four Olds that the Maoist Communists sought to purge from China. The Red Guards ransacked houses of the bourgeois and destroyed artwork, furniture, books, antiquities and other possessions that fell into the Four Olds categories. This would mean artisans would have had to work in secret, at great risk to themselves if caught. It would not surprise me if a great deal of technique and knowledge was lost during this time and even the decade afterwards.

I will say, the furniture that survived from various dynasties demonstrates incredible artisanship in all areas, joinery, design, carving, etc.

I too wish more information were readily available.