12-30-2014, 10:02 AM
ezdays Wrote:doctorwayne Wrote:...I've got an obscure one for any woodworkers out there: jigoku-kusabi. Anybody wanna take a guess?
As a long-time woodworker and having watched every episode of "New Yankee Workshop" and "This Old House" as well as a few other woodworking shows on PBS, plus having every issue of "Wood" Magazine", I can truly say that I've never heard of the term before. Therefore, I can only assume that you have it confused with that used in one of the Star Trek movies referring to some classic maneuver used by a Starship to avoid a Klingon attack. Or was it the name of a distant galaxy somewhere within the Gamma nebula? Gee, now I'm confused, so put me down for a solid, "I don't have a clue"....
Well, I'm not much of a woodworker, but that term was gleaned from a Time-Life book which was part of a series on DIY. As some may have guessed, it's Japanese in origin and is an elaboration on the mortise and tenon. The mortise is cut to be wider at its blind end, and the tenon is double-slotted on its end and contains two wedges. When driven into place, the wedges contact the rear surface of the mortise, spreading the tenon. Properly-done, the joint cannot be separated. The literal translation means "hell's wedge". Glue? We doan need no steenkin' glue!
I did mention that it was obscure, eh?
Wayne