Thread: Impossible Key Hole Joint again

If you were as careful cutting the joint elements as you probably need to be,
the swelling of the wetted wood could defeat your intentions.

Wet wood is no more pliable than in the living tree. Otherwise, all trees would be lying on the ground, yes?
Water can be used as a heat transfer agent to plasticize the non cellulosic components of wood chemistry.
With that stuff hot and soft, then wood bends OK. Say 6-8mm + 60 minutes hot, wet steam then try it.
Note to self: do not grab the 100C wet wood with bare hands.

I suggest freezing for temporary shrinkage. . . . -70C with Dry Ice/solid Carbon Dioxide.

Someone way back did it. I still can't fathom how.

what about leave out the dark round ones and it would go together, then insert the dark rounds separately afterwards.

The while keys flex outwards. They are cut differently to the brown circular keys. It just slides together and the white tabs drop in when it's together.

I'll have to find the thread mentioned,but the joint is folded together. There is an absolutely ancient Japanese book on joints (about 300 of the most rediculously complex things you could imagine) and I saw it in there.

Originally Posted by Evanism

I'll have to find the thread mentioned,but the joint is folded together. There is an absolutely ancient Japanese book on joints (about 300 of the most rediculously complex things you could imagine) and I saw it in there.

Got a name of the book, for those of us who want to drool over the pages?

The Art of Japanese Joinery. Kiyosi Seike. 1970.

I'm pretty sure that joint is assembled by sliding the two pieces together at 45ish degrees, instead of the more usual perpendicular (90° to each other) way.

Think of a mitre joint that uses dowels in the bevels to hold it together. I believe that's basically what this joint is, where the circular parts are the "dowels" and cut to angle at 45°(ish) degrees to the face sides and the thin strips connecting to the circles are basically triangular (if you look in plan view) splines.

But I could easily be wrong... wouldn't be the first time. Won't be the last!

the joint basicaly slides together

The joint does slide together. This was all discussed in great length before the reconstruction of the website. It is/was there somewhere. Someone even made one.
Re the discussion on the bending of wood, there is a 'toy' that you can purchase in Tasmania which is a wooden ( pine) capital 'E' which has a pencil through the middle sticking out bit of the E. That was also discussed at length. And the wood was not steamed.

Graham