Cutting a (210 mm) Japanese Scarf Joint (金輪継 or Kanawa Tsugi) - for a Structural Beam

In this video, I work through the process of cutting (Kizami - 刻み) a Japanese Scarf Joint (Kanawa Tsugi - 金輪継). This is one of most common joints found in a Japanese house. Perfecting your skill in cutting this joint is important because on a typical house you may have to cut this joint 50 times or more.
For a Kanawa Tsugi joint, the attention is in the details. Slow and careful cuts will prevent unnecessary repeating and waste. This beam is relatively small considering some of the bigger beams planned for this Japanese house. However, the cost of this beam is still significant and can be a tough financial lesson to learn if you make a mistake.
At Fujimoto Koumuten, we are asked to work slowly as we do Kizami. This joint would take an average carpenter an hour or longer to cut if done accurate and well. Some more experienced carpenters can cut this same joint in 30 minutes or less.
Hope you enjoy this video.

[@gazpal]

Great seeing the level of commitment and focus with which you apply yourself in everything you do. Keep that passion for perfecting your craft flowing and you'll succeed no matter what.

[@abelgerli]

The coolest kanawa tsugi in Japan is in Miyajima at the Itsukushima shirne tori in the water. You can see it at low tide when inspecting the thick round pillars of the torigate. A magnificent repair job 😊😊 Thanks from southwest Germany.

[@glenmatthewwilson]

Great job! The joint came out great. If you put a saw horse under where you are working, it will help reduce the bouncing around you experience as you are chiseling. Each hammer blow will lose less energy to the bouncing and instead do more work cutting.

[@friendlylocal3731]

Very cool! I would love it if you added captions to this that explained exactly what you're doing as you do it, including key points and whatever else. Would make it even more valuable source of information!

[@Musicpins]

Nice, I like your attention to detail.

[@thecarpentrylife]

Thanks!

[@rolandgdean]

SO nice to FINALLY see one of these joints cut from beginning to end by hand and very glad to see a new video from you. I watched several a day to get caught up and that makes it feel like a longer time since your last release. I hope some day you can visit and do a video with Ishitani...they never say a word in their videos and they're great but I'd love to see your unique style of presentation and respect for the work on what he does.

[@Timothy-remembers]

We could never do that here in the states. We’d have foremen yelling at us ‘what’s taking you so long?, get moving!’. Which is why we suck

[@animeclips7232]

I admire what you do.keep up the same.

[@untokyo]

Great job 👌

[@ethanbrockett-xf4xg]

More support under your work area will make you happy

[@deborahf3738]

I would feel so proud of the job I did, then become filled with doom at the idea I have to do it again....lol. Thanks

[@salg-1980]

When you were checking the center to see if it was flat, a hand planer wouldn’t be used in that situation?

[@richarddavies-scourfield8413]

Any chance you'd show us how to actually mark out this joint?

[@chriskirkemo2522]

Well done! I’m curious what an average week looks like for you? I’d assume there are multiple sites going at once so you alternate between the prep shop and the jobsite on any given week or is it the opposite? You’re prepping for several months on a single job and then follow the completed beams/columns to the site and assemble the structure until complete. Also are you loving the work? I can only assume you are.

[@chunqk]

I'm trying to find a video that I thought I read the title of in passing from your channel, about a fine woodworking tools shop that shipped to the USA? Does that exist? Also, total shot in the dark, but it would be great if you could do a video with the Shibata Kanjuro Bow Shop of Kyoto, or any traditional Japanese bowyer. There's some interesting woodworking techniques in making yumi, like rope and wedge clamping and bamboo processing. Information on making yumi is pretty sparse online, especially in English. I've been working on a daikyu, using what I have been able to learn, and posted some of my progress online.

[@thecarpentrylife]

Thank you for watching! Here is the video about Kurashige Tools: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3PSf5d_nNWNgZo I will take a look at Shibata Kanjuro thank you for the heads up.

[@SwartFrancois]

Are cracks like those at the bottom a structural integrity issue that needs to be addressed over time?

[@dragomirdichev2423]

How much time it takes to cut a pair of this joint? I see you work with great precision.

[@thecarpentrylife]

It probably takes me around an hour and half for half the joint. You can cut this joint as fast as a half hour if you are experienced. But, I think it is more important to cut it well and take your time doing so, this is because the cost of these beams are quite high now. Thank you for watching.

[@Seelos333]

+ Nice work I enjoy watching these What brand square are you using?

[@thecarpentrylife]

kzbin.infopqZFUq6ANk8 These are affiliate links from Amazon Japan. They will ship internationally if the item is Sold and Shipped by Amazon.co.jp. amzn.to/3FGNYpU (45 degree type) amzn.to/3ziqKmF (15 cm type) amzn.to/3LJmCDs (23 cm type) amzn.to/40qrFgb (30 cm type)

[@Seelos333]

@@thecarpentrylife Nice! 👍🏻 Thanks 🙌🏻

[@dragomirdichev1196]

Do you know there is a skewed scarf joint where the line is not parallel to the beam, but inclined at some angle. Do you know which joint is stronger?

[@thecarpentrylife]

Sorry, I am not familiar with a skewed scarf joint. There is an Okake Daisen Tsugi which uses a two Komisen (15 x 15mm) wooden peg. However, this joint is cut almost identical to the Kanawa Tsugi. If you know the name of the joint I can try to ask about it.

[@LmaoDota]

50 these joints in a house? are they same size? do you have some kind of jig to make the work easier and quicker?

[@thecarpentrylife]

I only estimate. A team of carpenters cut these joints. The sizes can vary, but the technique remains the same. I am not sure how you could make this work easier or quicker. People often want mass production, but timber framing is not the case. It is all handmade joinery which by definition will take time to cut. Wood is expensive now, so we are told to move a little slower and think about our cuts. We have made mistakes in the past on beams and pillars that were around $1000 or more. Being a small shop we can't afford mistakes.

[@connorleon]

which are the most common chisel widths of atsu nomi that you use?

[@thecarpentrylife]

It should be 42mm,24mm, and 13.5mm.

[@danilozobel93]

🙂

[@ahooper99]

@7:37 looks very unsafe putting your hand directly in front of the blade on a plunge cut!

[@thecarpentrylife]

Yes, be careful.

[@sovereign3479]

I would say this is a school... Not the work of a master...

[@thecarpentrylife]

This is not a school, this Kanawatsugi joint was built for a customer's house. We recently, built up the house.

[@sovereign3479]

Your chisel action when bevelling edges should be done with a slicing action, not just pushing... minute details on use of tools .. I'm just very fussy.. 🙏.