I have to apologize for the lack of posts recently; I had been aiming for at least once a week. I recently graduated with my Masters in Library and Information Sciences and had had zero job interviews since, so of course, depression and apathy took over, and posts dropped off. Yes, I'm doing all of the therapy things to stay on top of it. Anyway, let's get on the topic for today: Woodworking in Japanese loop braiding.
My study and research of Japanese loop braiding aren't limited to just the actual loop braiding, I also study and research the overall fiber arts (plant fibers used, spinning methods, dyeing, etc.) and woodworking for the tools and devices used in Japanese loop braiding. The fiber arts part will be a later post, today I want to talk a little bit about Japanese woodworking as it relates to loop braiding.
Part of my research methods is reading, studying, and finding secondary and tertiary fields related to my topic. Often your primary research topic will not cover 'mundane' steps or items in depth or even at all thinking that everyone reading or participating will already know that information, but what the primary makers considered mundane those that make the supplies or receive the goods will often talk about those things. For example, if you were to look into paper spinning, you would find that the Japanese started to spin paper for weaving cloth fabric in the early 1600's. But someone who studies Japanese or Asian bookbinding could tell you that simple paper spinning was around about 1000 years earlier.
Another research tool I use is called experimental archaeology, wherein in recreating or trying to have a better understanding of objects of our past one makes that object using tools, methods, and materials available (or suspected to be) during that time. Often, clarity or aha moments can come from this: why did they do it or not do it this way? Oh, that's why! Making and understanding how a footbeater works give a better understanding of Japanese braiders’ techniques. And it can also fill in some of the missing gaps. In my efforts to recreate the footbeaters, I realized that when finger loop braiding on a footbeater, a set of straps and leader cords are needed to prevent the waste of 5 feet or 1.5 meters of yarn per loop. Considering that many of the yarns in medieval braids consisted of anywhere from a few threads to a dozen threads, this can easily lead anywhere from a dozen to several dozen meters of wasted thread. Conceivably those yarns could be reused in hand or finger looped braids where the footbeater is not used, but that defeats the purpose of having the footbeater. I digress as that is part of a future post.
In April I'll be participating in an Arts and Sciences competition based on arts and sciences from before 1600 CE and one my entries is a handmade, with period Japanese tools, footbeater. I already own most of the necessary tools but what I don't have is access to the right types of wood. See, Japanese lumber isn't all that popular in the US, and it's been pretty difficult to find, almost impossible, that wasn't veneered or pen size or not several hundred dollars a board foot. So what I decided to do was try to find species available in the US that was as close to identical in appearance, workability, and hardness; three things that can affect how the wood will react when shaped and then be put to use. Right now, I’m not trying to figure out what was the preferred wood to make the footbeaters, just to get a better understanding of the construction methods.
To use common American wood species, balsa and oak as examples, both would require different types and size of joints to maintain strength and integrity. Why am I researching this? Because right now no surviving examples of footbeaters exist; we only know of their existence through illustrations and writings. Based on drawings and known construction methods, I have some ideas on what joints they used and how they may have gone about cutting the different pieces. And working with native species or at least ones with nearly identical grain structure and hardness will give me a better understanding of the construction methods and maybe an early idea of preferred woods.
And for those interested in more about my work on footbeaters, here is a short paper I wrote two years ago and will be updating soon with my new results. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0UwTqdbbHW3WmdsWENpbEtkOGs