Koa and Sugi Chadansu
Long time no blog. Finally had a moment to post some images of a recent Chadansu.
Chadansu were room cabinets most generally used to store cups, bowls, tea kettle,
tea caddies, etc.. Some may have been used exclusively for tea ceremony but commonly found in a typical living room used for casual eating and entertaining.
Chadansu are typically light in construction, easily moved, and have more detail than most other types of tansu. Usually having several small drawers and 2 to 5 doors often including a kendon buta ( drop fit door)
They are fun pieces to build with many, many,parts and pieces and plenty of joinery.
I enjoy the chance to incorporate a chigai dana ( staggered shelves) in the design.
With the doors removed and the alcove exposed it becomes an entirely different piece.
With out further ado , here is the new tansu........
It measures 13.5x34x36.
Curly Koa, Sugi, Milo, Toon, Port Orford Cedar, She Oak, Silk Oak,
Fine Shellac Finish, Forged Iron Hardware.
This particular piece is built using the same Palani Ranch Koa as it's predecessor..
It has a deep rich tone with great figure and billowy curl.
The tansu has a Milo wood edge banding and sits upon a Milo base. The Milo makes the phenomenally curly drawers fronts really pop.
Detail of sword tip miter
The tansu is fully joined using sword tip miters, dovetails, mortise and tenons,
housed panel joints, full blind sliding dovetails.....
" no nails " as they say. Built to last 100 years or more.
Hand cut dovetails with arrow feather twin pin accent.
This chadansu works in a variety of settings and can be used to store most anything.
Some of my chadansu have been used to store small art collections and one for feather lei.
There is ample storage space with, count them, 12 drawers, and five doors.
The interior features a staggered shelf display area and two small drawers.
You may remove the doors for display of art.
Without kendon buta.....
and above is yet more open shelf space
interior features curly koa shelves, curly koa drawers, and chigaidana
with small post made from a piece of diseased She Oak I had been saving for some time..
It adds at touch of wabi to an overall formal design.
Drawers are hand cut with AAAA+ Curly Koa drawer fronts and
Port Orford Cedar drawer sides and bottoms left with a hand planed finish.
Here is the kendon buta, a door that sits in a groove top and bottom. It can be lifted up and pulled out using the small hand forged tsukite, moon shaped iron pull.
The doors frames are curly koa and the door panels came from an old gnarly sugi tree.
The beading on the inside edge of the doors is made with a small hand plane and the corners are carved in.
The door pull has same irisumi design.
The back of the cabinet is made with the same care and attention to detail as the front of the tansu.
Full mortise and tenon construction ,sword tip miters, carved detailing as fine as the doors.
The back of the cabinet is made with a locally harvested Australian cedar colloquially referred to as Toon. Beautiful material. A complete joy to hand plane.
The finish is a dewaxed shellac that was refined in a German facility that
produces exceptionally clear wax free shellac flake.
The flake is diluted to a usable consistency and cabinet given the "Downeast rub"
Many thin layers of shellac are wiped on building a finish that is at once light but full of luster and grain clarity. The shellac is of a quality that will resist water rings.
A final rub of macadamia bee's wax leaves surfaces with a beautiful satin sheen.
Hardware is a traditional warabite design hand forged from Japan.
Last image, different time of day.
Full sun light.
Uniquely hand crafted.
Contact us for shipping information.
Matsu Kaze Woodworking
simple devices for inspired living
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