Shoji making is an art form that is centuries old.
Traditional Japanese screens and sliding doors, or shoji, have been made at least since the Heian period (794-1185). They were traditionally made of sugi, or Japanese cedar, and covered with rice paper, called washi. Modern variations abound as the art form evolves, fusing modern technology with traditional techniques and tools developed over centuries. Does this Spark an idea?
Wood, Paper and Glue
A soft wood that resists decay is ideal for the frame and slats of shoji, which are traditionally left unfinished. Western red cedar or redwood are suitable substitutes for the traditional Japanese cedar since they tend not to warp. If you plan to use black lacquer on the wood, you might also consider clear fir, pine or even a hardwood. Try to avoid knots in the wood.
Rice paper is the best covering material. You can find this at Japanese art supply, some hardware stores or online. This is usually glued to the wood with a water-soluble glue like mucilage, which makes it easy to replace the paper when inevitable holes appear. The paper is glued on and sprayed with water when the glue dries. The paper shrinks to a tight fit as the water evaporates. Plastic is sometimes used as an alternative to washi, especially on black lacquered screens.
Cutting and Joining
While the frame and slats were laboriously made by hand in former days, today they are made with a table saw. Traditional tools are best, however, for cutting notches and joining. The most important of these tools is the Japanese pull-saw, a precision tool that is becoming more common in Western carpentry. Japanese chisels, of which there are a large variety, are also indispensable. These are available with concave, slanted and very narrow blades which are extremely sharp and can handle gouging tasks that Western chisels cannot. Traditional shoji doors have no metal in them; all the joints are connected with wooden dowels or splines. While the holes for dowels have been made formerly with a hand drill, today a power drill is commonly used. It is even common today to find shoji doors joined with small nails.
Tracks and Hardware
The tracks for sliding shoji are usually made from the same wood as the shoji themselves. These tracks, formerly chiseled by hand, are now made with a table saw. For an authentic touch to sliding doors and screens, look for traditional Japanese handles and hinges. The handles are mortised into sliding doors with a chisel. The hinges are simply nailed to the screens.
Finishing the Wood
The traditional Japanese finishing technique for doors is to plane the wood to a smooth finish, which is itself an art form. Modern craftsmen more frequently resort to sandpaper. An alternative to leaving wooden doors unfinished is to apply a coat of oil or, if you must, polyurethane. Screens are often black lacquered, a task greatly simplified if you have a spray gun.
Tags: sliding doors, traditional Japanese, been made, black lacquered, frame slats
