Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial: Part 5

High drama on the Island today, with our push to finish these gates in the time alloted. The weather is so thoroughly perfect that we can hardly believe it.

Right: Mike Laine applies the smallest of planes to the rabbet on a barge board.

Nearly all of the pieces are cut and hand-planed. We are working hard to achieve a stunning oil-less finish that is developed only by the sequential application of increasingly fine wooden-bodied hand planes. This finish will reflect light and deflect water better than most chemical attempts, but it will not deflect fingerprints or site grime. As a result, we are all buzzing about wearing alarmingly purple and blue surgical gloves, and walking in our stocking feet.

Left: Mike Laine (CA) and James Wiester (CA), half of the leadership team on this event, take great pains to get the barge boards to align just so.

Assembly itself is painfully slow. The ‘basic H” of four columns and 4 connectors went together yesterday and were set into the foundation to cure overnight. Today's task is to meticulously fit the plates, ridge and rafters.

To accomplish this, we need 360 degree access without touching the structures. We lay down straw and put up a ring of staging, affording work space for up to 8 people per gate. Work proceeds quietly and steadily throughout the day. We are grateful to the landscaping crew who rearranged their schedule and tasks to keep their excavators and other equipment as far away from us as the site would allow (which wasn't very far, but was appreciated).

Landscape design is by the firm of John Paul Jones, and it is marvelous, with meandering paths, stone bridges and a solid wooden walkway through the forest. Mr. Jones himself has been attending some of our meetings, and is good fun to have around.

Even with all this good energy, it is a real struggle to get each rafter and barge board into exactly the right relationship with its neighbors. The sun was well down when we were finally able to pose for the team picture.

Sunday begins Phase II, when we build the Pavilion with a slightly different crew, anticipating the same quality of process and result. We are promised good weather.

Tools of the trade: From blunt to sharp, these are only a small part of what it takes to fashion a jewel from cedar.

Rafters and barge boards in place, but there is still plenty of work to do in trimming (see the wedge?), flush planing all rafters, and fitting the red cedar ceiling boards. Miles to go before we sleep.

Carlos Sosa (left) and Jesse, fussing with the rafter/plate connection on the other gate. They are only two feet off of the ground, but the staging platforms make all the difference.

Ready for the roofers! Here is the gate sited nearest the water. It awaits a crown of western red cedar shingles, which will go on as early as this week. Our hope is that the roofers can complete this task before we have to leave the island at the end of the week.

Lower connector and granite plinth detail. When the dirt work and stone work are complete, we imagine that this gate will appear to have grown from the landscape.

Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial

Links

Friday Workshop Report: Part 5