Keywords
Architecture
General Terms
A method of preventing cracks in the heartwood *shinzai 心材 or jushin 樹心, of a structural timber, as for example, a pillar *hashira 柱. One side of the pillar is sawed through to the edge of the heartwood. Then wedges *kusabi 楔, are hammered into the cut, also up to the edge of the heartwood. The wedges are placed about 60 cm apart and are removed later when the timber has dried. The side with the cut wedge crack is placed so that it can not be seen.
a) *kusabi 楔