Anybody ever build a hot tub or a Japanese tub (ofuro)? I’m just wondering how you did it and how it worked?
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Never built one, but one of the finest experiences in my life was being bathed in one in Sasebo, Japan, 1968, followed by a total massage (including getting my back walked on) with no hanky-panky, I might add. Afterward, it was as if I had no bones.
In Japan, do they empty out the water after each use or leave it filled the way we leave a hot tub filled? (Sure would like that massage.)
They emptied it out...the Japanese culture puts hygene front and center.
I'm no help to you on your original post, but the bath house I went to was in an upscale hotel...(the hotel where the attack on Pearl Harbor was planned, I was told)...The bath itself was all tile; sunken into the floor with steps. Before going into the bath, I was latched into a water closet (don't know the name) which was like a miniature sauna that you sat in and got parbroiled! After that, came the bath, with hot water poured over me and a lot of scrubbing with those sea sponges and long handled bath brushes. After being toweled off, the massage began and lasted nearly an hour.
Recalling it all now, I'm thinking maybe I should explore putting one in my house...
Bird
never built a Japaneese tub but a house that we built cabinets for had one in it. Quite a surprise cause here in the midwest we dont see much of that, so you must be able to buy one if building one isnt your thing.
You can build or buy wooden ones, but you can also buy fiberglass ones that are very easy to integrate into American bathrooms. You can also get them with Jacuzzi-style pumps and nozzles. http://www.plumbingsupply.com/americh_beverly.html and http://www.arpbathtubs.com/T4040S.htm show some examples.
Thanks for the site. I found someone who sells wooden hot tubs and ofuros but they're pretty pricey. I thought I could build one of cedar. I'm looking for plans and tips. Wouldn't the wood have problems leaking if you emptied the water after each use? It would move so much in response to the moisture. Maybe I need the advice of a boat builder.
I've had round tub plans in the past but sorry to say I don't have them any longer. There have been several books on building hot tubs that came out during the 70's and 80's. Maybe check Amazon or Half Price Books.
The carpentry is fairly straightforward. Once you establish the diameter of the tub, you can calculate the angle of the cut on the vertical staves. Once your table saw is set up, you do a lot of cutting. The bottom is dadoed in to each piece.
When the tub is assemblec, you put oakum in the dadoed joint. The whole tub is held together with two or three bands of steel around the outside and pulled tight with a bolt. The tub will leak a little when you first fill it but it should seal up in a couple of days.
The guys that make tubs and barrels are called coopers. In N. Calif., they make wine casks, for example. I had one of these guys make a tub for me when I lived out that way. Got to watch the process and learned a lot. I think there is someone in the SF Bay area that makes the Japanese tubs. Maybe check the Yellow Pages in that area.
Good luck. A wood tub is worth whatever effort you take to get one.