組子工房 · Kumiko Workshop

Light, shaped by hand.

Hand-cut kumiko · 3D-printed jigs · made to order

Build your jig or enter the shop
A close-up of a white 3D-printed kumiko panel — a field of star-burst rosettes in deep relief

麻の葉 · Asanoha — the hemp-leaf, one of the oldest kumiko patterns, built from slats no wider than a matchstick.

A geometry that once took a lifetime to master.

Every six-point star is three slivers of wood, mitred and pressed home by hand until their tips meet clean at the centre — no glue, no nails. We model each panel true, then make it real: a screen, a lamp, a quiet partition for a room that needs hushing.

See the panels

Centuries before glue and nails, Japanese joiners shaped light itself — slivers of wood interlocked by hand into lattices so fine the lamp behind them becomes the material.

組子 · Selected work

Patterns, printed and cut.

The tool behind the pattern

Stop recutting pieces that almost fit.

Enter your strip width and angles, then get a paring jig made for those exact measurements. It holds every piece in the same position for repeatable joints. Download the STL free, or order it printed and ready for the bench.

See every jig
Make your own

Two ways into the craft.

The live 3D jig customizer interface
01

Jig Customizer

Dial in a paring jig to your stock and angle in live 3D, download the current STL free, or order the finished jig printed to your specification.

Customize a jig →
Kumiko patterns drawn as clean print-ready vectors
02

Pattern Studio

Compose a kumiko lattice on a true triangular grid — stamp classic patterns or draw your own, then export a 1:1 SVG for the bench.

Open the studio →
Featured from the bench

The card boxes.

View all boxes →
Reddish wooden card box holding a deck, lift-off lid beside it and cards fanned in front
Card Box
Reddish hardwood card box with a lift-off lid, sized for a deck of cards
Compact Card Box
Dark walnut card box with a shell-inlay band, holding a deck of cards
Inlaid Deck Box
Take the light home

Commission a panel, print a jig, choose a box.

Every piece is made to order by Michael. Each order supports the workshop and the road to medical school.

Enter the shop
About Michael · Why this exists

Building a workshop for the road to medical school.

I’m Michael. I started Kumiko Workshop because I love the craft, but the primary purpose of this business is practical: to build the financial foundation I’ll need to afford medical school.

Recent changes to graduate and professional-school borrowing have made that path less predictable. I don’t want to enter an already overwhelming workload with no margin for rent, food, supplies or an emergency — and too little time to hold a normal job alongside school.

Every jig, box and digital tool bought here helps create that margin. The aim isn’t charity; it’s to build a useful, honest business that can keep me afloat while I study.

What an order helps protect Tuition planning · living costs · time to study