Barns
Posted on January 15, 2013 by Gabel
Right now we are in the middle of cutting the joinery for a nice big timber frame horse barn that we will be raising next month in the next county over.
I have always loved traditional barn architecture and this one is a beauty. We are using kiln dried douglas fir timbers that were resawn after drying to give them a fresh bandsawn surface. There are 503 timbers in this barn and there are over one hundred knee braces.
I've been thinking lately about some of the nice old timber frame barns I've seen and studied and how maybe some day in a couple of hundred years some young carpenter will be climbing around on the tie beams, studying the tool marks and trying to figure out how we did it.
Spring Timber Framing -- what could be better?
Posted on March 29, 2012 by Gabel Holder
Spring timber framing is in full swing. We're working on some great projects right now including a couple of pool houses, a chapel, and a large octagonal pavilion for a municipality.
Here's a rendering of what's currently on the sawhorses.
Here are a few shots from the shop this morning:
The principal rafters all in a row. You can see the peak tenon and the strut mortise on the closest one.
Here are the arched braces. The timbers are all western red cedar -- a durable and attractive wood that is good for smaller outdoor projects like this.
And here's Whit cleaning up the jack rafter half laps.
We'll be putting this one up next week which should be a lot of fun. Spring is definitely my favortie time of year for a timber frame raising.
Tagged: timber framing, current projects, pool house, pavilion, | 0 comments
The appeal of heart pine flooring
Posted on January 11, 2011 by Whit Holder
Antique heart pine makes a very beautiful and durable wood floor. What is it about this wood that people love so much? I think it is many things.
Antique heart pine has a distinctive beauty that sets it apart from other woods. The deep reddish brown color that we see today has deepened with age since the trees were harvested years ago.
The quality of this wood is superb. The growth rings are very dense. Twenty-five rings per inch are not uncommon. It is rare to find timber today that matches antique heart pine's strength and density.
Another reason for antique heart pine's appeal is its important role in our history and heritage. This was the timber that was here when this area was settled. Our ancestors used it to build their homes, barns, furniture, and just about everything else that they built with wood. It is a part of our heritage and that appeals to some folks.
rare boring machine in action
Posted on March 23, 2010 by Whit
Anatomy of a mortise and tenon joint
Posted on October 13, 2009 by Whit Holder
I recently had some reclaimed timbers in the shop that had been resawn on one face. The sawyer had sawn through the center of the pegs, giving a unique perspective into the anatomy of a mortise and tenon joint that was cut approximately 150 years ago.
Blind peg, slightly pointed on the tip, some side draw (probably inadvertent) is noticeable.
Tagged: drawbore, mortise, tenon | 0 comments
1 2 3 ... 6
