The Snap!
Posted on July 22, 2009 by Gabel
The Snap (sometimes called the French Snap) is an old framer's shortcut. The trick is to saw one of your tenon shoulders, roll the stick twice, and saw the end cut down to the same depth as the shoulder cut you just made. Then strike the waste firmly with a heavy mallet or the poll of your axe and it will split the grain along the cheek of the tenon. This saves you from sawing half of the end cut and splitting one tenon cheek.
Tagged: timber frame, timber framing, hand tools, traditional timber framing | 0 comments
Perhaps the coolest website ever...
Posted on July 10, 2009 by Gabel
I have found a website that everyone who is interested in traditional carptnety should find fascinating. Here's the link.
Carpenters from Europe and Beyond...
And here's a description pulled from the site...
"A new website by France's Ministry of Culture and Communication is devoted to carpenters and their work. The site sketches portraits of about a dozen men and women who, although they came to carpentry via different routes (family tradition, compagnonnage, apprenticeship or by teaching themselves), share the same passion for traditional techniques and hand craftsmanship, as well as an interest in ancient knowledge. A rich collection of multimedia brings together historic documents and contemporary accounts, reveals some of the secrets of France's ancient trade guilds, or compagnonnage, and presents images of carpenters throughout history. This is a living laboratory, based on gestures of the woodworking trade, and one that sketches a portrait of a heritage that is both alive and changing, both physical and ethereal."
Wow. Now that's cool. What if Americans valued this part of our culture to this extent?
Tagged: hand hewing, traditional timber framing, timber framing | 1 comments
Pit Sawing Videos
Posted on July 09, 2009 by Gabel
Here's a couple of short videos of a variation of pit sawing. The videos were shot at Frame 2006 (the UK Carpenters Fellowship annual meeting) at the Avoncroft Museum. The first video shows Gabel as underdog and Henry as top dog. THe second video shows Gabel as top dog and Pat as underdog.
Timber Framers Guild Project in North Carolina
Posted on July 07, 2009 by Gabel
We spent a large part of last month in Brasstown, NC where we helped lead a large community timber frame project with the Timber Framers Guild.
Here are some short video teasers from Jesse Knight Productions, a local film crew that captured the action.
Tagged: timber framed barn, timber framers guild | 0 comments
Build it the Medieval Way, Pt. 1
Posted on October 29, 2008 by Whit Holder
Last month I travelled to the UK to take part in a unique carpentry exercise. A dozen or so carpenters from the UK, Europe, and America came together with the goal of building a wooden structure strictly with 12th century tools and methods. Knowing what the rules were, we had left at home all of our framing squares, tape measures, spirit levels, power tools, pencils, and calculators, and brought instead our plumb bobs, dividers, chisels, and axes.
We met at a farm called Cressing Temple in Essex, England. In the 1200s this farm was owned and managed by the Knights Templar, who built two huge timber framed barns on the property. These barns, which are still standing, are called the Wheat Barn and the Barley Barn.
These barns are truly magnificent to behold. I felt small when I first walked into them. The locals refer to the Wheat Barn as "the finest 12th century timber building in Europe." That may be a bit of hometown pride talking, but it is hard to dispute that while you are standing in it. It is 70% original, and now houses a museum with interactive displays and a viewing platform--a gargantuan steel structure that resembles a MacDonald's playground. But it is nice to be able to get a closer look at the roof framing for those of us that do not travel with scaffolding.
The Barley Barn, built in 1220, was the inspiration for the structure we were to build. It has more repairs than the Wheat Barn, but is equally as impressive. The floor is open (no museums) and that makes it more striking and photogenic. Several years ago, a man named Adrian Gibson first noticed the geometric relationship between framing members. Adrian passed away in 2006, but his discovery has inspired Laurie Smith, a Welsh scholar, to continue to investigate the use of geometry in building design.
I was there to see for myself how (if?) a building could be built in three dimensions using only geometry to locate framing members. It also seemed like a good chance to clear my head and get back to basics--plumb, level, and square. The mysterious Daisy Wheel, sort of a medieval protractor, seemed like it could be added to that short list, but I had to see it work firsthand.
In next weeks installment, we get into some serious hewing, and blood is spilled.
Tagged: medieval carpentry, cressing temple, knights templar, wheat barn, barley barn, adrian gibson, laurie smith, daisy wheel, geometrical layout | 3 comments
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