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If Some One Offers You a Drill, Take It (Timber Frame Photo Update)

By Timber Framing, Natural Building Workshops
Roundwood timber frame

Students take on roundwood timber framing this year

Recently, one of the timber frame participants wisely said: ‘if some one offers you a drill, take it.’ I think this quote has wide application, and plan on remembering it. Our instructor Tom Cundiff says he prefers to teach students with minimal or no experience with working wood or timber framing. In his view, those individuals are more open to being taught and absorbing new information. If some one already thinks they have the answer, it can be harder to teach something new or different.

The students this year are doing a great job thus far. Most have had zero or little timber framing & carpentry experience, but it’s amazing how quickly people catch on in a workshop setting. It’s really fun to witness that. The sponge effect is definitely happening. It’s also interesting to see the evolution of understanding — how experiencing different parts of the timber framing procedure gradually create a more fully formed image and understanding. All of a sudden you’ll see that “a-ha!” moment. I know I’ve felt that myself, too.

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The Calm Before the (Framing) Storm

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing
Roundwood Timber Frame Workshop

Calm before the storm…

Our batch of students for the 2013 Timber Frame Workshop arrive this afternoon, and we are in that interesting moment in time right before a lot of activity, anticipating, getting the last few things in order, and looking forward to the 10 days ahead. This year’s workshop feels vastly different than last, since April and I (a.k.a., The Year of Mud) are acting as hosts and organizers, or masters of ceremonies. We’ll be ducking in and out of the class itself, too, but the labor is much more evenly distributed this year, which is really nice.

Anyway, we love hosting workshops and meeting new people, and reveling in the excitement that is part of participating with a group of people on a project in an organized way. These workshops are like an extension of community, although temporary. But a sure sign of success, despite how temporary and brief these workshops ultimately are, is maintaining contact with former participants.

Well, look forward to updates throughout the week! We’ll make daily updates on The Year of Mud on facebook, too.

The Return of the Outdoor Cob Oven

By Cob Oven
Outdoor Cob Oven

Building another and better outdoor cob oven

It’s been several years since we have been without an outdoor cob oven at our disposal, and I have dearly missed having it around! The original “$20 pizza oven” that we built back in 2009 had to be “moved” since it was in the way of drainage work that needed addressing around Gobcobatron.

But at last, the time has come. In the coming week or two, we intend to build another outdoor pizza oven, better than the last. The time, we have a proper shelter to shield it against the elements (see above!), and we’ll be making several other modifications for creating a lean, mean pizza baking machine. Er… it’s actually kinda big, and distinctly un-machine like, but whatever.

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Update: Petition to Save Charlie & Family’s Natural House

By Media
Charlie's Natural Roundhouse 02

The house slated to be demolished, unless retrospective permission is granted

There is now a petition online at Change.org that has been organized to try to grant Charlie and his family retrospective planning permission for their stunning roundhouse in Wales.

Click here to sign the petition. In barely 24 hours, the petition already has nearly 15,000 signatures! Wow. Here’s a big thanks to Natural Homes for putting all that effort into helping this young couple.

Is there still hope? We’ll see… I sure hope so.

Justice Unserved: Incredible Natural Home in Wales Ordered to Be Destroyed

By Media
Charlie's Natural Roundhouse

This natural home has been ordered to be destroyed by planners in Wales

Today, justice has gone unserved. Photos and stories of Charlie’s roundhouse have been circulating the web for the past several months, especially when it was announced that Charlie and his family might have to demolish their incredible and artful home, since the house was deemed “harm[ful] to the character and appearance of the countryside” by Pembrokeshire County Council planners.

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You Call That a Roof?

By Design, Recycled Materials
Recycled Boat Roof Shed

A boat for a roof. By Alex Holland.

Rain may not fall on one roof alone, but strangeness just might. I’ve occasionally heard stories and seen images of the, well, unique items that eventually become the recycled roof of a home or shed. I was amused by the above image, a shed built by Alex Holland in Machynlleth, Wales, which features an upturned 100 year old boat as a rooftop, as one great example.

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There’s Beauty Under That Surface

By Carpentry, Strawtron

scrap-to-trim

For whatever reason, we have access to a lot of black walnut lumber around here. A lot of twisted, knotty, warped, split 1x black walnut, that is. Hell, at least it is cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for. The stuff is sort of a nuisance to sift through, and oftentimes, up to half of any given pile later becomes firewood.

But I have been using this stuff almost exclusively for making window trim, and baseboard, and other finish work. I’ve gotten a lot of practice picking through piles, and hopefully finding that one piece that will actually work. Under that sometimes ugly surface, there is some really gorgeous wood.

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The Roundwood Timber Frame: Coming Soon

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing
Roundwood Timber Frame House

Coming soon!

In less than a month, we’ll be fearlessly led by our maestro Tom Cundiff in assembling the beautiful timber frame that you see above during our 10 day workshop. This is going to be a particularly slick design, and rather unique for several of its features. The foundation plan is highly irregular — read: non-square, also read: organic, wild and crazy, funky. It’s a small structure, about 300 square feet in size, and a great learning model for folks interested in small house living.
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A Magical Transformation of Wood

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing
Black Locust Roundwood Timber Frame

This will soon become a long-lasting timber frame house…

This pile of wood will soon undergo a magical transformation. With a team of builders, the timbers will be laid out with squares, levels, and chalk lines. The wood will be cut with saws, and struck with axes and chisels. Later, the once seemingly random logs will be snugly fit together like a giant puzzle. And then, what was once a big pile of raw logs will become a magnificent timber frame, the skeleton for a small house.

Yup, all of these locally harvested black locust trees are material for the roundwood timber frame we will build during the 2013 Timber Frame Workshop. I love to see a pile of wood and realize the potential for a completely new life for that material!

You can still be a part of that team of builders that turns these logs into a lovely timber frame. We’ve got a mere 3 spaces remaining. Check out the Timber Frame Workshop 2013 details and be sure to register!

Live Edge Siding Sneak Peak

By Strawtron
Live Edge Oak Wood Siding

Mmm….

I am feeling very fond of our new live edge oak siding. Very fond. The stuff looks great. The Amish sawyer did a fantastic job, and the material came out of the planer super clean, and super beautiful. We are finally installing it, and it’s a dream come true. These may be flowery words, but I’m just darn excited to finally see things coming together on the exterior of our porch.

We’ve got black walnut trim to accompany the siding, and the contrast looks rather nice, I’d say. I’ll put up more photos once our walls are done, and the scaffolding isn’t in the way of taking a good photo of the wood! More later…