Making wood chips... er, timber framing beings!
Today was a historic day in the “Strawtron” building timeline — we began timber framing and building our house platform. Yahoo! A few nights ago, we got our delivery of massive sill beams and floor joists, including some honking 8×12 white oak beams at 16 feet long each — requiring no less than ten people to carry them 30 feet into our newly erected “wedding tent”, the temporary shade/weather structure we constructed for our Timber Frame Workshop.
A beautiful rocket stove and mass heater
Although my rocket stove in Gobcobatron was an unsuccessful design (I tore it out and replaced it with a small wood stove instead), our friend Mark at Red Earth Farms built a successful and beautiful rocket stove mass heater that is hugged by a cob spiral staircase in his awesome straw bale house. I love this image!
Reserve your spot today in the 2012 Timber Framing Workshop!
Wow, it’s hard to believe only 30 days remain until the Timber Frame Workshop begins. From June 10-25, we’ll be hosting our first workshop dedicated to traditional timber framing, led by Tom Cundiff, a talented builder with 15 years of experience.
It’s going to be a great chance to learn how to build a home — without nails, screws, and lackluster dimensional lumber, but instead with beauitful, durable posts and beams that will last for generations. A timber frame house is the kind of home that can stay in your family for literally hundreds of years!
Anyway, we’ll be teaching participants the skills necessary to build their own timber frames, using hand tools and traditional techniques, of course. Not only that, students will get a valuable look into life at a functional ecovillage powered by renewable energy, complete with a range of various natural buildings.
It’s going to be a very fun time, and I hope you’ll consider joining us, because there are still a few spaces available. Apply today for the Timber Frame Workshop to get a guaranteed chance to be a part of our comprehensive building course!
And did I mention you’ll get fed delicious home-cooked, organic meals while you’re here? Mm, mm.
I have zero doubts that the average American house is way, way too big and consumes far too much energy (in its construction, and especially through its use), and produces far too much waste. This is a huge problem.
Thankfully, there is now a shift towards a tiny house movement, with some forward-thinking folks designing, building, and residing in ever smaller homes, in opposition to the “bigger is better” mentality that has plagued modern American homes. But when is small just too small to be practical? How realistic are tiny homes for a non-consumer lifestyle?
Leave it to Japan. Seriously. I recently stumbled upon this video, which demonstrates the mechanized timber frame building technology that is being employed in Japan to build homes quickly, with little human labor involved.
Japan has one of the richest timber framing traditions, with centuries of experience and a host of complicated styles and techniques that have developed over that time — take a look at The Complete Japanese Joinery book for some intense examples of the work of traditional carpenters.
Well, some of that same timber joinery is now being completely created through the use of highly precise machines. As this video explains, a single factory with less than half a dozen human employees makes all of the timber for 800-1000 homes in a single year using this “precut” method. Gulp.
Building an 8x12 tool shed
It’s funny that I never built with dimensional lumber before building my cob house. This is a new world to me, and while I scoffed at building with sticks before, it was based more on ‘philosophy’ than first-hand experience. Well, now that I have gotten my feet wet with some more dimensional lumber construction, I can at least scoff at it with some more actual experience.
Although, I have to admit, it is nice to build something really quickly, and with little thought involved. But I think that’s part of the problem, never mind the absolute lack of aesthetic value, chintzy materials, the overall lack of inherent strength…
Well, moving on, here’s a little update about where the 8×12 tool shed is going.
A double beveled broad axe from John Neeman Tools
I got excited as a schoolchild the other day when I saw a distinctly shaped package arrive in the mail — my broad axe from John Neeman Tools finally arrived. This hand forged broad axe is truly a piece of artwork.
Demonstrating a scarf joint in a Timber Framing course
Wow, it’s almost May already. Time flies when it’s a beautiful spring! May 1 is also our Early Registration deadline for the 2012 Timber Frame Workshop — there are 3 short days left to apply and save 10% off the cost of the Timber Framing course.
Get your application in now to be a part of this unique course. Learn all about traditional timber frame construction with hand tools in a thriving ecovillage community this June. It’s a great chance for aspiring builders, current carpenters wanting to expand their skills, or for budding homesteaders to learn how to build a home that will last generations.
Thanks for reading!
StoveTec rocket stove next to our DIY cooking rig
I’ve been cooking on a rocket stove on a daily basis (except for winter) for the past three years now, and I recently broke down and splurged for a prefabricated cook stove — the StoveTec model rocket stove. Previously, my food co-op and I had been using a DIY rig that Thomas built, but my patience with it has been waning lately. It’s big, so it can’t be moved (a problem when the wind comes from the west, especially), and wood slipping out of the firebox is a more than frequent issue.
The StoveTec rocket stove solves those problems, and is actually way more efficient, resulting in even less firewood used for cooking. I gotta admit, I really like this factory-made stove. Read ahead for my review.
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Our simple 8×12 tool shed
Before we go about proceeding with the construction of the new timber frame & straw bale house, I’m planning on building a small 8×12 tool shed. The current one ain’t cutting it. It’s way too cramped and, quite frankly, it’s not a good design. A cozy shed with enough space to actually walk in and out of is much needed, as is additional storage space for tools, building supplies, and small woodworking projects. Hence the new plans for a small shed. This will actually be the first time I use pre-made building plans to construct something, which I am actually looking forward to.
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This blog is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. Since 2012, we’ve been hosting Natural Building Workshops so you can learn essential skills to build your own natural home.
