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Sep 18
Love8

Planing Large Timbers with a 7″ Electric Planer

By Carpentry, Timber Framing

electric hand planer - triton 180mm planer - TPL180

If you’re thrifty and building a timber frame structure for yourself, you’re most likely going to buy green (or unseasoned) timbers from a local sawmill. If you’re lucky, you might acquire timbers from a bandsaw mill, which produces relatively clean cuts when compared to a circular sawmill. However, if you’re not partial to the rough sawn look and texture, you have a few options to smooth and finish the timbers. Perhaps the most economical option is to plane the timbers yourself, but how?

6×6, 8×8 and larger sized timbers can be intimidating to consider planing. There’s always a hand plane, but that is challenging work for more than a few pieces or tough wood like oak. I was faced with this dilemma and opted for the electric hand planer route, picking up a Triton TPL180. The TPL180 is a 7″ wide electric hand planer designed for large dimension lumber. Here are my impressions of the tool.

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Aug 07
Love5
japanese timber log saw

2 Useful Timber Framing Saws

By Carpentry, Timber Framing, Hand Tools

z saw 333

If you’re building a timber frame with hand tools, it’s helpful to have a few types of hand saws in your arsenal. There are many many types of saws that you could use, and at the end of the day it boils down to personal preference. Me? I like to try new tools from time to time, and these are two that I find very effective in the cutting process — a Japanese anahiki saw (or timber saw), and a Japanese ryoba saw (or two sided saw).

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Jul 27
Love4

An Exercise in Visualization

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing

dealing with irregular timbers

We just wrapped up our 7 day Timber Frame Workshop and I’m finally catching my breath. Whew. Timber framing has a steep learning curve so it’s not the kind of thing you can easily jump into, willy-nilly. It takes some warming up and getting used to lots of new terms, tools, methodologies, etc.

Timber framing is, first and foremost, an exercise in visualization. Looking at plans and applying layout to a timber, imagining a timber oriented in the building — these are all skills that take some time to hone. It’s a totally different way to approach building the bones of a house because everything is laid out and cut in advance of the pieces being assembled. So it’s immensely helpful to be able to see things in your mind, before they exist in front of you. Essential, even.

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Jun 27
Love7
timber-frame---green-white-oak-timbers

10,000 Pounds of Oak

By Timber Framing, Natural Building Workshops

timber-frame---green-white-oak-timbers

White oak is impressively heavy. Green white oak timbers are that much heavier. Today we got our order of white oak, pine, and sassafras, in-between massive bouts of rain. There was flash flooding for most of the day except for a tiny window in which we were able to get 10,000+ pounds of timber on-site and loaded off the trailer. I’m thrilled this day is behind me now. Jeez. Onto the next step! (All of the wood is not pictured here, by the way.)

p.s. The “wedding tent” is still going strong after all these years! Granted, we replaced the canopy once, but… this thing has been a lifesaver for shade and rain protection during our workshops. So goofy looking. Maybe a barn is in order next year?

p.p.s. Oh, how do I know it’s about 10,000 pounds of wood? This handy dandy lumber weight calculator, of course.

Jun 16
Love7
10x10 timber frame workshop preview

Sneak Peak: 10×10 Timber Frame Pavilion

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing


We’re just about one month out from the start of our July Timber Frame Workshop. Happily, the pieces are starting to fall into place. This year we’re collaborating with Brice of Timber Frame HQ on this very simple and beautiful pavilion design. Brice is doing the drawing work — we’ll have super tight plans that students will be referencing during the course. I’m excited to have these plans available. Clear drawings contribute to a better understanding of the entire layout process.

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May 08
Love3

Finished Home with Earthen Floor and Clay Plaster

By Earthen Floor, Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Clay Plaster
clay plaster faswall block home

A white clay plaster finish meets the earthen floor made with site soil

This winter, I had the chance to revisit a home that I worked on last spring. The homeowners have moved in and it was very sweet to see the house in a finished state. It’s a great feeling to contribute work and then see everything tied together in the end. The finished look is great — the earthen floor looks smooth and feels soft on the feet and the clay plastered walls add brightness and texture. Look ahead to see more pictures.

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Apr 11
Love13
benito: polished clay plaster

Polished Clay Plaster How-To Video

By Video, Clay Plaster, Resources

Did you know that you can polish clay plaster so that it has a reflective mirror finish? It looks spectacular, and Benito Steen (son of Athena and Bill Steen, straw bale experts of the southwest) has a new video describing his process for achieving the effect. Benito has done a great job describing the process in clear, simple term. The video is beautiful to watch, too.

Check it out above and learn for yourself how to make a polished clay plaster finish with very simple ingredients. Hope to see more videos like this soon!

Mar 17
Love0

Winter Woodworking: Pottery Shelves

By Woodworking

Our collection of handmade pottery suddenly expanded overnight last year, and cabinet space was tight. Enter these pottery shelves, which I built over the course of a few cold nights in the workshop. We didn’t want to hide the bowls in cabinets so these are pretty simple open shelves to display them. Plus it’s easy to grab one off the shelf, though I sometimes spend an extra couple seconds deciding which one will be juuust right…

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Mar 03
Love5
Clay Plaster Benefits

The Unique & Beneficial Properties of Clay Plaster

By Cob Building, Clay Plaster, Straw Bale Building, Light Clay Straw
Clay Plaster Benefits

Clay plaster base coat application in process

Clay soil is one of the most ancient, rudimentary, yet effective building materials on the planet. Besides being naturally abundant across much of the earth, clay has unique properties that make it not only suitable but very desirable as a natural building material. Clay is used for the production of fired brick, sun-baked adobes, cob, and natural plaster finishes.

In this very basic introduction to clay soil, I will highlight some of the unique water-loving features and other useful attributes of clay when it’s used as a natural building material, particularly as a plaster finish.

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