Skip to main content
Category

Timber Framing

May 31
Love0

Instructor Chris Newman Joining 2012 Timber Frame Workshop

By Natural Building Workshops, Timber Framing, Strawtron

sillbeam-angletenonWe are pleased to have Chris Newman joining the 2012 Timber Frame Workshop team as an assistant instructor to Tom Cundiff. Hailing from Michigan, Chris has 10 years of timber framing experience, making for 30 years of timber framing experience between both Chris and Tom. Wow! Chris is a Timber Framers Guild member and has helped teach several workshops.

Things are shaping up very well, and the two week Timber Frame Workshop promises to be a very comprehensive, packed, and well-rounded event. I can’t wait to meet and work with everyone who is making it out! The excitement is definitely brewing, as we are 10 short days away from the start of the course.

For any latecomers out there, we can still squeeze a couple of participants into the class. If you have any interest whatsoever, please contact me immediately, or send in an application. It’s not too late!

Expect regular updates during the Timber Frame Workshop here on The Year of Mud to catch a glimpse of what we are up to, and how work is proceeding. Oh yea.

 

May 27
Love0

Timber Framing Moment of Zen: Scarf Joint

By Timber Framing, Strawtron

sillbeam-scarf

When two timbers join to become one unit, they are mated with a so-called “scarf joint”. Scarf joints come in many different styles, some more elaborate than others. This sill beam scarf joint is a rather simple one, as far as layout and cutting, goes and it is wisely located directly above a support pier.

This photo was taken before pegs were driven into each tenon, but if you look carefully you can see on the upper half of the scarf where the peg hole is marked.

Scarf joints were developed when taller trees became scarce and long spans had to be created with shorter pieces of timber. I think that timber framing is beautiful for its ingenuity and effective use of materials.

May 23
Love0

Replacing Concrete with Wood: Pier and Beam Foundation

By Strawtron, Hand Tools, Timber Framing
Timber frame pier and beam foundation

Standing at the future floor height... we are way up there!

Many people are shocked at the giant size of the sill beam timbers we are using (myself included), as they are very burly 8×12 white oak beams. They are no joke. Lately I’ve been thinking about a concise way to describe our foundation design, and I’ve decided to make clear sense of it by explaining that we are replacing concrete with wood. These are serious pieces of wood, and they ought to be as they are supporting a heavy straw bale house with a living roof.

Anyway, we’ve had a lot of excitement the past week wrangling with the 8×12 beams, and setting the first three onto our concrete pier foundation.

Read More

May 17
Love0

Timber Framing Begins: Building the Strawtron House Platform

By Timber Framing, Strawtron, Workshops, Natural Building Workshops
Timber framing

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.

Read More

May 09
Love0

Only 30 Days Until Timber Frame Workshop!

By Timber Framing, Workshops, Natural Building Workshops
Timber Frame Workshop

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.

Build a House… Without Nails

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.

Guarantee Your Timber Framing Workshop Participation

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.

May 04
Love0

Precut: Mechanized Timber Frame Construction in Japan

By Video, Timber Framing

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.

Read More

Apr 27
Love0

3 Days Remaining to Save 10% Off Timber Frame Workshop

By Timber Framing, Workshops, Natural Building Workshops
Timber Frame Workshop

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!

Mar 26
Love0

Flea Market Tool Finds: Froe

By Timber Framing, Strawtron, Hand Tools
Woodworking tools: froe and maul

An old froe and mallet

Every month, I make my pilgrimage (er, it’s really just a short trip, I guess) to the local flea market, the so-called Dog and Gun. Usually I go in search of old hand tools, especially woodworking tools. The latest find was this very old froe.

A froe is a tool used for cleaving wood — very often they are associated with splitting shakes, but they can be used to pare down wood for making handles, or whatever other reason you would have to cleave wood. They are used by striking a wooden mallet on the top of the blade (seen at right in this image). They are not sharp — they are basically a glorified wedge on a stick.

They are extremely useful, however. Recently, I spent a lot of time starting to split out blanks for wood pegs for the future timber frame. The handle is shot, so I need to make a new one, but for $20, it was a nice deal. This one’s quite old, too. I like when you can tell that an old woodworking tool has a lot of history.

(New froes are at least $50 or more, by the way.)

Mar 15
Love0

Handmade, Hand Forged Axes: Amazing Blacksmithing Video by John Neeman

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing

John Neeman is a small outfit making stunning quality, hand forged woodworking and timber framing tools in Latvia. Their work is impressive on multiple fronts (including this gorgeous documentary). Very inspiring.

I will have more information about John Neeman tools up in the coming weeks, as they are planning to launch an online store in the near future. (I’ve got a broad axe coming from them, too.)

Yea for traditional skills and blacksmithing!

p.s. Today is the last day to save 20% off the 2012 Timber Framing course! We may even get to use that handmade John Neeman broad axe during the workshop…