Our 2014 Timber Frame Workshop recently came to a successful end. What fun, and what a great group of folks we had join us this year. Here’s a bit of our work. I hope to find a few minutes soon to write up about the great experience! Thanks to all the awesome participants!
White oak 8x8s for the upcoming timber frame pavilion
Last week, we got our timber delivery for the pavilion we’ll be building in our Timber Frame Workshop next week. It’s beautiful stuff! It’s all white oak, very clear wood, and sawn on a portable bandsaw. It smells really good since it’s so fresh. We will be working this material very green, as it was literally felled and sawn a mere day or two before its final delivery.
We have begun some prep work, doing some layout and cutting on a few pieces to ensure that we can make good headway in the four days of our course. Our goal is to demonstrate layout, cutting, assembly, and ideally raising, too (if the stars align, you know.) This past week and the few days ahead are busy busy busy. More news when I find time to write!
Do you ever get into cleaning frenzies, and spend hours scouring and scrubbing around the house, including those areas that often don’t get their fair share of loving? Well, that’s how I’ve been feeling lately, but it’s not our house that is getting the attention… it’s all of our tools. Recently, I’ve been spending a goodly amount of time sharpening, oiling, de-rusting, and tuning to get all of our gear ready for the upcoming Timber Frame Workshop in June. This year we’ll have some newcomers on the tool front to try out, including two antique boring machines we obtained last winter that haven’t seen action yet.
Our timber frame/straw bale home, under construction in 2012
I like straw bale building. I also really like timber framing. But even more than those two alone, I like them incorporated in one building design. There are numerous advantages to building a timber frame and using straw bales, and their benefits are enhanced by using the two in collaboration.
The pavilion in Nacogdoches, almost completely raised and shining in the morning sun
If you’ve been following my updates about the Timber Framers Guild workshop in Nacogdoches, Texas, you’ve seen images from all the other stages of the timber frame pavilion construction — layout, cutting, and assembly. Here are my favorite images from the trip: the finished frame in all of its glory! The raising was very successful; it was safe, seamless, and the rain held out just long enough for us to get all of the main pieces up in the air. Check out the results here. The compound roof is stunning.
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The Shofuso House in Fairmount Park, Philly, PA
I may never get to Japan, though I’ve dreamed about it on and off for many years now. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that there’s a little slice of Japan here in the states, right inside Philadelphia in Fairmount Park. The Shofuso house and gardens are an impressive little site, representative of 17th century Japanese architecture. The home is complete with authentic traditional carpentry and building techniques, and the garden features native Japanese plants. And it’s beautiful.
I thought about asking if they wouldn’t mind me shacking up there for a bit to be able to experience the house a bit more fully… Here are some photos of the house and garden.
April works on some of the last remaining joints before the timber frame assembly
I think I’ve realized that the excitement of timber framing can be represented by a curve. If the x axis on a bar graph represents time, and the y excitement, the line climbs and rises from left to right. The entire process is gradually more invigorating and interesting as you proceed on a project.
Jacob tests out the 16″ Makita circular saw on an end cut
Things are progressing smoothly for us here in Nacogdoches. We have fairly quickly moved on from layout to cutting the joinery for the Lake Naconiche timber frame pavilion. I personally haven’t spent much time around the more specialized timber framing power tools, and it’s been a sight to see…. and an experience to use them, too.
April gets her set of timber frame plans ready to go
We’ve made it to Texas. Shockingly big, sprawling, and stunningly green Texas. Yesterday, the Timber Framers Guild Lake Naconiche Workshop officially began, and we starting chipping away at the layout work for the 32×48 timber frame pavilion. It’s hard to believe in a little over a week, the building we’re looking at on paper should be up in the air. The magic of timber framing has just begun…
Towering timber frames and hot pizza pie… oh my! (Sorry, that was a weak attempt at poetry.) But hopefully it paints a colorful picture of our upcoming natural building courses this year in 2014. Our full schedule is up, and we’ve added a Timber Frame Workshop and Cob Oven Workshop to our offerings. Both of these classes are in our new and beautiful location of Berea, Kentucky. Specifically, these two workshops are being hosted at the Clear Creek Festival grounds, home to an incredible arts & music festival and a developing off-grid homestead.
Perhaps you’ll join us this summer in raising an old school timber frame pavilion? Or building an outdoor oven with cob?
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.
