Red Pine for Rafters

[Rooster]

Has anyone else used green cut Red Pine for pole rafters?

Was there much shrinkage?

Rooster

[Jim_Rogers]

I've cut red pine for rafters but not pole rafters.

I'd have to go back to the frame and measure it to see if there was much shrinkage.

Jim Rogers

[jimdad07]

I am very interested in this as I was just offered a bunch of red pine logs that I would like to incorporate into my new shop. 

[shinnlinger]

Are these Norway pine???  Old time ers said it makes good flooring I used a few as purlins

[SwampDonkey]

red pine = Norway pine

Mom had a kitchen table made of red pine about 25 years ago. Still uses it in the new house. Never warped or nothing. This would have been forest grown and not plantation pine.

[Rooster]

I like to use Red Pine  (Norway Pine) for common rafters because of  their strength, and I just cut them to length to fit and not have to TF them...(I'm not a big fan of TFing with Red Pine, too fiberous.)  I had asked about shrinkage because a pontential customer had toured my current TF project and had asked about the pole rafters, which I cut green of the property, peeled them, had the top/roof side milled flat on Stumpy's mill and installed them within a week.  They were heavy, but they look nice up against the White Pine ship-lap roof decking. I was thinking that there would be some shrinkage, but not enoungh to cause any serious gaps at the top-plate or the ridge beam.

Thank you for your responses.

Rooster

[beenthere]

Rooster
You can expect normal shrinkage in the radial direction.
For red pine, radial shrinkage shows green to oven dry to be 3.8%. Given that green to equilibrium of around 12%, you might figure about 2% and be pretty close. Or a 10" diam rafter will change about 0.02"  (rough calculation)

[jander3]

Won't shrink much, it will be fine for rafters. 

[laffs]

tons of pitch in the knots, try not to put it to near heat like, wood stoves,chiminey pipes radiators etc.

[Rooster]

Hey Guys,

Here are a few pics of the Norway pine (Red pine) rafters installed on the new/old frame.  They were cut from the customer's property, flattened on the topside on Stumpy's mill, peeled by hand with a 3" wide slick, notched at the top for the ridge beam, and cut flat at the bottom to rest on the top-plate, and secured with 80d galv. ringshank polebarn nails.  They are 24"oc, 8:12 pitch, with the diameter of the bottoms being 7".

The gable end rafters were sawn on two adjacent sides so that the outside endwall surface would be flat to receive the siding.

Rooster



  

  

  

 

[Brad_bb]

That location looks familiar.  Wasn't there a house standing where there frame is now?  And didn't you redo the barn in the backround?  Looks like you repurposed an old barn frame?

[Rooster]

Yes Brad, you have toured this property.  I did restore the existing barn, re-built the parlor entry addition, and now I am finishing the new TF carriage house.  The farmhouse is still standing and you can see a corner of it in the first photo.  And yes, I did take an existing barn frame and re-framed it into a smaller building, utilizing only a handful of original mortice and tenon joints.  Next time you are up, I'll give you the $.50 tour.

Rooster

[dukndog]

Looks good Rooster!! Gonna have to make a trip up there in the summer when its 100+ down here in the south!!

DnD

[Brad_bb]

And I see the mare and colt saw horses in use there on the top floor.  Looks like you made a sort of vice on the mare using the holdfast holes.

[Rooster]

Good "eye" Brad!

But actually, it's a large mitre box jig that I built special to cut both ends consistantly on all of the pole rafters.  It's made out of a 19ft, 3x8 DF floor joist.


  

 

I would insert the rafter flat top side down on the 3x8, with the ends of the rafter sticking out the "boxed" parts of the jig.  I transfered the cut lines to the outside of the boxes on both sides, cut through with my circular saw which then scored a reference kerf on the outside face of the round rafter... then I would use a hand timber-saw to finish some of the cuts while the rafter was still in the jig, and other cuts were done with the rafter removed from the jig.  I used the flat top side of the rafter as my reference face.  I really put those Mares to work...with all that sawing, and the use of the hold-down clamps, the rafters didn't budge, and the Mares didn't wiggle or sway with the rythm of the hand saw.  In the Timber-horse world we call that "Dead Broke"...or "Bomb Proof". smiley_horserider

Rooster

[frwinks]

one of my drive sheds has round red pine rafters 2-3ft OC and low slope.  Every winter (apart from this one >:( ) it amazes me how much snow that roof can hold.
I'll definitely be using red pine on my future barn project. 
The frame looks great and I love the rafter jig ;)  something I have to learn to use more of if I want to build more TF's ;D