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Brace stock

Started by addicted, August 16, 2015, 11:28:46 AM

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addicted

I am about half way done making braces for a barn when I noticed a problem in the brace stock.
Or maybe it's how I'm laying out the brace on the stock. When I started laying out braces I noticed that most of my stock was shy of 4" thick for a 2" offset and 2" mortise. I decided that as long as it had a 2" thick tenon on the brace I would be ok with being a little shy of flush on the reference face. Which means I have to measure the thickness of the tenon from the opposite side of the reference face. Now that I'm half way done with the braces, I noticed that if the stock is less than square, my tenon is not square to the reference face.
Should I be running a chalk line on these somewhat twisted pieces or is there a more efficient way of correcting these irregularities.
Thanks for your help
Rusty

Jim_Rogers

Wow, you've got a situation there for sure.

Next time, or maybe now, you need to always cut your brace stock 1/8" in thickness over size.
So a 4x6 brace should actually be 4 1/8" thick and 6" wide.
For a 3x5 it would be 3 1/8" thick.

The reason why I do this is just because of what you're running into. Thin brace stock and thin tenons because of shrinkage.

When we cut tenons on brace stock we cut the cheek side so that it is exactly what the offset should be. This ensures that the brace will be flush with the side of the timber that holds the mortise. And that the mortise can be laid out and cut to the correct location and size. Either 2" off set and 2" thick/wide or 1 1/2" x 1 1/2".

see picture below for names of brace tenons parts.



 

After we have cut the brace tenon cheek and it is truly the correct offset and the tenon is parallel with the side of the brace, we then make the tenon the correct thickness.

If the brace stock was milled oversize then there is going to be enough wood left to make the tenon the right thickness. We size the tenon by checking the thickness with a caliper. When it is too thick the caliper will not fit over the tenon. So, to size the tenon we shave the back side or the opposite reference side down with a hand plane until the caliper slides over.

To set the caliper to the correct thickness setting, we use the framing square:



 

And here it is checking the tenon thickness:



 

And when we want to check the mortise width we then use the framing square like this:



 

If your stock is twisted then you've added another condition that you have to deal with. This is not going to be the easiest stock to deal with.
Personally, I don't know if you should use the chalk line or not.
Maybe someone else can answer that for you.

If it were me, I'd consider making new straight and thicker brace stock.

Jim Rogers

PS:



 
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

canopy

The way I deal with out of square timbers, and even square timbers for consistency, is snap line square rule. There have been threads about it in the past here.

For braces there are a few short cuts for snap line square rule. First, some people snap chalk lines at the center of the timber faces, but for braces I would recommend snapping them at what Jim shows as the "measure point" on the sides of the brace. And snap at the tenon end on the top and bottom of the brace. That will make layout easier and more accurate.  Also since braces are short I would recommend a straight edge / bubble level that is longer than your braces to make pencil lines instead of using chalk lines--this will be faster and more accurate. With proper techniques (not easy) snap line square rule produces perfectly fitting joints no matter how twisted or out of square your timbers are.

Roger Nair

My method for dealing with braces is square rule with visible gains cut  on the non-reference sides.

For example 4 x 6 brace stock, rough size, mortises 2" from reference side, 2" mortise and housing cut at 5 1/2", yielding a nominally centered brace in 8" timber.  So I proceed by first cutting blanks a few inches longer than necessary.  Plane one side flat. Next plane one edge square.  The planed surfaces are reference,  the remaining  unplaned surfaces remain so until the cutting process is over.  Using reference faces solely for gauging, square registration and measurement, layout, cut and carve the gains.  Use templated measurements and gauges for quick uniform layout.  After cutting is complete, plane the non-reference sides following the surface without regard of square and parallel to reference.  Ease edges.  So the final product is from reference is 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" at the joint and somewhat less than 4 x 6 othewise.

I personally like housed centered braces, no angular deviation is apparent once the frame seasons.
An optimist believes this is the best of all possible worlds, the pessimist fears that the optimist is correct.--James Branch Cabell

S.Hyland

I would ditto canopy's advice. I use center line rule for my layout, and it gives you perfect fit no matter what. That being said, for something like braces, it may be easier to get new stock sawn if it is badly twisted. You may have more time fussing than it is worth. Good luck with it!
"It may be that when we no longer know which way to go that we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings."
― Wendell Berry

routestep

Twisted stock is more work, but sometimes I have to work with what I have.

I'll snap four chalk lines after I've measured out the locations of the lines. This will add twenty minutes to the work. Then, I'll have to either hold up the power saw as I make the cuts, or finish the cuts with a hand saw.

I can fully understand why a man would consider get new stock if its a brace.

Dave Shepard

I would also try and saw or buy replacement stock. We just got 20 4x6x14 pieces of white oak for the braces in the barn I'm working on. They were all split down the pith. We are going to send them back. Not going to pay $1.68 per board foot for pallet cants.  Brace stock is probably the most critical framing member regarding quality.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

addicted

Thanks guys. I left the brace stock to the last part, and so it was buried in the corner of the barn since it was delivered. I had it level and stickered and strapped for over a year and now realize that lots of them are less than ideal. I do have plenty of material to saw into better stock and will look into this soon. Could be a good excuse to buy a mill. Do you think the wife will go for an excuse like that?
Rusty

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