tf furniture

[Alexis]

hello all,

I would like to practice what i learned in a tf workshop a bit and wonder if someone had some plan for timber frame furniture? It would cost less material than a practice shed and could be a great start...

thanks

Alexis

[Brad_bb]

Please don't take me as being rude, but isn't it better if you think of something yourself?  Something of your own creation? How about a timber framed bed?  I'd use pine if I were you so it's not too heavy.  Most of the work in something like this is in the finishing.  You'll likely spend more time sanding and applying finish than cutting, but it would be fun.  On the other hand, this may not be true depending on how fancy you get and how much embellishment you add.
After my first TF course, I build a set of white oak bunkbeds using hand cut mortise and tenon joints, utilizing the same skills and theory as the TF we build in the workshop.  The finish took as long as the building of it.  The weight wasn't too bad as the frame members were only 2X3.

[bigshow]

I hear ya.  I actually built a trestle table which incorporates quite a few TF joints.  I did multiple mortis and tenon both hand chopped and with bench top mortiser.  I didnt build an extremely large piece made out of 'timbers', I was focusing on accuracy and wanted to make a piece of 'fine furniture'...

Cant see much from this pic...but i have a through mortis and tenon on the rail with wedges.  Pretty cool stuff.  I have better pics of it on my blog, which the link is in my profile and signature.

[metalspinner]

Bigshow,
Lots of Craftsman style furniture has exposed and "knock-down" joinery that resembles TF... much like your fine table.

The scale of the tools and timbers in TF is the hurdle that I would need to get over. The logistics of handeling these pieces is a big part of the project.  And of course dealing with the irregularity of sawn timbers.  I've built a house full a furniture using traditional joints, but I'm not sure those skills totally tranfer to TF. ???

[ljmathias]

I also like the approach of using TF joints for funiture- much faster then in a building due to the size, which allows more use of wood working tools.  Just built some benches for my barn/shop (posted pics under "Wood for Workbench" in the General Woodworking forum) some of which are TF or have mortise and tenon joints or through tenons with wedges as described: lots of fun to make!  Amount of effort for finishing is the daunting part for any furniture you make. although for my barn, most is pretty rough.  I've sealed some with boiled linseed oil or tung oil, and that works great while also bringing out the grain contrast much better.

A sequence that is working for me: learn some at a workshop, apply it to rough sawn funiture(such as wood workbenches for your workshop, sitting benches, floor standing or wall mount shelves, picnic table, picnic benches- all are fun with TF approach).  And gradually move up in size to small buildings and homes.  Every joint I make, every piece of furniture is a learning experience- keep your eyes open and your wits about you, and not only do you learn a lot with each project but your creative side kicks in for some neat designs or implementations of existing ones.  I'm finally cutting up a bunch of Katrina down trees and have good wood as well as interesting wood- spalted, textured and just plain weird that allows me to experiment with a variety of types of wood and surfaces they allow.


Good luck, keep safe and learn.

Lj

[Raider Bill]

Bigshow,
  I've built a house full a furniture using traditional joints, but I'm not sure those skills totally tranfer to TF. ???

I've seen Metalspinners work. He is a craftsman for sure!

[FrankLad]

Alexis,

I assume you are looking for info specifically on processed/square timbers, but I'll start out with my simple approach to log furniture.

The way I started was to check out some pictures of log beds (Google image search) and even picked up a book on the subject.  Then realized I perhaps didn't need the book, as there wasn't really anything profound in it.  You can glean enough from the pictures to figure out how it goes together.  The main thing is to know the dimensions.  I just measured the size of the mattress for the bed I wanted to build, then made a "template" on the ground (checking corners for square), and built the bed "around it".  Placing posts here, and putting a rail there, making marks for where to cut, etc.  I wouldn't call it "scribing", as that is lots more precise - this was just "eyeballing".  That's with live-edge pine timbers, and I'd say that is more forgiving, because the pieces are often naturally non-straight to begin with, and lend themselves well to that sort of approach.

However, I'd use a similar process for handling processed/sawn timbers as well.  I'd do a layout, and place the members approximately where I think they should go.  Except I would be a bit more precise on the measurements, because imperfections would show up easier in straight pieces. (ie. if the top rail is 60" inside-to-inside, then the bottom one should be too.  With live-edge, I've often seen top rails or cross-pieces be longer, causing the posts to push out at the top... and it can look nice.  But again, that's live-edge.)