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Tenons in branching posts

Started by Prizl tha Chizl, September 07, 2022, 04:48:10 AM

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Prizl tha Chizl

 

  

 Ten years ago we built a little place in the woods to start a family in. We used all our own wood, salvage logging our little forest, and the design used eight branching posts

 

 

It was fun and challenging to do the joinery, and has felt so good to live in all these years. At the time, I daydreamed about doing this for a living, but I’m [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better] (turd) for a self promoter and my priorities were with my family, so I went back to the neverending stream of mostly remodeling and repair work that can be tapped into and out of as needed, trying to take interesting or creative jobs when I could, but mostly trying not to miss out on being a part of my children’s lives.

Fast forward ten years and I’m looking at some branching posts again, this time for a friend, and thought I’d post pictures of my process. This method works, but isn’t necessarily the best way to get there, I’d be happy to hear from other folks about their experiences with round timbers and M&T joinery, or ideas for how to make this go more smoothly.

I begin by leveling the post on my horses, trying to get the center of the base and top level, as well as both branches. It helps to have the post cut to within a few inches of its final length. Once it’s leveled I strap it to the horses so it won’t move from this position while I’m working on it, that level line is my main reference through this entire process. I then use a giant aluminum “T” square to mark the top center line, and the top and bottom cuts, as well as the tenon shoulders. It’s a little fussy to get the layout to wrap around the post, I have been running a combination square off the large square, then plumbing down with a torpedo level to mark down the sides of the round. If you can get a few dashes layed out it’s not too hard to connect the dots later on. While the big square is up there I also make a reference mark on both branches, noting the distance from the center line. I’ll use this later on to record the location of the tenons for when I do my joinery in the beam.

Once I’m done with my layout, I get the best plumb cut I can on the ends with a cordless chainsaw, then fine tune things with a power plane and torpedo level.



Once my ends are square and plumb, we’re back at something closer to familiar territory. I mark a level line on  both ends across the face, from the original level center line, and use this as my reference for laying out the tenons. Maybe this is called “center line rule.” Once the tenons are layed out on the face, I pull the lines around the sides with a torpedo level.



I cut the tenon sides with a 10” circular saw run across the face. I then switch to an 8 1/4” saw to cut the shoulders, eyeballing the base to keep it level and the blade on the line, (if I end up doing more of these I might try and epoxy a couple of bubbles to a saw dedicated to this job,) finish cutting the shoulders with both a push and a pull type handsaw, pop off the waste with a wood mallet and flatten things out with chisel or slick, using the level check them for “square.”



There’s the finished post. I’ve got one more to cut tomorrow so I’ll see if I can get a few photos that I see were missing from the step by step.
"The Woods Is My Church"

Don P

The trials of a carpenter's life, much of the work is more about lifting than uplifting   :).

Hard to beat a brace that grew in place, that is nice work!

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: Don P on September 07, 2022, 06:41:18 AM
Hard to beat a brace that grew in place, that is nice work!
X2
Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Prizl tha Chizl

 Thanks, it means a lot coming from you two.

Here's a few more shots to fill in the gaps 

I made this big square out of the track for a tonneau cover I'd scrapped years ago.


 

Plumbing down the side of the round



Marking reference lines offset from center


When the ends are square and plumb, I use my combination square set to the tenon length to bring the shoulder layout around the bottom half of the round where my level won't reach.



I also pull plumb and level lines across the post bottom. Hopefully I can use these to help me bore out the holes in the bottoms for the timberlinx anchors that are waiting for me in the foundation.



I think that about sums it up. Hopefully it's not too confusing coming in two different "posts"
😜
"The Woods Is My Church"

Don P

And in locust, that isn't going anywhere anytime soon  :D

jake pogg

Beautiful work,my hat's off to both the skill and stickwithitness it takes.

Good for you for doing that kind of stuff.
"You can teach a pig anything,it just takes time;but what's time to a pig?"
Mark Twain

trimguy

I find this very interesting. Great job.

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