Timber frame beam drying question.

[Matt sawsalot]

I have 5 years to retirement and I'm looking at starting to cut my timbers now as I find them for my future house that I'll build.  I have no experience timber framing but am a carpenter building furniture, sheds and built Adirondack houses with some large beam construction that we built with dovetails and such.  Soon I will be building a mill or buying one and building a kiln to dry my boards. 

I was going to do some research and find some plans so I know what size to cut the timers so they have time to dry, I know the rule in one year of drying for every inch of board but if I'm cutting beams 8X10" for example I better get started 5 years ago.  What method  of drying should I use, can I air dry them and build with somewhat green wood?  Was thinking about finding a school for timber framing or some place to get hands on building to learn the trade any suggestions?

-Matt

[Rooster]

Matt,

Welcome to the Timberframe section of the Forum.  And congrats on your future retirment plans.  You are the newest member of a growing movement...guys who are interested in building there first timber frame.  Some of your questions have been recently covered, but we all can benefit from revisiting these subjects so that others might have the chance to chime in with their own questions, or share their own experience.  If you went back within the last couple of thread pages, you might find a nugget or two that will inspire you, or inevitably cause you to have even more questions.  Here is a good one to start with:
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,56200.0.html

There is a lot of free information that has been collected in this section of the forum, so read on.   ;)

So where are you located?  That might be helpful when trying to find a annual class/workshop that you could attend.

And don't under-estimate the usefullness of some of the popular timberframing books.  They even help those who have some experience because you can always learn something new from someone else.

Good Luck,

Rooster

[Matt sawsalot]

Thanks for the links Rooster, I'll dig into it,  I have a shed to build this spring so I'll work on my skills with that project.

-Matt

[Brad_bb]

By the way Matt, if you like this board and plan to stick around, please consider to our group project/the forum owner's project by sending in a wood block 5.75X5.75X1.  "It can be any species, and your name, username and date or whatever applied however you wish, burnt painted, engraved, whatever but I would like to keep the species of wood identifiable."  And it gets sent to:
Jeff Brokaw
3210 Bischoff
Harrison Mi 48625

You can see pics of the project in this thread.  It's long now, but there are pics throughout.  Page 40-42 give some good pics.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,18953.0.html