Introduction to Timber Framing and the people who do it!

Jayson · July 11, 2010, 11:54:03 AM

Hello Everybody,
I think I finally have my stuff together. Ok, that's debatable. I have in fact set some dates though. Sept 12th thru the 18th. It will take place in Brasstown,NC. I am pretty sure I have the materials for a smallish building (10'x20') and a medium sized building (16'x20). So if we have a small or large turnout we should have plenty of class materials. Tools maybe a bit of limiting factor. Although I believe the dozen or so professional timber framers maybe be able to help out. There should be someone from most aspects of the industry represented here. (architects, designers, itinerant framers, shop guys, sawmill guys, couple loggers, production shop owners). It would be great to find timber grader to talk about what they do. If you are looking to do a project this will be a great place to find out what it takes to build a traditional frame. Also if you are looking to hire someone to help you with or do you project, there will be lots of choices here and you can pick their brain and shake their hand. This will not be a sales event just a very relaxed educational event. The most important thing is that participants learn about the craft.
I believe that "A timberframe touches the spirit of each who walk beneath it's canopy or lay their hands upon it and that each who does so feels the goodness of those before them."
If you are interest in coming just contact me. There is camping available but it will be limited. If you have questions post them here. Also I will be doing a lot of materials handling and possibly some layout prior to the 12th. If the week before works out and you would like to help contact me about your availability.

Jayson Wilson
Just Wood Timber Frames
jwtimberframer@aol.com
770-294-1703

addicted · July 11, 2010, 04:59:52 PM

Hi Jayson
What's the price for attending?
Rusty

Jayson · July 12, 2010, 01:32:17 PM

It's free. Although the amenities may be slim. If folks want to pitch in and have meals together that would be wonderful. There is no strict schedule but there should be lots to do. There will be a lot of layout and cutting prior to the workshop to avoid a rush to finish. I have a friend that will set a gin-pole or poles(derrick maybe?) and raise by hand. There should be quite a few professionals throughout the week. A green building designer has voiced a desire to do a presentation and I am pursuing other speakers or demonstrators. We also have a guy that will demonstrate some Sketch-up stuff. Things are developing as we speak and I will try to keep everyone updated as things come to light. We will rive pegs and try to have some hand tools to play around with. I have been framing for about 10 years (mostly in production shops) and am just trying to exhibit a craft that has done alot for me. Educating potential homeowners and making the education available to prospective framers is key.

icolquhoun · July 12, 2010, 05:39:43 PM

Jayson,
I am very interested and about 90% sure I'd be able to come. I will know closer to the date, but I'll put in to get off tomorrow and see how it goes. (the plus is I am a college professor in mechanical engineering if you need anything pertaining to that or modeling/CAD, etc let me know, the minus is that's my second week of classes :(
I'd be willing to bring my own tools.
-Ian

ljmathias · July 14, 2010, 07:22:40 PM

You can put me down as 90% sure for attending- got some consulting under way but shouldn't conflict. Also, I have several tools I might be able to bring, depending on whether I drive or fly...

What a great idea! I'm thinking about imitating your program for the folks deeper south then you.

Lj

John S · July 15, 2010, 08:37:40 AM

I am also interested in attending, to learn and hopefully start building a workshop next spring.
John

Jayson · July 19, 2010, 09:01:21 AM

Thanks for the response. I am hoping this is a good idea. We will have to wait and see. A donation of some of the wood for the larger building fell through last week so I am cruising some buddies boneyards this week and if that doesn't produce I'll probably chainsaw a couple.
Ok, you 90% sure folks, send me an email or give me a buzz and firm up when you are sure. Also those of you that have confirmed already make sure I have a phone number or email so I can send you directions and such.
Thanks again,
Jayson

bushhog920 · August 01, 2010, 11:30:23 PM

I am planning to attend and very new to this. you said to bring tools i do not have any tf tools yet but planning to buy some soon and this looks like a good time to get some. what would you suggest to bring?

Jayson · August 03, 2010, 11:58:57 AM

I would start with a tape measure, razor knife, chisel (I work with an 1 1/2" almost exclusively), mallet and a square. A combo square is also handy and a little pricey. I have a couple of those to loan out. Carpenters pencils often become scarce when you need one. Or the pencil of your choice. Some guys like #2 pencils. Some guys prefer mechanical pencils, I personally like the Red & Black carpenters pencils of medium or hard lead hardness. There is a list of TFing tools in this section, check it out. You mentioned you are new so I would suggest minimizing spending a lot of dough until you are sure you are into it. The workshop should be a good place to determine that. The layout method you prefer will also determine your tool needs. I am hoping to explore several methods. I prefer the square rule method and have learned that efficiency requires a little knowledge of all the methods.

Jayson

Jayson · August 10, 2010, 12:43:38 PM

I will be posting a schedule the end of this week. I am looking for a forester that would like to talk about small (10 acres or less) woodlot management. I have been asking presenters for around an hour of speaking and a list of pertinent resources.
I have decided that the smallish (10x20) building is going to the one that best lends itself to education. It will have some challenging joinery and has lots of finishing options. We will design it as group (those of you that have shown interest will recieve a timber schedule soon), cut it as a group and raise it as a community by hand. I believe it will allow us to explore more options and alternatives. Most of the wood is reclaimed and consists of varied species. It is all dry and more than likely a little "brashy". So we will learn about not getting greedy with our chisels.
Another thing I will be doing this week is sending out invite or evites more likely. Please send me a message or email by Friday (13th) if you are interested and have not done so. I will be asking for RSVP's by the 21st. If you will not know your schedule until the eleventh hour, no worries there is plenty of camping space left.

Talk to you soon

Jayson · August 17, 2010, 11:18:01 AM

Ok, I am running behind but things they are a happening! September the 12th will be meet and greet. If everyone was here by 3pm, we could have dinner together. My friend Richard McCrea (organizer of the Mountain Home Show and a green building designer) will speak for us at dinner or lunch on Monday. Another friend of mine, Kevin, will demonstrate Sketch-up on Monday morning. Hopefully we can put some prints together for the building we collectively design. A great framer I had the pleasure to work with last year, plans to bring a new tool to toy with His name is Jeremy and he said he hopes we can all learn how his electronic protractor can help when laying out compound joinery. He hasn't had much opportunity to work with it and thinks a group of brains may expedite the learning curve. We may even read the instructions. We will also have someone demonstrating rammed earth infill towards the end of the week. I have yet to speak to three groups that I had hoped to, a forester, someone who has done strawbale and or a cordwood person. Saturday we will raise our building with the aide of my arborist friend Mark, and a gin pole. Mark has been an arborist for a couple of decades, maybe more. He is a wealth of knowledge and will undoubtedly teach us a knot or two. Not a lot just a knot.

Thanks,
Jayson

Jayson · August 30, 2010, 06:29:07 PM

It's getting close and I am flying by the seat of my britches, and this thing is going to happen. I have a few volunteers next week and we will be setting up the site. We have around a dozen participants. As of now we are running short on tools, so those of you who are coming should bring the timber framing tools you have. Chisels, mallets and comealongs are looking scarce. If anyone would like to purchase anything from Highland Hardware, let me know. I will be in Atlanta on Saturday and could save you some shipping. Does anyone want to bring a sawmill? If so call me ASAP so we can work out the details. Rumor has it that a big white pine fell down the road and I think it may be suitable as a gin pole. Does anyone want to bring a mule? The four legged kind...The kind that pretends to enjoy pulling things. Push button and broke to death is a must for this event, because of all the people. If you are in my area and would like help working your mule or mules another time, I would like to talk to you too. A cant hook may come in handy too. We may look a little DOT (1 working and 7 thinking about it) and will learn alot.
I will be emailing and posting directions soon. But right now the library is shooing me out the door. I have no internet here so if you need to reach me, call me at 770-294-1703. Please leave a message.

Jayson · September 06, 2010, 11:20:10 PM

Time is running short and we are looking pretty good. I just got a hold of these beautiful white pines from a neighbor. The are 45' long with 22" butts. There are 3 of them on the ground and I will be milling them the end of this week. We will be a little less organic than I had hoped to be and that is ok. We have a wonderful site to work on and the weather should be nice. I have yet to have the heart to buck these fine logs up. Don't worry I will let it fly tomorrow. I hope the sawyer will hang out to demonstrate his mill on Sunday but I do not know if I can talk him into it.
The best directions I can give is come to Brasstown North Carolina and follow the signs. If you need more details call me.770-294-1703. I will be in the woods part of the time so leave a message and a number. Just want to remind everyone this is free.

Jayson · September 08, 2010, 06:21:44 PM

P1030649

Jayson · September 28, 2010, 12:23:16 AM

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to share some pics of the Intro to Timber Framing workshop this past week. Everyone worked hard, learned bunches and had a great time. Many thanks to everyone who attended, and who came out to lend a hand. You were instrumental in the success of this workshop. We couldn't have done it without you. Not all the photos uploaded to the album, so to view the whole album, check out my facebook page at jwtimberframer, or Jayson Wilson. You don't have to be a member to see them.

To recap: The original plan for a 10'x12' was scrapped after a location snafu. Joe Baumgartner and his wife Inty, who had been planning the construction of a 20'x30' gambrel roof barn, graciously hosted our workshop on SHORT notice. The change of locale and increase in project size required us to obtain permits, engineered blueprints and inspections. As you could imagine, a week just wasn't enough. A second workshop is in the works for the very near future. I am currently in Sacramento for 10 days then IL for a couple weeks. It's all up in the air and I'll let you know as soon as I do!

Jayson

Jayson · October 18, 2010, 09:05:44 PM

Most of you are already aware of the Intro to Timber Framing Workshop I facilitated back in Sept. It was a huge success. We had seasoned timber framers from all over the region come out and share their experience and expertise with us. It was much better than we could have hoped, so we are finishing the building with a second workshop. It will take place Oct 22-31, 2010 on Greasy Creek Rd in Brasstown, NC. Just like before, it's a free workshop open to anyone who is interested. You can participate or just come check it out. You are invited to stay the week or a day or anytime in between. Camping is available. Here are some of the details:

There will be a meet and greet at the site Friday afternoon, around 3pm. We are inviting friends and neighbors as well so it would be great if everyone could be here for this, its a great way to get to know one another or catch up if we haven't seen you in a while. We will be smoking a Butt and some chicken, this time however, due to lack of funds (plus we are moving) we are asking that people bring a dish to pass on Friday, what ever food you need to sustain yourself for the week, and your own plates and silverware (there will be running water to wash them).Sat. morning will be orientation and we will get to work doing some basic layout and line scoring. There will be time to do a grocery run if need be, and sight see Sat. afternoon (we have a wedding to go to). We can meet up again Sat evening for dinner then its on like Donkey Kong starting Sunday morning at 8am.

We plan to start work daily at 8am, (Kathleen may cook breakfast some of the days) break for lunch for approx 1hr, and will finish each day,

, at a good stopping point. Last workshop we missed out on some of the community events that happen regularly so we've made time in the schedule to take these in (all work and no play is no fun!). Tuesday we will break around 4pm so everyone has time to clean up and eat before heading over to the Folk School for a contra dance at 7. It only lasts about an hour so this is the perfect opportunity to try something new. Trust us, it'll leave you smiling! There is also a community covered dish on Thursday that we would like to attend. Kathleen may cook up a large pot of soup for us to take and or you would be welcome to bring a dish of your own. We're not sure how that will work out, although as with everything we do, we are open to suggestions! If all goes well and according to plans, (we think that's funny too) we'll have a barn raising on Sat. afternoon. Sunday is cleanup day. Although we will make it a priority to clean up as we go along, this is the day to finish up any last minute work and clean up the sight. We plan to finish up around noon as many of you will be traveling long distances and need to be on the road and home before dark.

I will be arriving home on the 17th and will begin preparation for the workshop on Monday the 18th. Anyone interested in showing up early to help out will be given special preference during the workshop...JUST KIDDING! Seriously though, you are welcome to come early. You can expect to work hard and your help would be greatly appreciated. Although we asked that bring your own food, we would be open to discuss the possibility of someone volunteering to cook/manage the kitchen if we could all pitch in for food/bring food to share. A friend or someone NOT interested in learning timber framing skills would be best. Let us know what you think.

For questions/concerns, or if you're coming early or would like to volunteer, I can be reached at 770-294-1703. Or Kathleen at 970-393-0199. We hope to see you in Brasstown on the 22nd.

Thanks,

Jayson
and
Kathleen

Jayson · November 08, 2010, 09:07:46 PM

I think I actually figured out how to load a picture. These are the lower plates in the barn we've been working on. The one on the right still has rafter notches. We decided to hew these off after looking at them for a day. We thought they would be difficult to insulate. The one on the left is near it finished state. The round will be inside the building.