Timber framing
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cowboyvet
ArboristSite Operative
I would start with local codes depending on how big a structure your planning on building. My brother-in-law started to try a house this way and found a huge cost / time issue. Local building codes said all privately milled lumber used in the structural part of the house had to be approved by an enginer and a sample of each tree used had to be sent into a lab to be certified for structual use. I don't think the cost of checking each tree was so high as the time it would take to get the results and records requirements. Stupid part is if the timbers come from a lumber yard (deminsional lumber), they are considered OK and no certifications are needed.
betterbuilt
I build stuff from milled slabs
As I understand it here, If the lumber comes from your own property it doesn't have to be graded. Code and common sense still has to be followed. Every town here has different rules about rough cut lumber.
As for books I have a book called TIMBER FRAME CONSTRUCTION by Jack Sobon and Roger Schroeder and its an okay book. The pictures are good. Its a good place to start. I have seen other better books but the joints get pretty complicated. I find a simple joint does the job just as good as a complicated one.
That one of my first joints.
I also have the Sobon book, and am building the shed project shown in it. While the layout process for the joinery was at first confusing, I found that after a few beams it all began to make sense and I no longer had to refer to my notes and/or drawings. Here is a photo of the result:
sachsmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
Nice work,
I think there could be nothing more satisfying than building with the wood you hewned yourself.
I do hate the cookie cutter buildings they make now.
I lived in a turn of the century house before we move to the country.
That house had class, unlike the new house, cheap cheap cheap!
Guess you could not afford to build a house like the old one these days.
But a timber framed home would trump just about anything.
I think there could be nothing more satisfying than building with the wood you hewned yourself.
I do hate the cookie cutter buildings they make now.
I lived in a turn of the century house before we move to the country.
That house had class, unlike the new house, cheap cheap cheap!
Guess you could not afford to build a house like the old one these days.
But a timber framed home would trump just about anything.
I thought it was really cool that the completed frame had not a single metal fastener in it. My father-in-law says I was born in the wrong century... The whole shed project started off, at least partially, to answer the question, "What would it take for a man to go into the forest and build a home?" Now I know the answer: A whole lot of back-breaking work. And that is with the help of modern tools like chainsaws and bandsaw mill. I can't imagine what it would be like with just hand tools. Maybe when I was younger. But now (this is a weekends-only project) it takes my body all week to recover from the previous weekend.
gemniii
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If your young enough try the satisfaction of planting a tree, then milling it 30 years or so later, and building with it.
That's how I made this stack of wood which has finally dried. I'm now starting to turn into "projects".
from
Don't have any digital pics of when I planted it
sachsmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
pics of old and new
Thought I would post a few pics of the old vs. new home.
When I moved in the old one, it had Squirrels living in the walls, but was solid as a rock.
I can't find any good pics before I restored it, but have some after the renovation.
I did flip that old house at a good time and allowed me to get my dream place out in the country.
Here it is the summer after we bought it, with the pond going in.
My dream is to build a timber framed cottage for my Bride and self to cozy up by the woodstove and enjoy our retirement.
Thought I would post a few pics of the old vs. new home.
When I moved in the old one, it had Squirrels living in the walls, but was solid as a rock.
I can't find any good pics before I restored it, but have some after the renovation.
I did flip that old house at a good time and allowed me to get my dream place out in the country.
Here it is the summer after we bought it, with the pond going in.
My dream is to build a timber framed cottage for my Bride and self to cozy up by the woodstove and enjoy our retirement.
sachsmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
Here's a couple of the trees (10+ acre wooded), sadly that dern borer has wreaked havoc on the ash.
Looks like there was a good blow coming from them pics
I need a few books to get my plan together
Looks like there was a good blow coming from them pics
I need a few books to get my plan together
TraditionalTool
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yeah, it will give you an appreciation for the modern tools...no doubt...and to be fair, these were cants that came off a mill. The other style besides the adz is the broad axe, it looks quite different. I like this adz work better, although it is more difficult...it looks great, IMO.
These are for 2nd floor joists in a log home. They will be on the ceiling of my master bedroom and kitchen. Logs are flat sides with dovetails. Small house footprint, 28'x32'. These 2nd floor joists are 6"x10". I've only adz'd about half of what needs to be completed...I still have the roof rafters (6"x12"s), ridge beam (8"x16"), beam joists (12"x14") and porch timber. I've hewn some of the porch timber also, but not all of it.
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gemniii
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So let me get this straight - You got beams from the mill and your just chopping them up with an adz so they'll look hand hewn?
Why that's just distressing!
Winn R
Rambling Wreck
:wave::hmm3grin2orange:
sachsmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
WOW,
Rough sawn will be enough work for me.
That adz work sure is cool, but at my age just getting the framing and electical/pluming in will be a major accomplishment.
I plan on a somewhat maintenance free exterior, like concrete siding, steel roof, and will probably cover the exposed concrete walls with nice hand picked river rock.
It will have a small footprint, figured 1500-1600 square feet, but a huge porch.
It will also have a double deep basement with the upper basement level being somewhat daylight.
The plan is to put it in the SW corner of my woods, will be clearing all winter and when it gets hot and dry next Summer will dig a small pond and compact the spoil for good elevation for the homesite.
this will be my first (and no doubt last) attempt at building.
Rough sawn will be enough work for me.
That adz work sure is cool, but at my age just getting the framing and electical/pluming in will be a major accomplishment.
I plan on a somewhat maintenance free exterior, like concrete siding, steel roof, and will probably cover the exposed concrete walls with nice hand picked river rock.
It will have a small footprint, figured 1500-1600 square feet, but a huge porch.
It will also have a double deep basement with the upper basement level being somewhat daylight.
The plan is to put it in the SW corner of my woods, will be clearing all winter and when it gets hot and dry next Summer will dig a small pond and compact the spoil for good elevation for the homesite.
this will be my first (and no doubt last) attempt at building.
Hlakegollum
ArboristSite Operative
Ted Benson has detailed books on this. Good luck!
sachsmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
So Ted IS the guru?
By the way,
do you sell ice fishin' gear?
I bought some cool stuff from a guy many years back.
Me thinks he lived there.
mo
betterbuilt
I build stuff from milled slabs
I've read this book also. It was a good book. I was looking a Ted Bensons other books and they may be a little to complex for a beginner.
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