Timber Framing

[brendonv]

I think it's White Oak.

I admit, the back of the mortise isn't pretty. Didn't scribe it before I used the auger. I used and old school T-Auger from the flea market, cut nice and fast actually.

So what do ya think....

bottom brace, or not?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Yes.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Did you sharpen the auger? If I remember correctly, they were kind of rusty. I think a brace would look good, maybe a 3-4-5 instead of a 45 degree. Here is a quick sketch of what it would look like. 3-4-5 is not to scale. Can you rip a piece of brace stock that is the same width as the post, but maybe 3 1/2" or so thick? You don't need to cut a mortise for this, just the tapered haunch. You can then screw each end of the brace in place and put fake pegs in for looks. Crappy cell pic:

 

[Dave Shepard]

I drew up another bad sketch, this time a perspective of the diminished haunch. Should be easy to cut, just one saw kerf, then pare off the waste. If I'm feeling inspired, I might make a scaled sort of drawing of the brace. What are the dimensions of the pieces you have now? I need cross section, and the length of post above the beam and the length of the beam itself. With a drawing, I can show you how to layout the diminished haunch and brace.





Or, you can cut a piece of stock off with 45s and nail it on.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Notch it with a chainsaw and geter done son..

 

[MasterBlaster]

and nail it on.

Never!!!

 

[brendonv]

I did sharpen the Auger Dave. Two of them were mint, the other one I just bought because it looked cool (which was rusty).

I'm not sure if my little table saw can handle ripping a timber down, but I can try on a piece of scrap I've got.

I'll get the dimensions when I go outside.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Brendon and I have been talking about assorted ways to bore a mortise. Boring machine, gas/electric drills, drill guides and stands, etc. Boring machines fixture the drill so that it is plumb to the face of the timber, at least on sawn stock. This is handy, but requires the purchase of a machine and bits. The other common way is to just get a heavy duty drill and eyeball plumb. This works well but the bit can wander a little. This is not a big deal. The important thing is to make sure the hole starts inside the layout lines. In pic C, you can see the top two holes are plumb to the face, but the bottom has wandered a little to the right. That is ok, because the opening of the mortise is still the proper dimension, which is a rectangle like pic A. This rectangular opening is what locates the tenon. If the mortise is a little hollowed out inside, it is ok.

Post A is a through mortise, meaning the hole goes from the face to the back of the post. Even with a boring machine, the hole isn't going to come out inside the layout on the back, so you only bore halfway through. Then you flip it over and finish from the back. In pic B, you can see that the mortise is the required 6" tall on the front and back sides, but the bit may have wandered a little (dotted lines). This is all hidden inside the post, and again, is not a huge deal. With a little practice, even drilling by eye with an HD electric or gas drill, you can bore straight enough to produce excellent mortises.

 

[brendonv]

Thanks for the pics Dave.

I appreciate your help and taking the time for explanations. Hear I thought all you framers were perfect, your really hiding things we cant see.

 

[Dave Shepard]

These are just theoretical situations. My joints are all held to .0005" tolerances.
















P.S., I've got a really nice bridge for sale too.

 

[tntree]

Damm Dave keep those pictures coming love seeing your work

 

[Dave Shepard]

Carpenters marks. There are many different numbering systems in use and they can vary by nationality and time period. This photo shows a No. 2, with four flags. These flags indicate that this timber is in the fourth transverse bent.



Two of the many scarfs on the first barn.



A doorpost repair. The patch was cut from a salvaged sill from the original barn. Note that the spiral grain is running in the same direction, and the checks run from one piece to the next, just to the left of the "P2" in white chalk.



Another doorpost repair. I was able to match the texture where the piece runs from old to new at the right hand abutment.




I'll post up any other interesting ones as I find them.






So, nobody wanted to buy my bridge?

 

[Dave Shepard]

Restoration work has it's ups and downs. Drove my favorite chisel down the middle of a huge wrought spike. That left a mark.

 

[Strikermike]

now you can fix it and call it STUBBY

 

[Cobleskill]

I like to look at the scribed on layout marks on old barn beams. There is a 60 foot long White Oak beam in our barn that the rafters sit on. Imagine how much wood had to come off the butt end to square it up. You can see a little bark on the small end.

 

[Dave Shepard]

If it's like most of the white oak I've seen, I'd leave the first six feet on the stump. Metasequoia is the only tree I've seen that has trunk taper worse than white oak. They would have juggled off big sections then rescored to the line. To juggle, you would cut a V every 1 to 3 feet, as if you were going to chop all the way through with the axe, but stopping at the chalk line. I don't have any good pictures of it, but this one shows what juggling marks look like in the finished timber. If they were looking for a really nice finish, they would not have juggled so deep. Red marks show Vs where they juggled off the extra wood. Jack Sobon once found juggles that were exactly 16" on center. He suspected that the builder was using them for his woodstove.



Cobleskill, I'd be surprised if you did not find these in your 60' timber. I would also like to know more about the carpenters marks as well. Are these just scribe lines to lay out the mortise and tenons, or are there other marks to identify each piece? Circles, half-circles and gouge marks are of extreme interest.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I started building a trestle to work on timbers after work today. It's basically two saw horses connected together. Because I'm working on Dutch barns, I'm going to make it a Dutch influenced trestle. There will be two "anchorbeams" connecting two modified 6"x6" framed saw horses. There will be a lot less thrashing around when trying to work on small, light pieces. This is where really heavy horses, or a trestle, comes in handy.

Dutch Anchorbeam:



Mini Anchorbeam made from 6"x6":

 

[Cobleskill]

I have looked for something other than layout lines. Nothing yet, but I haven't checked them all. I know there are some initials carved and a date. Gotta go look to refresh my memory. I love seeing your work.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I got most of the trestle done this weekend. I've just got to make the back two legs, and the wedges. The top and bottom for the other end are done. I've got a few pics of some of what goes into making something like this, but I'm beat. I'll post them up when I get this thing finished, hopefully after work tomorrow. This thing is rock solid so far, can't wait to use it.



I got pretty fed up with the boring machine bits, and one of the machines, so I got out old faithful. Not much goes wrong with a T-auger, and it's pretty darn fast if you know how to use it.

 

[Burnham]

That last photo is beautiful, Dave.

 

[brendonv]

Agreed, truley awesome.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I didn't quite get it finished tonight. In the pic you can see the top and bottom for the other end standing up behind the trestle. I used it all day today, even if it isn't finished. Solid as a rock. I added a couple of popup planing stops today. They are the pegs on either side of the block I'm planing down to size. Most planing can be done with just a clamp or something to stop the work from sliding ahead. The problem with the clamp is if it sticks up too high. With the popup pegs, I can adjust them with a mallet, and just give them a whack when I'm done and they are out of the way. Hopefully I'll get the whole thing done tomorrow. Glad everyone likes the pics.

 

[Burnham]

That's just finer than frog's hair split three ways!

 

[Dave Shepard]

Finished, except for the wedges. Those are cut out, just have to taper them tomorrow. Really looking forward to not having to use the wobbly horses anymore.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Looks good, Dave. That's what I'd want to crawl under if a big earthquake came.