Timber Framing
- Thread starter brendonv
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Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
I think it's $675 with lunches for the week. I've seen other places charge as much a$1000. The loss of work is the real killer, but the experience is worth every penny.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
Working on the center sill for one off the Dutch barns. Decided to make test piece before I went at the real timber. This one is about 7"x10"x48" The real one is 10"x16"x47'. The undersquinted rabbet is to receive the ends of the 3" floor planking, which will have the same angle on them.
Nice little shop Brendon. Will yours have an overhead door, or a sliding barn type door?
Nice little shop Brendon. Will yours have an overhead door, or a sliding barn type door?
Burnham
Woods walker
That would be ideal, Bren.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
I was thinking about maybe starting a thread about sharpening. There are some excellent synthetic water stones available on the market for relatively cheap. Things like how to keep your stones flat. Stones tend to take a lot of abuse, when they should be cared for better, to give the best results. I use three grits currently, 1200, 6000, and 13000. Made in Japan. 
. Perhaps Dave could better discuss his method of sharpening, more in line with timber framing than furniture? What I use is certainly applicable to knives as well. Straight razor users seem to like the water stones as well, checking out their forum.
. Perhaps Dave could better discuss his method of sharpening, more in line with timber framing than furniture? What I use is certainly applicable to knives as well. Straight razor users seem to like the water stones as well, checking out their forum.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
That right there is just a thing of beauty!
flushcut
TreeHouser
I was thinking about maybe starting a thread about sharpening. There are some excellent synthetic water stones available on the market for relatively cheap. Things like how to keep your stones flat. Stones tend to take a lot of abuse, when they should be cared for better, to give the best results. I use three grits currently, 1200, 6000, and 13000. Made in Japan.
Thems be some mighty fine grits you be talkin about. ( My best redneck text ) I have been using DMT diamond whet stones with good results and a Norton 8000 for the finish or some times a translucent Arkansas hard stone and that thing leaves a fantastic polish.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
6000-8000 should be adequate for a finish stone for most practical purposes, I believe. After using the 6000, I can easily shave the hair on my arm without any water.
flushcut
TreeHouser
One time I was sharpening a lot of kitchen knives for some friends and I just about shaved my arm bare. The shave test was my quality control or some times news paper leaving a nice clean edge with no fibres showing after the cut.
Holy smokes, Jay.
15000!!!!!!!!
No wonder your furniture has a shine to it.
I'd absolutely love to watch you shear scrape a tabletop.
The retired furniture maker that I used to hang out with and who willed his entire shop to me when he died ( of lung cancer, from wood dust since he was a non-smoker!!) showed me once, when we were finishing an elm table top, but he was nowhere near your level of expertice.
15000!!!!!!!!
No wonder your furniture has a shine to it.
I'd absolutely love to watch you shear scrape a tabletop.
The retired furniture maker that I used to hang out with and who willed his entire shop to me when he died ( of lung cancer, from wood dust since he was a non-smoker!!) showed me once, when we were finishing an elm table top, but he was nowhere near your level of expertice.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
The shop where I apprenticed at, scraping was not an acceptable method, everything had to be planed, and table tops for sure. I don't even recall ever seeing a scraper. Some woods are quite difficult to plane without getting tear out. Most apprentices spent their first six months pretty much just learning to sharpen, all day at the stones. I don't remember too much of that, other than my hands being all cut up. A plane working well and giving good results is one of the most enjoyable aspects of woodworking, never gets old. Much better than working through the various sanding grits with the dust and left scratches. Planes retain flatness too, not subject to the harder and softer parts of the grain.
Exactly!
Same goes for woodturning. Getting to the point where you can start sanding a bowl at 320 grain takes some practice.
I was doing a demo some years back, and at the end I asked if there was anything they wanted to see.
So one guy handed me a piece of slightly punky elmburl and asked how good a finish I thought I could get on that, straight from the tool.
So I turned a half sphere and shearscraped it, then gave it cellulose sanding sealer and scraped it again, twice over.
Years later when I was visiting the same guy in his shop, he showed me that ½sphere. He had kept it after the demo and used it as a reference towards which to aim.
He makes some really fine things now, nice to have been an inspiration for someone like that.
Same goes for woodturning. Getting to the point where you can start sanding a bowl at 320 grain takes some practice.
I was doing a demo some years back, and at the end I asked if there was anything they wanted to see.
So one guy handed me a piece of slightly punky elmburl and asked how good a finish I thought I could get on that, straight from the tool.
So I turned a half sphere and shearscraped it, then gave it cellulose sanding sealer and scraped it again, twice over.
Years later when I was visiting the same guy in his shop, he showed me that ½sphere. He had kept it after the demo and used it as a reference towards which to aim.
He makes some really fine things now, nice to have been an inspiration for someone like that.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Cool story, Stig.
Jay, I was wondering about the "scraping not acceptable" thing.
Does that mean you don't use the kind of plane where the blade is set almost vertical either?
It has a name, but it is late night here and after a hard day at work, my brain doesn't function too well, so I can't remember it.
Seems to me, on real twisted grain, scraping is the only way to avoid tear out.
But then I'm a turner, not a furniture maker.
Does that mean you don't use the kind of plane where the blade is set almost vertical either?
It has a name, but it is late night here and after a hard day at work, my brain doesn't function too well, so I can't remember it.
Seems to me, on real twisted grain, scraping is the only way to avoid tear out.
But then I'm a turner, not a furniture maker.
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This is the kind of work that the aforementioned turner does now.
An old Englishman, used to be the carpenter at Ledreborg Castle, but after retiring, he got bit real hard by the turning bug.
He is very much a rising star in the Danish woodturning world.
I gave him the wood for both bowls
An old Englishman, used to be the carpenter at Ledreborg Castle, but after retiring, he got bit real hard by the turning bug.
He is very much a rising star in the Danish woodturning world.
I gave him the wood for both bowls
Burnham
Woods walker
Very nice!
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Beautiful turnings! I have often thought that turning would be a great retirement activity, and a way to still make some money.
Stig, in the arsenal over here, there is a scraping plane as you describe, called a "die biki" in this lingo, die being the body of a wooden plane. That tool is only for maintaining the bottom surface of your planes. All wood gets planed in the normal sense of it, from easy to tough material, your technique has to rise to the occasion is how it worked in that shop. One of the definite struggles for apprentices. Definite subtleties in how a wooden plane gets set up to give the best results, and much a lost art these days. Lots of satisfaction in a nicely planed piece of wood.
Some of my planes pic.
Stig, in the arsenal over here, there is a scraping plane as you describe, called a "die biki" in this lingo, die being the body of a wooden plane. That tool is only for maintaining the bottom surface of your planes. All wood gets planed in the normal sense of it, from easy to tough material, your technique has to rise to the occasion is how it worked in that shop. One of the definite struggles for apprentices. Definite subtleties in how a wooden plane gets set up to give the best results, and much a lost art these days. Lots of satisfaction in a nicely planed piece of wood.
Some of my planes pic.
Attachments
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
That is a crazy collection of hand planes man. Wow.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Lordy!!!
Most excellent, indeed.
Most excellent, indeed.
The ones on the top shelf have the blade set way closer to vertical than is normal here, those are the ones I meant.
And you are right, nothing beats getting a super clean surface straight from the tool.
No matter how much you sand a piece of wood, you don't get the shine and reflection of a well planed surface.
When that olsd furniture maker showed me how to scrape, it was because I was making a large ding table in elm for my boss when I worked for the state.
The planer kept tearing the grain, so Kaj, the furniture guy, used a handplane and a scraper on the tabletop, once I had glued it together.
He said the same thing about being an apprentice. That they were not allowed to sand anything, but had to finish everything by plane and scraper.
He was a wonderful guy. I had the use of his shop for about 10 years and learned so much from him, before he died.
He must have enjoyed having me work there, since he willed all his tools and machines to me.
I used to make a lot of kitchen counters in solid wood. All real utilitarian stuff.
Sometimes the occasional table with turned legs.
Since I milled the wood myself, selling a set of custom made matching kitchen counter tops/window sills etc. was easy money.
I dropped a large ash hazard tree next to a museum last week. Had a large burl on it. I almost couldn't load it by hand.
I dropped it in front of the door at that turners shop and just drove off.
An hour later he called me. Didn't take him long to find the culprit
And you are right, nothing beats getting a super clean surface straight from the tool.
No matter how much you sand a piece of wood, you don't get the shine and reflection of a well planed surface.
When that olsd furniture maker showed me how to scrape, it was because I was making a large ding table in elm for my boss when I worked for the state.
The planer kept tearing the grain, so Kaj, the furniture guy, used a handplane and a scraper on the tabletop, once I had glued it together.
He said the same thing about being an apprentice. That they were not allowed to sand anything, but had to finish everything by plane and scraper.
He was a wonderful guy. I had the use of his shop for about 10 years and learned so much from him, before he died.
He must have enjoyed having me work there, since he willed all his tools and machines to me.
I used to make a lot of kitchen counters in solid wood. All real utilitarian stuff.
Sometimes the occasional table with turned legs.
Since I milled the wood myself, selling a set of custom made matching kitchen counter tops/window sills etc. was easy money.
I dropped a large ash hazard tree next to a museum last week. Had a large burl on it. I almost couldn't load it by hand.
I dropped it in front of the door at that turners shop and just drove off.
An hour later he called me. Didn't take him long to find the culprit
Poleframer
Climbing Up
Poles are round, timbers are squared
Oh just noticed he was asking Dave, go ahead Dave.
Oh just noticed he was asking Dave, go ahead Dave.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
Pole barns use either a treated timber or pole, as in telephone, sunk in below frost, so no foundation needed. 2x10 or 2x12 boards (plates) are run around the tops of these to hold them together and for the rafters to land on. Trusses would be the best roof system to tie everything together. 2x4s (girts) are run at intervals horizontally on the posts to hold the siding. Diagonal boards are run from the posts up to the plates. Pole barns are made from 2x material all nailed. They are faster, and cheaper, but lack the aesthetics and longevity of a Timber Frame.
As for sharpening, I've gone over it in this thread a time or two, a search should reveal the info. I'm gathering timbers for a little 10'x12' garden shed for my house. A slightly smaller version of the frame I raised last fall.
As for sharpening, I've gone over it in this thread a time or two, a search should reveal the info. I'm gathering timbers for a little 10'x12' garden shed for my house. A slightly smaller version of the frame I raised last fall.
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