This weekend I got quite a bit done. I'm hoping to have the first floor of the bent I'm building ready to assemble soon. I hadn't made any knee braces yet, so it was time. I made a few jigs to make things easier in the future, and whipped out four. There's a farmer down the street who has a small sawmill, and sells some lumber. I picked up some hemlock pieces for next to nothing, and they came out fine. The plan will be to mass produce all I will need for the whole house the next time.
I also have almost completed the girts for the first bent. I had to break down and buy a timber framing chisel from
barrtools.com which according to the books I've read are among the best. I bid on a few old ones on Ebay, but they were going for half the price of a new one, plus I'd have to go through turning a new handle. Simpler and probably better to order a new one. I think it will make life much easier for me, as I had been using standard chisels up to this point.
I have a slick to use as well, but you can't hammer on that handle. One of the tenons I made this weekend was on a beam that has a big knot going about lengthwise, and I had a tough time getting the tenon shaped correctly with small chisels and a slick.
This is one of two completed girts. Almost completed anyway, just a few steps left to go. I am a little concerned about the tenons that will mount on the center post. They are only five inches long each; should be OK but I'm still worried. I may rout in a hidden channel between the girts where I could mount a metal plate and lag the two girts together. Probably unnecessary, but will make me feel much better when I can't sleep some night, and am staring at the ceiling.
