Faux Pas

So I finally got one of the rafters built. I started off on the wrong foot by putting a mortise an inch off from where it should be, so I glued in a block, and it won't show.














One end of the rafter has a "birds mouth" joint which is a bit of a pain to cut, but finally I got it done. Since the rafter is a bit shorter than what is needed, the other end of this piece has a scarf joint- which is a big pain in the ass to cut.














Above is the Birds mouth joint; and here's the scarf joint:














Below is the rafter installed. I made a router jig to cut in the joints where the purlins will be.














A few more pieces, and this bent will be complete. My next order of timbers is almost done. I'm planning to build the whole first floor, and stand it up inside. When that's done, I'll do the same with the rest of the raters.

On the Money

It's been a slow couple of weeks. Fortunately, this weekend turned out to be sunny and nice, and I got a lot accomplished.














The first thing I did was test fit the queen posts and collar tie. I ran strings where the rafters will sit according to my drawings. Everything lined up perfectly. In fact, I measured from the base of the center post to where the top of the peak will be, and it was only off 1/8 of an inch. Not too bad if you ask me.



















Then I took the whole thing apart, and made the final cuts on the queen posts. Now it reassembled waiting for the rafters. This first bent is almost done. I've also almost worked myself out of beams. I need to place an order so I can continue.

Assembly

Busy weekend- I put together the first floor of bent 1. Since this was the first and I wanted to be extra careful I started by assembling the whole thing without knee braces. When I got everything square, I dry fit the knee braces, and marked where each would fit.














Then I took the whole thing apart, and cut the mortises for the knee braces. Below is a couple pictures of the final assembly with the knee braces installed. Kind of cool to have all the pieces start to look like something.

































Next up will be queen posts, thankfully built from smaller beams. Ten by ten timbers are very heavy to muscle around by hand.

Back to work

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.

It's cold, and I'm busy at work

I haven't got a lot done lately. The past weekend was cold, and I had to work.














It also slows you down to have to melt ice with a salamander before you start cutting. Oh well, Spring is coming. I made the center post of bent 1, and it came out pretty well.



















Next up; tie beams. Stay Tuned

The first beams

It's been a busy long weekend. After measuring several extra times, I made my first mortise ever.



















This is the antique mortiser I am using. I got it off Ebay for not much, and it works pretty well. The first holes were off no more than 1/16" going through a ten inch beam. Not bad in my opinion. once all the holes were drilled out, I roughed out the mortise with a skilsaw, and chiseled out the rest. I was able to borrow a big corner chisel and a slick from my grandfather- thanks gramps! They work well but the mallet I had was too small.



















So, I dug out a piece of firewood, and made this thing on a lathe (again, thanks gramps). We had a hell of a time getting the thing to spin on the lathe without jumping all around, but eventually we got it. It's quite a weapon- I haven't hit a finger yet, but give me time.

The rest of the weekend was spent on the first two posts. One is complete, and the other is almost there. My planing idea from a previous entry worked, and I think it looks pretty nice. I'm using danish oil for a finish, and I've found that the best way to apply it is with a spray bottle. I let it sit for a while, and come back a few hours later to wipe off the excess. One of the finished posts is shown below, pre-oil.

Planer Blades

Hand held planers for timber framing are very expensive. Rather than buy one, I am going to try and use a standard 3 1/4" planer, and just round the blades a little bit. This will keep the blade corners from digging into the beams, and will hopefully give kind of a hand-hewn look.














This is the jig I came up with to grind the planer blades. Just an old angle grinder, and some scrap wood. The darker piece of wood at the 45 degree angle will swing like a pendulum while holding the blade.















This is the first blade after being ground. They won't be perfect I'm sure, but we'll see how it works. The photo below shows the first ground blade against the unground one for comparison.