Thurdsday - Timber frame work party

Dan and Marybeth enlisted help from the community for raising 4 beams on to their timber frame. Using scaffolding, we hauled the timbers up to the top of the framing and secured them into notches. These beams will complete the basic frame and allow us to continue with installing floor joists to build the second floor. In the afternoon I started work on a solar food dryer. The frame was made out of scrap 2x4s and was made to tilt toward the sun at approximately a 30 degree angle. A layer of sheet metal will be nailed onto the frame followed by a window screen that will hold the herbs, etc. to be dried. A window frame and black metal will form the top of the dryer and be hinged to the frame.








Ma'ikwe and I spent some time on Friday working on bent construction. (A bent is part of a timber frame that consists of several posts connected by timbers or lumber that is connected to them.) Clamps had been set up to hold the 2x12 lumber to the posts on both sides. We drilled 3/4 inch holes through the lumber and posts with an extra large drill bit. After the hole was drilled we cut a threaded-metal rod to size with a hacksaw. The rod was pounded through the lumber and post with a hammer and then secured on both sides of the bent with a washer and nut.

I spent the later part of the day doing inventory on the salvaged lumber that we will be using for framing and roofing. The wood planks vary slightly in width, thickness, and length. Part of the issue is that wood salvaged from older buildings is the actual size that it is stated to be. (A 2x12 plank purchased at a lumber yard is actually about 1 3/4 inches by 11 1/4 inches because 2x12 is the size before the wood is sawed and dried at the mill.) Some of our older lumber actually measures 2x12 inches while others measure 1 1/2 by 13 inches, 1 3/4 by 11 1/2 inches, etc. We will end up needing to "rip" some of the wood so that there is enough of the same size to use on a project. (Ripping is cutting lumber lengthwise so that it makes several pieces of lumber.) The length of the boards also ranges from anywhere from 16 feet to 26 feet, so more meticulous planning will be needed to calculate how many rafters can be cut from each piece.