Scantlings172

scantlings

Newsletter of the Timber Framers Guild number 172 AUGUST–September 2012

Enger Pavilion

Summer Guild projects THIS EARLY summer saw a blitz of TFG projects in Vermont, Iowa, and Minnesota. Their timetables overlapped— the entire range of time for the three was the month of June.

Both rain and heat were abundant. For a closer description of the play-by-play, more photos, and mouth-watering accounts of the food and personalities involved, visit www.tfguild.org and click on the area that represents each project.

Enger Pavilion

Old Stone House Museum Barn

Duluth, Minnesota, June 23–30 This project featured extensive flood damage in Duluth just before we got there and a very tight building site with limited access. Our job site was the parking lot of a very well developed city park with extensive gardens, pathways, structures, and a surpassingly fine view of the harbor, capped by the horizon receding over Lake Superior.

One of the cool things about this project site was the industrial landscape of Duluth/Superior harbor and its river basin. Salties (ocean-going ships) and Lakers (Lake Superior-only ships, so large they can never exit the Lakes). Giant piles of coal, stone, wood chips, shredded steel, unidentified aggregates. Towers and towers and towers for grain, some wooden, mostly concrete. Hundreds of rail cars and hundreds of switches to shunt them about, plus two specialized iron ore tipple piers made of riveted rusty iron that run very long strings of specialized cars out high over the basin to dump taconite pellets into bulk carriers, on their way to the steel mills and foundries of the world.

Our leadership team has earned special thanks: to Clark Bremer (local hero), to Adam Valesano, and to Max Taubert of Duluth Timber.

See Enger, page 5

Wapsipinicon Mill Left, from top: The Duluth raising was crowned by a wedding party in search of a picturesque photo site who stumbled upon us. The splayed jack rafters are at bottom right of the roof; for more on them, see page 5.

The Old Stone House Museum Barn’s famous five-sided ridge beam fit the first time, a worthy end to the raising.

Nicole Swiss trains the Wapsi Mill team on masonry infill repair.

scantlings Newsletter of the Timber Framers Guild Number 172 August–September 2012

In This Issue Summer Guild projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Eastern Conference preview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Special opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Erratum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Splayed jack rafters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 How did the Wapsi Mill training go?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Eco-Logic: sustainability and durability. . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Infinite life span? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Thanks for 132 lifetime memberships . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Apprentice Log: Game of Logging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 What is bore cutting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 A big step up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Your golden opportunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Franklin Pavilion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Notices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Update on TFG reincorporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Founded 1985

© 2012 Timber Framers Guild. All rights reserved.

PO Box 295, Alstead, NH 03602 www.tfguild.org, 559/834-8453.

Lisa Sasser, president • Clark Bremer, vice-president • John S. Miller, treasurer • John Mumaw, clerk • Collin Beggs, Randy Churchill, Ellen Gibson, Adrian Jones, Gabel Holder, directors at large • Joel McCarty, executive director • Susan Norlander, general manager.

Susan Witter, Scantlings editor • Marnie Jones, Scantlings associate editor • Ken Rower, publications director Scantlings, the member newsletter of the Timber Framers Guild, is published in every month except March, May, August, and December.

Next deadline: September 1.

News contributions and correspondence: Susan Witter, editor, 2406 Williams St, Bellingham, WA 98225. susan@mysoundideas.us, 360/647-0310.

Printed on recycled paper.

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Eastern Conference preview WE’LL GATHER again in Leesburg, Va., October 18 through 21, for for our 28th annual Eastern Conference.

Our theme, “Past, present, and future: the living art of timber framing,” honors tradition and praises innovation.

Our featured speaker is Tedd Benson, timber framer, author, and founding owner of Bensonwood, Inc. since 1974. Tedd is described on www.bensonwood.com as “championing high-performance, sustainable homebuilding—always with an emphasis on innovation, quality, and social responsibility.” Tedd’s work marries the best of the past and present.

The conference will include an improved technology pavilion, axe-throwing, Fire Tower’s ever-popular joint busting, and drop-in plan review with Andrea Warchaizer and Mike Beganyi.

The following sessions are subject to change. For up-to-the minute conference news, watch your email inbox. Pre-conference workshops are subject to minimum enrollment, and registration details will follow.

Pre-conference sessions (Thursday, Oct. 18)

•• Sustainable forestry and horse-powered selective logging with Jason Rutledge at an off-site woodlot •• Timber framing with hand tools with Collin Beggs, beginning Wednesday, Oct. 17 •• SketchUp sessions for both beginning and advanced students with Clark Bremer and Mike Beganyi •• Compound roof layout with Will Beemer •• The history of timber framing with Jack Sobon.

Timber Frame Engineering Council symposium (Thursday, Oct. 18)

•• Mack Magee on wood preservation •• Jim DeStefano on Code of Standard Practice development •• Paul Malko on SIP system special engineering provisions •• Dan Hindman with a testing/research update from Virginia Tech •• Tom Nehil on strengthening a historic hammer beam and with preliminary findings on the load bearing capacity of joist and beam housings •• Dick Schmidt on rafter design considerations •• Maik Gehloff on the state of the industry.

Main sessions (Friday, Oct. 19–Sunday, Oct. 21)

•• Tom Hubka on vernacular farm architecture in New England and on Polish wooden synagogues, including a brief update on the Gwoździec synagogue •• John Mumwaw and Grigg Mullen on finite element analysis: understanding the output •• Dennis Marcom with a Veteran Voices session •• Clark Bremer on compound joinery with SketchUp •• Mack Magee and a lighthearted look at working with your engineer

Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

•• Bruce Lindsay on wood grading with a twist: after a brief refresher on lumber grading principles, he’ll cover what to do when things go wrong, how to make claims, and how to avoid lumber-ordering pitfalls •• Grigg Mullen, James Akers, and J.P. Morris with a retrospective of 15 years of Virginia Military Institute timber framing projects •• Mike Beganyi introducing LayOut, SketchUp Pro’s 2D document development program •• Joe Miller and Ben Brungraber reprising “Shaken, not stirred:” timber framing in seismic zones •• Douglass Reed comparing German, Swiss, and Turkish log buildings plus slides from his recent tour of European wooden buildings •• Jack Sobon with sessions on hand tools and on dating timber-framed buildings •• Will Beemer on developing apprenticeship curriculum •• Jason Rutledge on sustainable forestry, animal-powered logging, and “worst first” single tree selection •• Stephen Ortado on the epoxy repair of Peirce Mill •• Frank Baker on succession planning •• Ellen Gibson teaching tool-use basics for small building projects •• Rich Friberg on preservation principles and methods.

Timber Frame Business Council sessions (Friday, Oct. 19–Sunday, Oct. 21)

•• Frank Baker on succession planning •• Paul Freeman, Stephen Morrison, and Amy Good sharing small business marketing success stories •• David Hourdequin on improving the efficiency of timber frame designs •• Peter Platt with “It’s the people, stupid: the evolution of digital marketing” •• Peter Platt, Scott Rouleau, Matt Bielewicz, and Jennifer Young in a roundtable on SEO, branding, marketing, and public relations •• Sessions for invited architects: “Timber framing: an age old craft meets the modern era” and “Timber framing: applications in commercial construction.”

—Marnie Jones

Special opportunities We need T-shirt art WE’RE LOOKING for someone to design the T-shirts for the Eastern Conference. The theme this year is “Past, present, future: the living art of timber framing.” The art you design should be adaptable to a beverage mug. Compensation is in the form of a 50%-off fee, including pre-conference.

Technical assistant position

We need a tech-savvy assistant to aid in setting up equipment like laptops and projectors. Help make our Leesburg conference run smoothly! Some conference costs will be discounted for the right volunteer.

If you’re interested in either of these two opportunities, please tell Marnie Jones, conference coordinator, bentbarrow@gmail.com or 360/595-0208. Thanks.

SIPschool workshop discount

Annie Cobb of SIPschool announces that, for their SIPs 301 Installation for SIP Professionals four-day course immediately following the conference (Oct. 23–Oct 26), SIPschool will extend a 50% discount for Guild members who register by September 21.

Use discount TFG50 when registering.

Erratum THE MAY–JUNE SCANTLINGS (170) reported that Greg Huber, in his TTRAG talk on Dutch barn distribution, drew parallels to a Dutch barn in Northampton County (without extended anchor-beam tenons). Greg was referring in fact to the Westbrook barn that the group visited in Sussex County, N.J., that weekend.

The Westbrook barn has anchor beam tenons that extend only minimally—maybe an inch or so. Northampton County, Pennsylvania has no Dutch barns at all. The editor regrets the error.

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Enger Pavilion Left: During compound layout, some pretty slick tools appeared—a protractor, accurate to a quarter of a degree, and available only through the TFG, made from type-304 laser-cut stainless steel and a variety of hardwoods.

Below: To lay out the curves under the plates, Joel McCarty, David Hough, and Dean Hillebrand (facing away from us) use an old trick with a bit of chain to form a catenary curve, a shape chosen for its beauty and simplicity.

Bottom, left to right: Dean Hillebrand scowled at the problem of a large elevation change and an ADA access path “revised” by the flood, rooted around in his collection, and built a trailer rig: Ian McLeod and Adam Valesano supplied the horse power. / Old pal Max Taubert of Duluth Timber provided limitless hospitality and a trailer load or two of nicely re-sawn reclaimed Douglas fir timbers, the longest of which are the four 9 x 16-in. x 26ft. plates. / Plate delivery and install with the ever-handy Roustabout (a.k.a. the levitator).

Hand-crank horsepower supplied by Jonathan Huff.

photos Joel McCarty, Clark Bremer, and Charlie Blend

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Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

Splayed jack rafters To cut the compound housings for the splayed jack rafters on the Enger Pavilion, we modified a standard housing template. The outermost jack rafters were splayed to reduce the spacing from their tips to the hip tips out of concern that the span required of the roof sheathing would be too long otherwise. So they are not parallel in plan to the other jacks and commons.

When a jack is rotated so that it is no longer perpendicular to the plate in plan, the resulting intersection gets more complicated—in this case, the housing on the outboard side of the plate. The sides of the jack, and thus of the housing, remain plumb, but the top of the splay jack requires a backing cut to place it in the plane of the roof. The bottom surface is left square to the sides. The result is that from the point of view of the plate, the underside of the splay rafter is twisted and requires a sloped bottom line on the housing.

All of the angles could have been derived using Hawkindale trig methods, treating the splay jack as “half of a hip,” but I used SketchUp instead. I just rotated the jack in plan view until it pleased me aesthetically and then relied on the computer to tell me the resulting angles.

—Clark Bremer

Projects, from page 1 The quick math lesson for determining weight?

Width x Depth (in.) x Length (ft.) divided by 12, equals Volume in board-ft. Times a common factor for weight, in this case, 3 lbs./bd.ft. (Clark Bremer weighed some samples and came up with 2.6 lbs., so 3 is nice and conservative.) Why did we care? Because we had to unload the trailers by hand.

—Joel McCarty and Susan Witter

Old Stone House Museum Barn

Brownington, Vermont, June 1–10 Part of the draw to any project is the can-do spirit that abounds. This project had the good fortune of landing in

a deeply rooted community where can-do is a way of life.

It’s the kind of place where a neighbor two miles down the road drove up in his diesel tractor, parked, and tossed the keys to one of the TFG leads with a mumbled “Thought it might be handy.”

For most of our members, being awash in communityminded, give-it your-all building is a rarity. In Brownington, Vt., it is a way of life, and it has been since the site was settled. The Old Stone House Museum is, in fact, a monument to this one thing. Our way of building, matching hand crafting with concerted effort by many hands, See Old Stone, page 7

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Old Stone House Museum Barn Above left, Allan Peoples and Charlie Blend make sawhorses.

Above, the latest cool tool—a double-slam-dunk-360-degree-tenon-checker.

Facing page, upper, the Masked Canadian (Rob Geoghegan-Morphet) beavers away at rafter feet with the help of a jig. Stunning stonework in background.

At left, a couple of old friends, Meg and Frost, get started in the business of making wall purlins.

Below, left to right: A team of six test-fits a bent. / We parbuckled the plates to the post tops, then raised them up and over by sheer effort. / End view of the ridge with five-sided template. / Facing page, lower, a quick adjustment: Makaio lengthens a brace mortise.

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Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

Old Stone, from page 5 fits seamlessly with all the museum’s buildings and the artifacts they contain. Headed to boarding school? Bring along a cow if you can for a tuition break. A loved one passes away? The museum has on display a wicker casket clearly built with time and care. I imagine weaving it provided much needed room for reflection in a stressful time. Such productive comfort is unique to handwork.

This is one of the more honorable ways I have ever heard of to be interred, for the dead and for the living.

Tractors, coffins, spuds, and axes. A new barn built to replace the first. What do all of these things have in common? It’s all a big mush, but these are part of the messy business of being a human being. Old Stone House Museum is one place where these seemingly random things are stored, cared for, and shared. Being there, building a frame, was like being the museum’s verb for ten days.

Our pulses matched. We exhaled in unison. Past and present are one and the same. Attending a project such as this just makes this fundamental truth easier to feel.

Special thanksto our leadership team Makaio Maher (local hero), Gerry David, and Will Gusakov. Peggy Gibson, director of the Old Stone House Museum (and possibly the mayor of the entire Northeast Kingdom of Vermont) is an exemplary community leader and organizer.

—Alicia Spence

Wapsi Mill roof restoration photos Joel McCarty

Independence, Iowa, June 16–24 Repairing and restoring a 12-ft. roof section of the 1867 mill on the Wapsipinicon River was an ambitious undertaking in the time given. Fortunately, the participants rose gracefully to the challenge. A first for all: TFG partnered with Trillium Dell Timberworks to transform what would have been a normal restoration job for Trillium into a real-world apprentice-journeyworker training opportunity. (See sidebar, page 9.)

During daily meetings, we organized into teams that tackled different aspects of the job. This flexibility allowed for self-direction and opportunities at all skill levels for us to experience what we were interested in.

The teams assessed, documented, and mapped the structure, replaced missing braces, removed and replaced

August–September 2012 Scantlings 172

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a section of the top plate, reinforced rafters, installed roof sheathing, and evaluated and painted the cupola. Everyone got to drive the massive lift and learned a bevy of other things, including safe practices for working at heights and over a moving body of water, lead safe practices, using traditional materials and methods in masonry restoration, critical considerations in repair of historic frames, local history, and engineering dynamics in older structures.

Tom Nehil and Joe Miller discussed the engineering of the building and presented the culmination of the week’s structural investigations to the group. Curtis Milton and Rick Collins provided oversight and shared their knowledge and experience.

Nicole Swiss led a demonstration using traditional lime putty mortars.

Ari and Liam Collins were onsite to fish and videotape the entire operation. See http://www.youtube.com/user/TrilliumDell for the resulting YouTube video. The rest of the story is best told in photos.

—Rick Collins and Jared Wilson

Wapsi Mill roof restoration Clockwise from top right: Damaged material. / Shoring up the east roof while the shingles and sheathing come off. / Measuring brace length. / Tom Nehil records data on roof damage.

photos Tom Nehil

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Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

How did the Wapsi Mill training go?

FOR THE training accompanying the Wapsi Mill project, members of the journeyworker and apprentice program were transported to the site, housed (via camping), and fed. Others were allowed to attend by résumé. (For a full participant list, see the website.)

As a first attempt at contractor-subsidized training, the session at Wapsi was not perfect. Here are some of my observations: The amount of time spent on lead-safe work practice was less than I had hoped for—we could have hired a trainer and delivered a certification—but time was of the essence. A full complement of training material was available and we had to make choices. (The original paint on the mill had been largely replaced with modern latex paint by the early 1990s.)

The process of training folks about working in a 135-ft.-capacity man-lift that weighs 40,000 lbs. and tears up 100°F-plus softened city streets and trees went well enough; only time in the machine will allow a person to learn to use one. We started with a group walkthrough.

After training a willing person, we then rotated a new person into the learner’s seat with the previous learner now the trainer. Not all folks have a tolerance for heights.

Discovering whether you do or not is a lesson in itself.

This size machine offers plenty of safety overrides that minimize the potential for operator error.

Working on the professionally built scaffold over the river involves more safety gear (flotation device, harness, and unmanned boat in the river) than most of us are used to.

Just observing the scaffolding method of multiple cantilevered platforms was worth the price of admission.

Everyone got to try a variety of harnesses, lanyard setups, and attachment types. We were well protected on the roofs, scaffold, and machine at all times.

Building assessment and documentation was a solid adventure in what to look for and how to see it in older buildings. Having round-the-clock access to two engineers was priceless. The reports prepared by the two teams are fabulous dynamic living documents not yet complete.

Erich Fabricius, Wikimedia Commons

We had an advanced discussion on the assembly process (no records exist of the original construction process) that turned some rather casual observations into a sleuthing operation. We may never know how they did it, but we all developed some respect for those builders.

Watching and listening to seasoned timber framers sort out the complexity of replacing braces in an existing building was a solid lesson for all.

Scarfing a top plate repair in place involved building a shoring wall and cutting scarf lap joints in place. Pairing (sistering) new rafters with partially rotten rafters so the 4 ft. of rafter tails clad with soffit boards could be left in place was resolved in real time: Here is the problem. What are the possible solutions? Pick one. Anticipate challenges. Execute. Refine as needed.

Other interesting facts: Some highly finished timbers (big chamfers with lamb’s tongue stops) were ornamental in appearance but functionally improved traffic flow in a busy place.

This makes sense in a mill building where the career millwright–master builder was also a major stockholder.

Some early repairs (date uncertain but before 1900) were needed because of the change of use from a woolen mill to a grain mill. The materials being processed were much heavier and damaged the load path in several key areas. The repairs also took place after the builder was gone. The evidence for this is simple: the original builder had built a 2½-in. airspace between the sheathing and the double brick veneer. The person who attempted to control building-joinery spread ran tie rods through the veneer and tried to pull the whole thing together, collapsing and buckling the brick veneer at the bearing washers. I cannot even imagine the original builder doing this.

Sharing knowledge, time, meals, campfire sessions, and more is of great value. Making it affordable to all was the goal.

I look forward to another training session like this where we can use what we learned. —Curtis Milton

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The Wapsipinicon Mill.

August–September 2012 Scantlings 172

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eco-logic Convenient disconnect: sustainability and durability Think about the following design problem. sustainable development.

You are in a leaking rowboat bobbing in the middle However, I should not have been surprised. The of the ocean. You want to get back to shore before the problem wasn’t with the papers, but with Life Cycle boat sinks. While there are many solutions to the probAssessment (LCA) theory and its associated principles lem, any solution is a balance between sustainability and practices. LCA theory is predicated on the here and now and the idea that a building has a finite life span—a and durability. building has a beginning, middle, and end. In terms of Now, think about the problem of making an existing building performance, the theory discounts the future wood-framed building more energy efficient. Again, in favor of the present. there are many possible solutions, and you would think On the other hand, there are heritage/historic buildthat any solution is a balance between sustainability and ings.

I call these buildings infinite life span buildings durability. Yet . . . since they have no end-of-life phase. They are expected Last month, I presented a paper at the Third Interto last forever. Infinite life span thinking requires that national Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Deno harm be done to the building since its future is more velopment. My paper, The Inherent Disconnect Between important than the here and now. Currently, LCA Historic Wood Buildings and Nova Scotia’s Energy Code, theory cannot adequately deal with infinite life span described the difficulties a designer faces when retrofitbuildings. It doesn’t recognize the inherent disconting a historic wood building in a cold climate. On one nect between the ideas of hand, the designer must a finite vs. infinite life span adhere to the insulation Adding wall insulation [to a heritage/historic building. Until the theory requirements arising from catches up with this conNova Scotia’s energy code. building] in a cold climate can have a cept, it shouldn’t be applied At the same time, the denegative impact on the building’s durability. as it is to either heritage or signer must be sensitive to historic buildings. life span issues unique to Where this comes home for me is in considering the heritage/historic1 buildings. question of whether to add wall insulation as part of a In brief, the energy code makes no reference to the retrofit package to a historic building. Adding wall inimpact a proposed energy conservation measure could sulation to an historic building should be done, if at all, have on the building’s life span going forward. One only after a full consideration of its consequences. could take from the code’s bias that durability is sacThere is a school of thought among heritage rerificed for sustainability, that the here and now is more searchers (Rose, 2005) that adding wall insulation in a important than the future. cold climate can have a negative impact on the buildI only mention the paper I presented to highlight my ing’s durability.

Simply put, once insulation is added bias, and to make reference to a direction I picked up to the wall, the energy exchange across the building from other papers presented at the conference given my envelope is reduced, and the wall stays wet longer. The bias. I didn’t listen to any presentations nor read any wall will have a reduced drying potential (Handegord, papers that acknowledged the relationship between sus1985).

Since we are dealing with wood, the longer tainability and durability: the relationship among space, wood remains wet, the more likely the chance it performance, and time. This was even more alarming will degrade. to me since it was a conference on both heritage and

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Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

My point is that there must be a conversation on the inappropriateness of present day approaches to energy efficiency and, by extension, the importance of including durability in any proposed retrofit strategy. A single-issue-directed energy code and present LCA theory thinking shouldn’t be applied to this problem because of their emphasis on energy efficiency and their silence on durability.

It comes back to a design problem.

—Austin Parsons

A heritage building is a government registered building with historic value. A historic building is not registered but it still has historic value.

The Nova Scotia energy code exempts heritage buildings, but includes historic buildings in its mandate.

1

Research cited Rose, W.B. 2005. Should the Walls of Historic Buildings Be Insulated?

APT Bulletin, Vol. 36, No. 4 (2005) pp. 13–18.

Handegord, G.O. 1985. Prediction of the Moisture Performance of Walls. ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 91, Pt. 2.

Infinite life span?

AN INFINITE life span building is made up of a set of finite life span building systems that are in turn made up of a set of finite life span components. While there is a growing awareness of how an individual component’s operational life span plays out in a particular life cycle analysis, researchers are still silent on recognizing how a particular LCA driven measure will negatively impact the life span of a given building system.

Thanks for 132 lifetime memberships LIFETIME MEMBERS, thank you! Your lifetime membership demonstrates your dedication to the craft of timber framing and is a sustaining contribution to the mission of the Timber Framers Guild. We thank you for your generosity and loyalty, and for extending your support into the future.

—Susan Norlander Al & Kathy Anderson, Pilot, Va. Brian & Arthur Armbrecht, Bemus Point, N.Y. Dennis Arnold, Williston, Vt. Kim Balfour, Delanson, N.Y. Brian Beals, Xenia, Ohio Will & Michele Beemer, Washington, Mass.

Kenneth Beiser, Whitefish, Mont.

Joseph & Norma Jo Bell, Franklin, N.C. Sandy A. Bennett, Hiwassee, Va. Andreas Benz, Vorderthal, Switzerland Alan Bernholtz, Mancos, Colo.

Tim Bickford, Limington, Maine

David Blackwell, Castleton, Va. Neville Bodsworth, Sioux Lookout, Ont., Canada Thomas Bowles, Bozeman, Mont.

Sarah Bowman, Greenfield, Minn.

Kevin T. Brennan, Royal Oak, Mich.

Bruce Brittain, Ithaca, N.Y. Andy Buck, Naples, Maine Leon Buckwalter, Hinsdale, N.Y. Justin A. Bush, Peoria, Ill. Leif Calvin, Santa Rosa, Calif.

James Chambers, Hillsdale, N.Y.

Continues on next page

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August–September 2012 Scantlings 172

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Lifetime members, continued Scott Cherry, Tesuque, N.M. Randy Churchill, Courtenay, B.C., Canada Rick Collins, Knoxville, Ill. Nathan Cook & Sara Gibbs, Gallatin Gateway, Mont.

Bruce Cowie, Lancaster, Penna.

Abbott L. Cummings, South Deerfield, Mass.

Aaron Dennis, Trumansburg, N.Y. Jim Derby, Waldoboro, Maine Jim DeSantis, Silverton, Ore. Helen Legg Detrick, Delaware, Ohio Peter Dickson, Squamish, B.C., Canada Vahan Dinihanian, Beaverton, Colo.

Chuck Dougherty, Vancouver, Wash.

Harold Ellis, New Haven, Conn.

Dr. Robert Ensminger, Bethlehem, Penna.

Jason Evans, Bethlehem, Penna.

Chris Feddersohn, Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.

Mike Flowers, Kimberley, B.C., Canada Louis Hugo Francescutti, Sherwood Park, Alb., Canada Paul Freeman and Rebecca Hudson, Lyndeborough, N.H. Raymond Friend, Leesburg, Ohio Ron Gabany, Mercer, Penna.

Shaun Garvey, Dalton, Mass.

Ellen Gibson, Roslindale, Mass.

Chester Godfrey, Statesville, N.C. Kenneth Gordon, Medina, Ohio Arnold Graton & Margaret Dansereau, Holderness, N.H. Sid Greene, Boone, N.C.

Ian Halm, Campton, N.H. Mike Halverson, Gallatin Gateway, Mont.

Craig Hillman, Kimberley, B.C., Canada Ken & Hilary Holm, Whitefield, Maine William & Kristin Horgan, Gallatin Gateway, Mont.

Matthew Jenkins, Brimfield, Ill. Mikkel Johansen, Graested, Denmark Adrian Jones, Wellington, Colo.

Robert Jonkman, Ottawa, Ont,, Canada Chris Kates, Fort Collins, Colo.

Michael & Deborah Kelley, Missoula, Mont.

Jeff Kemmer, Ely, Minn.

Ray King, Peterborough, Ont., Canada Dave Kobelka, Stevensville, Ont., Canada Christopher & Ruth Koehn, Cobble Hill, B.C., Canada Kevin B. Lanier, Navarre, Fla. Steve Lawrence & Stephanie Waddington, Mill Bay, B.C., Canada Thomas M. Lechner, Rockville, Md. Andrew Lee, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Joseph-France Lefebvre, Carole Fecteau, Ariane Fecteau-Lefebvre, Louis-Joseph Fecteau-Lefebvre, La Motte, Qué., Canada Robert Leslie, Ottawa, Ont., Canada Bruce Lindsay, North Vancouver, B.C., Canada Eliot Lothrop, Huntington, Vt. Neil MacDonald, Kimberley, B.C., Canada David Madden & Khya Saban, Naksup, B.C., Canada Michael & Carole Mann, Bellaire, Texas

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Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

Brendan Matthews, East Haddam, Conn.

James Maygard, Breton, Alb., Canada Joel McCarty & Susan Norlander, Alstead Center, N.H. Mike McLaine, West Townshend, Vt. Stephen S. Meyer, Fort Collins, Colo.

Joe Miller, Alouez, Mich.

Johnny Miller, Howard, Ohio Trevor Barnett Mitchell, Buena Vista, Va. Gene Moore, Marysville, Ohio T. Michael Moore, Branchville, N.J. Eric Morley, Boone, N.C. Steve Morrison, Boothbay, Maine Grigg & Cindy Mullen, Rockbridge Baths, Va. Higgs Murphy, St. Paul, Alb., Canada Laura Neary, Newport, Ore. Robert W. O’Briant Jr, Southport, N.C. Mark Olson, Seattle, Wash.

John Palmer, Big Sky, Mont.

Mark & Mary Ann Parkinson, Huntsville, Ont., Canada Allan Peoples, San Francisco, Calif.

Robert D. Perantoni, Lovettsville, Va. David Petrina, Vancouver, B.C., Canada David & Bonnie Pickartz, Franklin, N.C. David Pickhardt, Gravel Switch, Ky. John Poole, Derby, Conn.

Joe Poulin, Vernon, B.C., Canada Adam Riley, Driggs, Idaho Anthony & Rose Risso, Manteca, Calif.

Chris Roberts, North Branch, Mich.

Andrew Roeper, Lyndeborough, N.H. Steve Ruckman & Rachel Farber, Rochester, Minn.

Mark Salo, Dodgeville, Mich.

Dick Schmidt, Laramie, Wyo. Yoav Shapiro, Wilmington, Vt. Brent Shulman, Marshfield, Wisc.

Mark Slemp, Maurice, Iowa Matthew Smith, Stilwell, Ks. Alicia Spence, Florence, Mass.

Colin Stotts, Calgary, Alb., Canada Bill Sturm, Bend, Ore. Mark & Jennette Surnoskie, Pembroke, Ont., Canada Lon Tyler, Sweet Home, Ore. Gary Viano, Placentia, Calif.

Trey Warren, Lander, Wyo. John Waters, Annapolis, Md. Mark Welch, Columbia Falls, Mont.

James David Whidden, Ashburnham, Mass.

Kyle Whitehead, Bradford, N.H. Gene Wixson, Portland, Ore. Todd K. Woodrick, McLean, Va. Hal Woolley, Mississauga, Ont., Canada Brian Wormington, Rochester, N.Y. Harry Wayne Yonce, Franklin, N.C. Vincent A. Zambetti P.E., Fort Meyers, Fla. Larry Zhou, Auburndale, Fla.

For students and seasoned proFessionals

James mitchell

A comprehensive guide to the traditional art of timber frame building

www.MastersGuideBook.com

August–September 2012 Scantlings 172

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Apprentice Log Game of Logging Last summer I found myself on a familiar, if infrequent, hunting expedition: stalking the wild fork.

Our client was interested in having a tree fork from his property included in the frame we were cutting for his new home. We found a handsome white ash tree, just behind the house site, that seemed a fine prospect.

I don’t do much felling and generally find myself, electric chainsaw in hand, sizing up a juicy tenon on a safely sedated timber on horses in the shop. So the situation had my attention. Still, within five minutes, I narrowly missed getting a trunk in the face as it levered off a small hump of ground when the top came down AND had a close call with a spring pole. Hmmm. Perhaps some training would be in order.

Always park facing out so you don’t have to turn the truck around while holding your tourniquet tight.

I put in a call to Joel, who confirmed that as a journeyworker I had $500 per year to spend on training and that the Game of Logging would certainly qualify. The

14

Game of Logging is a timber harvesting training program developed by Swedish logger Soren Erikson in the 1960s and offered around the country. The program’s four levels must be taken sequentially, so I signed up for levels 1 and 2 and hope to fit in levels 3 and 4 this fall.

Level 1 started in the classroom with planning for emergencies, personal protective equipment, and daily chainsaw safety checks: lots of common sense and some things I never thought of, such as always parking facing out so you don’t have to turn the truck around while holding your tourniquet tight.

Then we moved to the woods where we discussed reactive forces while sawing: push, pull, kickback, and attack points on the bar. Our instructor, Al Sands of Northeast Woodland Training, demonstrated modern felling technique. First he created a notch of at least 70° with a width of 80% of diameter-at-breast-height (DBH) and no by-pass. He then used bore cutting to create a hinge with a thickness of 10% of DBH and to leave a trigger (a small amount of wood at the back of the tree) that allows the tree to be wedged if needed.

The cutter gives a final check for safety, and s/he releases the tree with one quick cut.

Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

Paul Russell

After practicing these cuts on stumps and reviewing the process of making a felling plan (target acquisition, hazard recognition, side lean, escape route, hinge information, and back cut plan), each student felled a tree and was scored on the various safety and procedural

elements. Since each of us put our tree within a few feet of the target, this is a vast improvement on the old practice of chasing the hinge, which makes wedging trickier, increases the chance of barber-chair incidents, and gives less control.

An excerpt from Soren Erikson’s Game of Logging, taught by Al Sands of Northeast Woodland Training.

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Our second day, Level 2, started again in the classroom with a thorough introduction to chainsaw maintenance—cleaning the filter, cleaning and filing the bar if needed, types of chains, proper sharpening and tensioning, inspection of the chain brake and chain sprocket, and inspection and adjustment of the starter cord. We spent the afternoon in the woods reviewing and practicing felling techniques and learning how to safely release spring poles.

With our busy season upon us, frames to raise, and no fork requests in sight, I won’t be getting back to levels 3 and 4 right away (they address felling difficult trees, limbing and bucking, and planning logging jobs), but from this class I gained some excellent knowledge on chainsaws, felling technique, and escape plans, as well as knowing when to simply walk away—with the chain brake on, of course!

—Josh Jackson

What is bore cutting?

BORE CUTTING is plunging the tip of the saw directly into the wood. After you make your hinge cuts, it allows you to cut most of the wood holding the tree while leaving a small bit on the far side of the tree from the hinge. This small remaining bit of wood is called the trigger. You can put the trigger in just the right spot, set wedges, take a final look for people or other hazards, and then cut that last bit of wood (the trigger) and step away quickly. The old method involved simply cutting in from the back side with the side of the bar, essentially going right through that trigger first and cutting rapidly toward the hinge . . . referred to as “chasing the hinge.”

Once started in that method there is no turning back, no way to set wedges, and more chance of “barber chair” incidents.

—Josh Jackson Will Beemer

Practicing modern bore cut felling technique on a stump.

A big step up This style of felling is considerably different from the production style I endured, which goes like this: See the target. See the escape. See the 20 bucks you make for cutting and limbing this stem.

Stand or kneel facing the tree with your back to the target and hold the saw with the bar level, full throttle.

Using the top and tip of the bar, make a level cut no more than 50% of diameter. The saw will fly out of the cut, so you have to get it under control and swing back to . . .

Make the upper cut of the felling notch with the top of the bar, paying close attention so as not to undercut the first pass. The saw will fly out, so when you get it under control, swing back and knock the wedge out with the bottom of the bar and spinning down chain, then . . .

With full throttle and good technique, plunge the bar through the heart and (if bar is long enough) out the other side of the tree. If not long enough, step to your right and make a level cut parallel to the notch that intersects with the boring from the other side. If it is a veneer tree, score the bark and cambium layers to girdle the tree.

Look closely at the tree, your notch, your escape, and the target, judge which part of the hinge needs to be the holding wood, and cut accordingly by cutting from the boring. This allows the logger to step away from the falling stem (which, we all learn, can become a projectile if the branches load and launch just right).

This old-school technique at work in the woods is a remarkable ballet (with an athlete and a high speed saw moving seamlessly and effortlessly, the saw and gravity doing most of the work, and the logger hanging on for dear life), and it is likely the reason there are so few saws in the woods today. Now, the mills will only buy wood with approved notches or harvester sign showing.

—Curtis Milton 16

Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

events Paul Russell

These listings are for Guild workshops and meetings, were submitted by Guild members, or announce other relevant events.

Guild events Picnic Pavilion Aug 18–19, Frankfort, Ky. Southeast Regional Gathering 2012 Sep 14–16, Franklin, N.C. Jeremy Ford, Joe Bell (Cabin Creek Timber Frames), 828/369-5899.

Evergreen Sports Pavilion rescheduled to 2013.

Eastern Conference Oct 18–21, National Conference Center, Leesburg, Va. (See page 2.)

other events Assn. of Preservation Technology/Preservation Trades Network International Preservation Trades Workshop Sep 29–Oct 4 Charleston, S.C. www.apti.org/conferences/conference-current.cfm Carlon-Sobon Traditional timber framing / Jack Sobon and Dave Carlon Sep 26– 30 Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, Mass. Dave Carlon, 413/684-3612, dcarlon01@aol.com or Jack Sobon, 413/684-3223, jacksobon@verizon.net.

Christian & Son Timber Framing Log blockhouse reconstruction: hewing to 19th c. military specs, steeple notch joinery, clinch nail door fabricating Nov 3–10, Lorain County Metro Parks, Columbia, Ohio 330/624-7282, Rudy Christian, rchristian@planexus.com or Laura Saeger, lsaeger@planexus.com.

EcoNest School of Natural Building In Ashland, Oregon— Timber framing Aug 27–31 Clay-fiber walls Sep 3–6 Natural plasters Sep 7–8 Roof construction Sep 10–13 Japanese carpentry–timber framing Oct 1–7 On Salt Spring Island, B.C.— Roof construction Jul 30–Aug 2 Robert Laporte, robert@econest.com, 541/488-9508.

Heartwood School Timber framing Aug 20–24 Comprehensive homebuilding Jul 30–Aug 10 Finish carpentry Aug 13–17 Scribing Aug 27–31 Natural building in the Northeast Aug 31–Sep 1 Compound roof framing Sep 10–14 Washington, Mass. Michele Beemer www.heartwoodschool.com, request@heartwoodschool.com, 413/623-6677.

Island School of Building Arts Building with logs Sep 3–28 Concrete counters Jul 30–Aug 3 Timber frame bents Oct 29–Nov 23 Timber frame post and beam Oct 1–26 Gabriola Island, B.C. www.isba.ca, 250/247-8922.

North House Folk School Basic timber framing Aug 23–27 Build your own timber frame—larger call to schedule Grand Marais, Minn. www.northhouse.org, 888/387-9762.

Rocky Mountain Workshops Square . . . scribe . . . CRUCK! / Neil Godden and Jack Sobon Aug 12–26 Mastering the basics of square rule timber framing / Skip Dewhirst and Chris Drake Sep 9–15 Colorado State U. Rocky Mountain Campus, Pingree Park Peter Haney, www.rockymountainworkshops.com, 970/482-1366.

SIPschool Installation for SIP professionals Oct 23–26 (See page 3.) www.sipschool.org.

Yestermorrow Design/Build School Practical math for building Aug 5–10 Timber framing Sep 23–29, Nov 9–15, Jan 27–Feb 2, 2013 Undergraduate semester in sustainable design–build Aug 19–Dec 7 Advanced Timber Framing Nov 16–18, 2012 Warren, Vermont. www.yestermorrow.org, 802/496-5545.

Your golden opportunity VOTING FOR the three available seats on the TFG board of directors will open soon. Online voting will begin August 20 or so; if you would like a paper version mailed to your address, please ask Susan at the TFG office, susan@tfguild.org, 559/834-8453. New board members will be announced by October 1, and we hope they can attend the Eastern Conference in Leesburg, Va. Thanks for taking part in your Guild through the time-honored process of voting.

—Joel McCarty August–September 2012 Scantlings 172

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Franklin Pavilion ADAM VALESANO AND MARK OTERI are leading the fabrication of the frame with the work program at the Lewis County Detention Center in Vanceburg, Kentucky. They will be using roughsawn white oak milled by the nearby Goodwin Mill, a circular saw mill operated by a brother and sister. Cutting begins August 6.

Footings and slab were scheduled to be poured in late July, so we are on schedule to raise the 20 x 40 monitorstyle frame, a picnic pavilion, Saturday, August 18.

Lewis County Detention has already cut two frames to date. They are under new leadership, as the former supervisor, Bill Conley has passed the torch to Jackie Stafford. Bill will help with the transition by working with the crew throughout this project. Local support for the program is huge. In addition to building the frame, TFG will help outfit their shop. Part of our budget is earmarked for tools and reference materials. With training and some new tooling, our hope is this program can set down solid roots.

This project would not be possible without the support of the City of Frankfort, represented by Jim Parrish, Director of Frankfort Parks, and Patrick Kennedy of The Kentucky Heritage Council. If you take a moment to reflect, you will quickly come to the understanding that, from a municipal standpoint, there are much, much

Bill Conley

Inmates of the Lewis County Detention Center plus staff finish up a timber frame. For more, see Scantlings 170 and the web.

easier ways to build a frame. These men back our vision that the process of building can be transformative for an individual, and maybe even for our society.

TFG continues to do what we do. In this project we have a chance to share in the life-affirming aspects of our craft with a population that, frankly, nearly always has to stand in the shadows. If you signed up to help with raising day, you will shortly get more information. The Guild is headed to the Bluegrass State! —Alicia Spence

Forever Green Laminates Brattleboro, VT 05304 877-233-4345 www.fglaminates.com ENGINEERED INSULATED PANEL SYSTEMS

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Scantlings 172 August–September 2012

!

Notices

Notices are for one-time events and offers, and they run free to Guild members for two issues per year. The cost to non-Guild members is $58 per notice per issue.

A notice, whether free or paid, runs for a maximum of two issues. Notices are intended for onetime events and offers; appropriateness for inclusion is decided by the editor.

for sale Band saw.

Oliver portable band saw, $400. Call Rick Collins, 309/221-8020.

help wanted Designer, timber framer: two positions.

Zirnhelt Timber Frames Ltd. is looking for a full-time designer. Complete home design with some commercial projects. Skilled at comprehensive shop drawings, project management, and materials procurement.

Also seeking a timber framer full time in our hand-cut shop.

We are near Williams Lake, B.C. Our website is www.ztframes.com.

Send résumé to Damon Zirnhelt, damon@ztframes.com.

Engineering technician.

Fire Tower Engineered Timber seeks an engineering technician for our Calumet, Mich., office. Required: skill to read architectural and structural drawings-specs; experience in both 2D drafting and 3D modeling in AutoCad; able to perform take-offs; samples of work. Experience with Sketchup, HSB, Cadwork, or Dietrich’s is a bonus. Some administrative duties. Please send letter of interest and résumé to Joe Miller, joe@ftet.com.

Experienced timber framer.

Company in northwest Montana seeks an experienced timber framer.

In business since 1988, our projects vary in size and scope but never in our dedication to quality. Both timber and log framing. Our small, hard-working crew of craftsmen and women also enjoy the outdoor activities connected with our location, 40 miles from Glacier National Park. Wage depends on experience and performance. Benefits package available after probation. Please email introductory letter and résumé to sandy@centennialtimberframes.com.

Skilled log builder and draw-knifer: two positions.

Skilled log builder needed, for full-scribe log homes. For more information, see www.WoodenHouseCompany.com.

Needed immediately: log draw-knifer. Piece rate. Call John Nininger, 802/222-1860.

Timber frame carpenter.

Gibson Timber Frames requires a timber frame carpenter with at least two years’ experience with heavy timber or logs. Please send résumé to 613/264-9120 or office@ripnet.com. We are located in Perth, Ontario, and we may be able to help with lodging.

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August–September 2012 Scantlings 172

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PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID LITHTEX NORTHWEST MAILED FROM 98226 P.O. Box 295 9 Mechanic Street Alstead, NH 03602-0295 Address Service Requested

Update on TFG reincorporation IN SCANTLINGS 170 (May–June 2012), I wrote asking you whether the TFG should reincorporate in New Hampshire. After consultation and reflection, we’ve decided to abandon this effort, for several reasons.

Voter turnout. The early returns indicated that the possibility of actually getting two-thirds of members to vote were pretty close to zero. I interpreted this as members’ unwillingness to engage in a process whose consequences you cannot foresee.

Grantsmanship. My workshop experience in the nonprofit universe tells me that, since the dismay of 2008, granting institutions are much more chary of the small non-profit applicant, and they are demanding full audits and history of 990 filings going back through time.

Local options. Our accounting firm has offered to help us develop a relationship with a local firm that can

deliver services without the travel and expense of the current Massachusetts auditing firm.

Scandal and subsequent modifications to the Sorbanes-Oxley Act. The IRS is now requiring re-application for non-profit status when incorporation changes.

Non-profit status used to be a slam-dunk, but it’s now onerous. Those of you who have been through the 501(c)3 application process know to avoid it if possible.

Looking up. Ken Rower points out that we have come pretty close in years past to the N.H. financial threshold for requiring a full-on audit anyway. Therefore, reincorporating in N.H. does not carry a significant financial advantage that would balance the difficulty and expense of doing so.

We are counting on the trend that our future will be better than our present. It’s all good. —Joel McCarty