Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions slightly shorter than anticipated

so in burst of aftersupper energy i carried on with cutting the last post for our sauna. however, for a variety of reasons the tenon on top of the post ended up too long, and hence the post too short. so now i am wondering what to do with it. do i cut all of the posts down the extra 1 1/4"? this will bring the shoulder of the top tenon to within 5" of the mortise for the cross beam. or can a shim be placed between the post and the plate and then matched on the corresponding post with a trim piece?

i don't have a big enough tree down and handy to replace the miscut post, which is all adzed up fancy and jowelled. so i am committed to making use of it somehow.

i'm sure i will find this funny later.

someone once told me that shims are a carpenter's best friend
wouldn't take that long to make a pair of fancy shims to celebrate your mistake with?
( -;

Try to make the repair so it looks like you intended it to be that way dressit up a little bit chances are if you do a good emough job no one will notice,

One thought...I don't know if you have any scrap left from the posts, but if you have section- like enough length for a tennon, a mortise on the bottom and some meat in between, you can cut the post shorter and install the short piece to extend the post back to it's original length. Pin it from a side that is not seen, and then glue the two together as well. If there is any gap, fill it with wood filler. Then adz the two as a unit to make them look like they are one. You will see the cut line when you oil or stain the post, but It could be the best solution to fix the post. Brad_bb

thanks all. i'm happy i waited to think this one through. now the question is whether to make a feature of it or to craftily make the mistake invisible. i wonder. it seems that every interaction with the wood leaves process marks- it's a matter then of whether the ethic should be invisibility or transparency.

it's consoling to not have to recut all the rest of the posts-thanks.

I only suggested it because it sounds as if this is a relatively low load post/structure and would be in compression. Is it a 4X4 or a 6X6 or? If this were a post in a house timberframe, I don't think I would advocate this method. Good luck, Brad

If your strategy is to hide it, I'd suggest adding to the bottom. Will your sauna have built-in benches? If so, perhaps they'll hide the splice? Or baseboard trim? :-)

CB.

I suggested putting the short piece on the top so that there will be less weight and cantilever on it. If you put it on the bottom it can be less stable. It will have more weight on it and depending on who well braced the structure is, could allow the structure to move/rack more with that joint down low. Any play in the joint will be magnified by the length of the post on top of it. The whole post above could wiggle on that short piece. If placed near the top, the cantilever is only the length of the short piece and weight of the roof. This is why my inclination would be to put it on the tip. I understand that you want it on the bottom to make the connection less noticeable.

hmmm. i think i'll put a shim up top then. and make it a feature. a black black ash (all dark heartwood) came down 2 days ago and this would be a nice chance to play with it. i'm going with transparency.

the post is at the front of the building, in the change room, and is 9X9 spruce jowelled down to 9X7 below the cross beam. that's really the limiting design factor - if i do something below the joint both front posts have to be changed, and there's not a lot of roomabove the joint to play with.

the benches will be built in in the hot room (cedar sawn boards and 4X4 girts) and the change room (a very heavy 32X10 white pine plank).

sauna party labour day weekend!!!11 for all the workers. itinerants especially welcome. pm for party coordinates. there will be axe throwing also.

laughing all the way outside.

today's jackalope sightings: 0.

that is the perfect distraction. it's in the eyes. so intent.