Will Truax,
This is in response to you question on page 1 of this post.
Steve illustrated that the kingpost frame is probably the most effecient use of timber for the given space. The original pic that Carlos posted is a kingpost that makes up the library at Foxmaple in Brownsfield, ME. His primary example was his timberframe workshop which is a 32foot clearspan kingpost. If I remember it is 3 clearspan kingpost bents and the 4th a conventional bent. The king post will allow you to span these distances using shorter timbers (you don't use a continious tie beam. The only downside is tension joinery, which can be used if propely engineered, just not preferable. By not preferable does not mean that it can't or should not be used, just that if there is a choice, try to use compression as a it will always be stronger in compression. Steve actually worked through stress calculations in both the kingpost and a regular joint to show the difference. More focus should be given to design of tension joinery, the selection of material, and the execution of the frame pieces (and proper support during raising) as there is typically less margin than a compression frame. One question I currently have is whether such a kingpost frame can adequeately support the extra load of a second floor (with sufficient margin of safety) on the king post truss. This must be flushed out by calculation in my opinion.