Thane,
No apology is necessary. The rookie nature of my questions was evident. The good news is that I am not new to chisel and mallet having built a number of dressers, tables, etc. using traditional joinery. Though the scale is different, many of the principals are similar. I also have built two Rushton style small boats from the late 1800's which might not be relevant to timber frame construction except to illustrate my desire to use traditional techniques.
"read several more books" is a great suggestion, you might notice in my original post a request for reference materials. SInce then I have acquired and read the Benson and Gruber book besides the Chappell book. Any other suggestions? I'm not too worried about the joints which are, I undertand, central to this form of construction; right now I'm more concerned about sizing and spacing of the components, deciding which tools I HAVE to have, deciding whether to use local Amish milled Hemlock or second growth Douglas Fir sold by a lumber suppler, etc.
"Start small" - The idea of a "training structure" makes sense, though age and approaching infirmity probably mean this barn will be my first and last timber frame structure (unless I can get some help).
In summary, I really do appreciate your "$0.02",
Carl
