Timber Framers Guild Forums Tools Timberframe Design Couple of beginner questions

Hey Paul,

That's a good lead. There's a Swenson's not too far from here and they have those "Bird bath bases" Reasonable price too. Funny that I live in a town where there's granite all over the place but I can't get any of it that's useful to me.

Question, what size hole & what are you using for rod? Are you bothering with Stainless? Ot just rebar.

If I use these granite blocks for footings, would that be enough to hold the posts in place, along with the cross bracing without a sill? I'm looking at 8 foot walls, 12 feet total height.

-jeff

I also highly recommend the Guild's Small Timber Frames book. It has plans for 14 small frames, including a woodshed. CB.

Jeff,

At 50 lb/ cubic foot green, your 8"x8"x10' Hemlock should weight about 225 lb. In my White Pine project I found big differences in weight from one piece to another.

I found a peavy was all I needed to "transport" pieces (as large as 8"x10"x18') from one place to another. Lifting these large pieces up to my work surface worked well with the teeter/totter (4' apart) technique previously mentioned.

I planned my work surface to be the same height as my sills and thus, was able to move assembled bents into position for raising rolling on short pieces of PVC pipe.

I was lucky for the bent (~875 lb) raising in that there was a nicely positioned tree to which I attached a chain hoist.

I had a neighbor, who pointedly observed that a partially raised bent looked a lot like an oversized mouse trap, periodically stop by and lend a hand. But, I think it's clear that with time, patience, planning, care, a modest 18x24 barn can be built and raised single handed.

Carl

PS
I'm having trouble visualizing your "foundation".
Looking at your drawing, don't forget knee braces at the middle posts

Thanks Carl,

My plans keep evolving as I learn more.

Currently, I'm not going to use a sill..just posts. I was thinking I like Paul Freeman's idea of granite blocks under the posts. The granite would have a hold drilled, then steel rod in the hole and a corresponding hole in the post base. I will also put sonotubes under the granite blocks and will not be visible.

Sounds like the weights are not bad as single timbers, whole bents? I may need a to borrow a tractor to raise the bents.

I've been studying joinery, and deciding if I want to put the connecting gurts on the post top to make a roof truss, or below the post top and use a through-tenon or wedged through tenon.

If I don't get going and order the wood I'll be out there in January working on this thing!

I also need to figure out pegs. I might cut down a small maple or oak and try to make a few.

-Jeff

-jeff

I understand the aesthethic reason to use a simple rod instead of something like a simpson post bracket. But it seems to me that uplift from a strong wind might blow an open shed off it's stone foundation. Am I thinking wrong?

Hi,

Maple -n- oak are not equivalent and you cannot use maple as peg stock mostly because it's structurally not suitable for such a function and also because, for related reasons, it splits relatively poorly and pegs should be riven not sawn. Better haul the chunks of straight grained oak out of your fire wood stack that have been drying for a few years.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

DKR, yes I imagine wind could lift the structure off the foundation. I'm not really worried about it. I live in a town full of 200 year old barns and houses all sitting on granite blocks. Frankly I don't know if I'm violating building codes or not with this. I'll mention it when I turn in my permit application.

Thanks Don,

I was not aware that Maple was not suitable. I've got plenty of oak already cut to 16 inch lengths though.

Whoa. Better not mention that foundation point. I made that mistake on a very similar project and regret my openness with bureaucratic functionaries to this day.

Don Wagstaff

It seems I can't post pix here as I don't have a web page or pictures in the "cloud".

If you'd like some photos of my recent project and have broadband send me an email at carlmill#acsu.buffalo.edu substituting @ for #.