My frame is not "Benson-esque", it's somewhere between Jack Sobon and 'jack up the barn so we can replace that rotting sill'.
I started with an almost complete existing frame (Jack's hall and parlor design from "Build a Classic Timber Framed House") which I rehabilitated and added onto. It's all square rule (and draw bore) except where the timbers forced me to adapt. My rafter stock for the hall and parlor was 5yrs dried spruce that came with the frame; yup, that wood had moved. I adopted Jack's design, which calls for tapered rafters and milled one flat face to work from.
I think one of the major advantages timber frame companies have over guys like Thomas and myself is time. They can cut and raise a frame a good deal faster so the wood has less time to move.
My house went up in three separate raisings (main house, shed addition, then office). Some of my green timbers sat as much as nine months from the time they were delivered until joinery was cut and cut members sat up to four months before assembling. More than once I adjusted joinery to cope with the effects of drying and by the end I had receding corners and developing checks as well as knots to consider during layout.
The third raising (office) was accomplished w/ the assistance of Foard Panel's truck crane. Despite the fact I'd test fit everything I could I think I suffered a 20% increase in grey hairs when the first truss started to rise. These were all the green timbers that had sat the longest and incorporated one significantly twisted tie beam. In the end I had to shorten one purlin ~3/8" and add a little extra assembly relief to another, but otherwise it pulled together nicely.
There's something magical in climbing up a principle rafter driving pegs and watching the draw bore pull the frame together.
