... after my first few days of serious framing work. These are just some observations that might amuse some of the more experienced denizens of this forum, and will one day be worked into a blog posting in the hope that other people in my situation can make their own different mistakes instead of following in my footsteps.
1) Don't choose to make your house your first timber framing project.
2) Timbers get rolled a lot. This means that ideally, the surface on which they are supported should be long enough to allow them to be rolled 3 times without need to move them (recentre them). In other words, in addition to the requirement that the saw horses used should be sturdy and the right height, I would add that the clear span between the legs should be at least 3 times the width of the average timber that you'll be working on. In my case, my 60cm long saw horses, with legs inset by about 10cm each side, are about 20cm too short. This equates to a lot of timber shuffling when marking up... especially when squaring off.
3) Don't choose Douglas Fir for your first hand-cut frame project. I'm sure there are woods out there with more exciting grain, but I don't think that they get used for house building!
4) Don't choose to make your house your first timber framing project.
5) No-one puts videos on youtube showing the time that despite their best efforts, they had to cut a mortise through a knot. There is a reason for this... it's not pretty... and you certainly don't get to follow the "standard" routine for working. It has to be soothed, flattered and persuaded into giving in.
6) Tools are sharp... and so are the edges of the timbers that you've just cut. Splinters are understandable, but smacking your hand into the nice squared off corner of a timber is a lesson in anger management!
7) Don't choose to make your house your first timber framing project.
8) It's really obvious in retrospect but, make sure that your tools are long enough. Everyone talks about using forstner bits to pre-cut nice flat bottomed mortises, but no-one mentions that to be any use you also need a bit extender. You can make do with a standard magnetic screw driver bit, but about halfway through your 3rd bore you'll be cursing every god that you can remember. The same goes for chisels. A 50mm wide chisel is great, one with a long enough handle to let you work right the way through a full mortise is a blessing.
9) When in the planning stages, and thinking through how you're going to be working, try to avoid picturing your site in golden sunshine, with a clean, flat working area. Instead, picture gale-force winds and driving rain. Chalky, clay puddles. A slight slope that ensures that wherever you're working you're always in a puddle. Remember that while a light will allow you continue working past nightfall, it won't solve the falling temperature issue.
10) Seriously... Don't choose to make your house your first timber framing project!
:-)
The above is not by way of complaint. I'm having a lot of fun, despite the various cuts, scrapes and bruises. While I thought I understood square rule before I started, having cut a few timbers I know understand what I hadn't understood before. Marking out makes a lot more sense to me now.
P.S. While this isn't really off-topic in a timber framing forum, I wasn't sure of a better place to put it.
