There just really isn't anything quite like hiding a moment frame with the most expensive trim imaginable.

8:12 gable into a 6:12 main roof. Both ridges were different thicknesses. The valleys were 8x4's (haha, you can't make this stuff up), and were 44" long.

All I can say is that a deep and meaningful relationship has developed between me and a certain Fein tool.

Thought you guys might like to check it out.

bastard valley system

Hey Chuck!

Sculpting wood huh? Is this centerline square rule valley work? I see gains.

Where does the first 8/12 Common Rafter fall? I am having trouble seeing the converging roof surfaces below the valley. ?

Cool video. Thanks.

Hey Mo!

Yeah, sculpting in wood is a good way to put it. This is indeed centerline square rule valley work, based off of shops I generated from a SU model, which was based off of existing blueprints. The shops for this system were 19 pages of spaghetti, and then everything had to be laid out mirrored, too.

The first common rafter centerline is 3' away from the centerline of the gable ridge.

I always thought we would set the system up in space, once I had cut the ridge connections, if only to just double check the locations of the common rafter mortices, before cutting, as valley errors get big in a hurry.

Someone in the shop, who shall remain nameless, threw the gauntlet down by saying that I was crazy to not lay everything out in space and scribe the common rafter mortices, so that just made me say, "f$%# it, trust my shops, don't be scared, and cut it to math." Everything seems to plane and measure correctly, but I won't know for sure for a couple more weeks when it gets installed.

Between the shops, the milling, and the fabrication, the whole thing probably took 70 man hours.


I am exporting a quick video of the system to make things a little easier to visualize. Once I get it on Youtube, I'll cross link to here. I have a bunch of videos and such on my Facebook Page; you should check it out!
OTB Designworks

Cheers, Chuck

And here is a short animation of the system.

valley system animation

Cheers, Chuck

great vids, thanks for sharing.. it's great to see the 3D to real world pcs, no need for silly glasses.... now where da heck is my red pil

Now I see, thanks for the second video.

so did you take your modeling, look at it from the right perspective, measure the angles, then take the angles to a piece of mdf, label them, then set your bevel off of your mdf?

I think you were right with your decision, imagine the next time when your valley is 5X as long and weighs considerably more. Plus it makes the moment of truth even more fun, when it happens.

Wish I was doing some of that. If you guys are ever in need of someone with some work like this... We could break it all down with some line drawings and just have to calculate lengths.

So are you liking the work so far (besides it being trimber)?

To answer the question in the title...




a somewhat frustrated timber framer dealing with someone else's idea of how things should be built

Work flow kind of went like this:

Model timbers in SketchUp. I sized the timbers in SU to allow for 2 theo numbers for each timber, one being the outside dimension, and one being the reduction dimension. The outside dimension was called out small enough that it would also be entirely inside the as is timber so that I could have a theo relationship to work with.

To lay the valleys out, I first milled a flat reference face on the top (which will eventually have the backing cuts cut out of it). This gave me a face where I could snap out both the reduction and the exterior theo dimensions. After setting the timber in space, plumb and level, then I could use a laser to dance the lines around the timber.

Using the shops that were generated from the SU model, I knew what all of my angles were, and I used the snap lines to place these lines on the timber. The trick was to have all the reductions modeled beforehand, so I could ensure that, when viewed head on, would show a 1" of the tenon, and then 1" that is the bevel. Having that modeled allowed me to determine length along the valley that I need to have so that it looks like 1" when viewed straight on.

Once I laid out the sides, then I could dance the lines across the bottom, too.

Since I only generated shops for one side, I laid everything out on the mirrored valley at the same time, so I could keep the likelihood of getting confused to a minimum.

Now, still with the flat reference face on, I cut both ends of the valley. Once everything else was cut and finished, then I sliced out the backing cuts on the top face.

Am I liking the work so far? Am I a frustrated timber framer? Well, that depends. Firstly, I am really happy to be working, so that is is a positive. Second, as far as I am concerned, getting to model the job and generate the shops is the part of the job I really want to do, so that is definitely a positive. As far as cutting the pieces, I have always been the guy who wants to cut the hardest (most interesting) parts of the job. In this instance, since I had so much time into the pieces, just in the computer, everyone took one look at the shop drawings and told me to get my butt over and cut the pieces since I was more dialed in than anyone else. And, since most of the guys I work with have only known me mostly as the computer guy, even though I was a builder and contractor for 16 years before I even knew how to check my email, it was good mojo for me to step up and cut some of the most challenging pieces in the job.

I find it really helpful, now that I am working on the computer so much, to get out into the shop and cut wood fairly regularly, as it is so easy to forget that the computer pieces are really representing expensive, heavy, and time consuming sticks of glorious timber. It is good to remind myself how much time and effort it takes to move these guys around, and cut them, and set them in space, and all the other myriad steps that go into the cutting. Keeps me realistic and humble, you know?

cheers, Chuck