TTRAG

Who's going? I'll be there all three days.

Hi Dave. I'm going from Maine and I have not found anyone to ride-share with yet. Mapquest recommends I take the Mass. Pike, but I may go through NH.

Looks like a great show.

JIm

Great! I'll be looking for you. We barely got more than an introduction at the VAF in Sturbridge.

I may not make the afternoon walking tour, but I'll be there as well for all three days, with all the tools.....as usual....

Schedule says no, logic says go..

I'm in the former Rotterdam NY, helping David D,.on a restoration project on the oldest house (and one of the few 18th ca houses this far west) in this county, the house of a Dutch arms dealer who was owed millions (their time) by the newly independent government. He settled part of that debt for a half million acres that stretched from the shores of Oneida to Ontario, and came out here in 1793 from NYC with surveyors and carpenters and millwrights, and planned, laid out and named towns, and built mills -

We're behind schedule (with tarped sections of roof & open walls) because my damn truck developed an elusive electrical issue when I tripped home (better there than here I guess) for Molly's B-Day.

My intent is to attend as a Saturday commuter.

Jim – Have you traveled Rt 9 since the bypass around Hillsborough Center ? Mileage, time and scenery wise, it and the Molly Stark Trail is a better ride – Trekked it recently, took a few this time and stopped to look at the Old First Church in Bennington – pix here http://twitpic.com/1lrh5g And if you have any bridge geek in you, you might want to drive over Brattleboro's Creamery Covered Bridge, ( within sight of 9 just after you jump off of the two mile stretch of 91 ) Sunday the 23rd is the last day it will ever be open to vehicular traffic

Thanks Dave.

Jim, I look forward to seeing you and your tools.

Will, I would rather travel rt. 202 than an interstate. Thanks for the sightseeing tips. I hope you can make it.

I am going to through a wrench into my ride-sharing prospects, but I am planning on going out early Thursday to get some Dutch barn tours with Kim Balfor who lives in that area. I am sure Kim would welcome anyone who can make it to join this private tour.

Thanks;
Jim

Jim, I would enjoy a ride share but I can not make the time. It was a hard decision, I am sitting this one out. The list of attractions sounds great. I feel the strings pulling but the anchor is set.

Tim

I had a great time at the event. It was my first Guild event, and worth the trip. Met a lot of great, like-minded people, saw a lot of really cool barns, houses and churches, and heard many wonderful presentations.

Hi Dave,

It's good that you enjoyed this event.

I wonder if you could share with us what positive outcomes that you might now well adopt, incorporate into your thinking and / or practice and promote following your attendance at the TTRAG conference ?

Regards

Ken Hume

It is hard to sum up this TTRAG conference for me because so much happened. Going a day early was well worth it, the extra barns and Blenhem Bridge we toured were quite interesting.

http://www.dutchbarns.org/dbpsnewsfall91pt2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blenheim_Bridge

http://www.tfguild.org/joinery/part1.pdf

I am not trying to pick on any region, but all of the anchor beam barns and "H-bent" buildings we looked at were failing the same way. The rafter thrust pushes the walls apart by splitting or bending the posts. If there are any tie beams close to the purlin plate they were tearing out or the rafters were slipping off of the purlin plates. Some of these large anchor beam barns had NO TIES within six to ten feet of the purlin plates! Alex and Alric of the NJ Barn Co comented on how well "Dutch" barns in New Jersey survive without making a comment about rafter thrust problems so maybe the fact that "Dutch" barns in NJ are 99% hardwood and these barns around Schenectady, NY are mostly softwood is the factor that sets them apart in this regard.

I enjoyed all of the presentations. Each speaker has many years of experience and many photos and drawings that took much time to produce, so to just sit there and soak in all of that knowledge such a brief time is quite a benefit. Their was no microphone so some speakers were hard to hear, though.

I did not know there are some larger buildings with sloping walls like a corn crib (see this for an example of a corn crib http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/ohkf/images/corncrib.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/ohkf/corncribmap.html&usg=__LOfE3G2AAQxWS1MmzYjIbn0QDko=&h=361&w=530&sz=32&hl=en&start=1&itbs=1&tbnid=lpzrGStQDhZZwM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=132&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcorn%2Bcrib%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPIB_enUS306US306%26tbs%3Disch:1 )

It was great to see and speak with friends from many states in one place. I was particularly pleased to meet John Stevens and listen to Don Carpentier.

http://www.hvva.org/hvva-stevens.htm

http://www.greatamericancraftsmen.org/eastfield/eastfield.htm

I hope Will Trueaux lets me know how his NY/CA bridge project works out.

I was very concerned to learn from John MacNamera that he lives in an area in Pennsylvania which has one of the biggest underground reserves of natural gas and that there is a drilling boom in progress which has forever poisoned the ground water in some places. The true costs of energy continue to reveal themselves!

The book store and Guild products are always interesting to me.

http://tfguild.stores.yahoo.net/guildgear.html

http://www.summerbeambooks.com/

Ken, one immediate influence it had on me was that I put the new handle I bought from Jim Rogers on one of my my broadaxes and sharpened it! I confess that I did not comprehend the extent of the early history of the Albany area and that the Stockade neighborhood in Schenectady is considered the "oldest residential neighborhood in the US...". Traveling there helps me learn my history lessons.

Their is too much new information in my head to summerize.

The next meetings are a TTRAG members meeting in November 2010 on Eastern Long Island, NY, TTRAG conference in or near Ipswitch, Mass. north of Boston next spring and the eastern Guild Conference in Shepardstown, WV. Watch www.tfguild.org for more info. See you there!

Jim

Hey Jim -

Add a Du to the Trueaux plus an i and you have the Walloon surname my antecedents carried for 110 yrs, there in that former Dutch colony till the F&I.

Comes out? I'm still hoping and expecting for your support and help as we try to put this trans-continental organ measuring contest together and to bed...

( See Jim's wiki link to Old Blenhiem )

Knowledgeable people on both coasts measuring both bridges on the same day -

An end to the my bridge is better cuz it eats kennel-ration, and endless editing of the wiki entry.

A fun and funky reason for some of us to meet up, and verify each others findings through pop-culture and the wonders of online video and social media ????

Too geeky?

Will;

Sorry about mis-spelling your name. I will try to memorize it as "true axe" without the e and e.

It's not too geeky, but I am not likely to cause global warming, spend over $100 on gas, and spend the time to drive to NY to take a measurement. I am sure the professional, local help available to you can do the job.

I forgot to include another highlight of this meeting, the Maybee Farm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabee_House

Jim