Well the reason I'm asking all this is that, as you know, I learned Steve's mile rule technique in his class. I am preparing to build my new timberframe workshop now (and subsequently will design and build my houseframe). I do not want to leave my shop timers rough, but as nice as the house timbers. Anyway, I have picked up some reclaim Beech timbers that I plan to incorporate into my frame. They are about 9"X12" now, but I plan to have 2 faces resawn due to some light rot on one face that doesn't go very deep. I also have some pine reclaim beams that are 38ft long, 24ft long and 18feet long(8"X8" & 8"X10"). I do plan to sand these timbers for a smooth finish. I need to understand how to layout on these pieces that do not have perfectly planed faces. I am currently reading the Green Book From the TFG to try to understand scribe rule, but any advice is helpful. Another option is to go to a timberframe shop a few hours from me and see if they could teach and advise me on technique I am not familiar with.

are any two faces square to each other? if so you might be able to a square rule technique. Also if its a small frame maping each timber also works well. sounds like mapping them would be easier and quicker than scribe rule. I would recomend that you cut all your joinary in the pine than sand so that you do not leave tool marks and other marks that can occur during layout-cutting process. I will also offer to you that i currently have no work lined up and if you would like a hand and willing to pay and put me up for a couple weeks i would be more than glad to come out and help you out. let me no
good luck
matt
e-mail me at eddymatt84@yahoo.com

Hi,
I am very new to timber framing and am intrigued by the terminology, What is a square rule and how is it used in timber framing, any publications that I can find out more about this.

It depends what you mean by square. The beech beams I have were originally sawn on a mill, but they dried and some checking occured, some of the faces are no longer flat and true. Do you consider a sawn face square? I'd only consider planed faces square generally and even then you should check to see how close to square they really are. I wasn't intending on using scribe rule on these timbers. I am trying to learn about it though as I may want to incorporate some whole spruce logs I have peeled. Lastly, I do intend to hire a couple of itinerants, but probably not until late winter or spring...or early summer if my schedule gets really off. I will likely post on this board when I am looking.

I think I'm getting a little better understanding of using the planer. I talk to someone I work with who is a wood worker who told me that his planer has a fence to keep his planer square to the adjacent face. That's what I wasn't aware of. I assume the 12 inch planer has a fence too? I also asked, What if the beam is tapered over it's length. Can you set up some straight edges to guide a planer so that you plane the taper off of the timber? For example if the timber is wedge shaped, can you set up straight edges on the sides of the beam or at least one side so that you are taking off more material on the thick end of the timber? I'm going to borrow someone's regular power planer and use it a bit to get a feel for it. Would using a smaller planer like a 6inch be easier to handle and still allow me to do the job on a 12 inch wide timber?
Jim, you asked "Why spend the time to plane it if it's not going to show....? " I would think that you'd want a good fit between SIPS and the frame (your outside reference face). I would think this would help your was to be straight if you install drywall and paint. I would agree if roughsawn is pretty straight, then perhaps you wouldn't need to plane. But if you habe a few timbers like I do, where the original checking cause some points along the length to stick out 1/4 inch, then perhaps it would be good to plane that back down to get a good flat face to mate with your SIPS and drywall(or T&G).

The fence won't keep it square to the adjacent face. The planer is too heavy. All the fence does is keep you moving in a straight line, and keep you from wandering away from the edge. My protool has a little bearing that flips down over the edge to accomplish the same thing. CB.

It may help to think of this more as a portable joiner (with short tables - the long table version would need the optional jib arm for lifting it into place). It makes things flatter. It is not a magic wand - those are in the box next to Norm's Windsor Chair Machine and the skyhooks. This is not a tool for the faint of heart (which you may become the first time you lift it off the beam whilst the blades are still spinning and ready to shred your pants and more) but as with any tool it will produce great results when used properly.

Andy