Being relatively new to timberframeing, I've never used a beam planer like the Makita is see offered in the post below. Can someone explain how you go about flattening and squaring two faces of a beam to allow you to use square rule? How do you set up the planer? Is there some sort of jig involved? How do you make sure the second face is square to the first? I have acquired some rough sawn beams and some that have some twist and some that are not perfectly square. I might be in the market for a beam planer if I really understood how to use it. Thank you for any help you can offer.

It really comes down to technique. The planer stays static, but to get the wood off that you want off is mostly in where you put pressure (right/left, front/back/center) and how you adjust the blade as you go along the timber.

For square rule, you can use a 12" to bring the timber to within 3-1/32 of your lines, depending on how familiar you are with the machine. If you're not fully comfortable with the 12" you can use a 6" or smaller to get it down closer to your lines, or hand plane if needed, leveling it up as you go along. Once satisfied, run that 12" sucker to the lines, a few light passes are best, and with even weight so as not to lose your level face.

Really though, it comes down to your line and your square more than your planer experience. Snap lines are a good thing, and a square that is square is even better.

When you've got a line to work with, you can see where you need to plane to (or hew, in some cases...)
And if your first face is nice and flat and to both lines, you can bring it down easy to your second face with your square square.

Oh, and one tip with the planers, never try to take off more than 1/32 or so in a single pass. The 12" is big, but one still has to be gentle with it. The planer will let you know when it's had too much to eat. They will have settings to allow for up to an eighth or more to come off...I've never gone that deep, but I have come close when dealing with wavy spots.

Use a wire brush to remove as much dirt as possible from the timbers to save your blades. Changing and sharpening these blades aren't much trouble at all. Replacing them is a drag, though, as is not being able to finish a job due to busted blades. 2 sets on hand at all times is good.

My 2 bits.
Peace

The beauty of square rule is you do not need a square timber.

Some people only plane the faces of the timbers that will show inside the frame and leave the outside rough. Why spend the time to plane it if it's not going to show....?

Jim, I thought the point was to plane your two reference/layout faces square and true so that you could layout properly and accurately? Was the technique that Steve taught us this summer Square rule or Mill rule? I thought they were pretty much the same, no?
Timbergoddess, thank you for the reply, but could someone be a little more specific or detailed about the approach to trueing up a timber and getting the reference faces squared up? Are you literally free handing it?
Do you start by snapping chalk lines and then freehanding with the planer to the line, using the planer like carving tool? Chalk lines don't seem all that accurate compared to using razor knives to mark layout. Are there other techniques whereby you set up a straight edge to use as a guide for the planer? I don't know, I'm just guessing or imagining. That's why I need some more detail.

Ya...specific and detailed in writing is not my strong point...spacial thinker that I am. I gotta be there.

Time for a shoutout to anyone that can help our brad_bb with a more articulate answer than I can provide! I know there are many of you out there....!

OK, brad, let's hope that does it

I've never used the power planer to square a timber accurately. If a timber is out of square and I want to improve it, I will usually start with the 3 1/2" planer and plane down to a line, usually on one side of the face. Once I'm down to the line with the small planer, I would take the big planer and flatten out the face. If I want accuracy I would probably reach for the circular saw or the sawmill, or even the broadaxe which will take off a small out of square peice of face pretty quick.

My method for using a 12" Makita beam planer:
1. If you're bound and determined to buy one of these things, then also hire someone else to run it. If you decide to use it yourself then shop around for a good chiropractor -- you'll be seeing this guy a lot.
2. Put the timber on sawhorses -- shorter to mess up your lower back, higher to screw up your shoulders. Or use short in the morning and taller in the afternoon to spread the agony around.
3. Flip the timber and find the best face, take a couple 1/32" passes off. As TG said, more then that and you'll plug the planer up solid.
4. If the timber has a taper, now is the time to get the 16" saw out, find the best edge and rip the other edges parallel. Of course a 16" saw won't rip all the way through an 8" stick, so I finish the cut with a 3 1/2" planer. Sometimes this even squares up the timber. Sometimes.
5. So you've got the timber planed on the top, now square the left face to the top face. As TG mentioned you can apply a bit of 'english' here. The planer is heavy enough that if you have it way over to one side it will cut more on that side then the other. Take off a pass or two, check for square, repeat. Gradually you'll work the planer back to the center - your last pass will be right down the center of the face.
6. Flip the timber and plane the right face, same method. With three adjacent sides square - flip the timber to the backside and plane the last face, same method.
7. Volia, you've got a square timber ready for mill rule and your chriopractor is going to buy a really nice boat.

To be serious -- The Makita beam planer is a great tool. With sharp blades it gives an outstanding clean finish that is better then sanding. Just don't underestimate what lugging around a fifty pound boat anchor all day, day after day - will do to your body.

Cheers;

Brad:
I believe the way Steve Chappell designs his joinery is called Mill rule.
That is the timbers are true size 8"x 8" for example and all surfaces are 90° to each other. With timbers like this, the mortises can be cut right into the surface of the timber with no housings. And with all the faces correct it is easy to check your work and see that the joints are cut correctly.

In square rule timber framing the trueness or lack thereof of the timber is compensated for by cutting the joinery to an inner prefect timber of a smaller size, thus creating the housings.

These joints have to be done correctly based on the reference side and or face, and the adjacent face. And the dimensions are usually pulled from the arris where these two faces meet.
If the faces aren't truly 90° to each other then you'll have to use your layout tools to check your work to insure that the joinery is true. Or you can plane the joinery area to be true first.

Jim Rogers

To plane the timber or not to plane them depends on the frame's intended use. If it's a barn or outbuilding that's one thing, if it's a house frame it's another.
When I was at Steve's school, a student asked why was he building with all planed timbers. He response was that after building many houses in Maine over the years, all with rough sawn timbers, he'd talk to the people who lived in them. Many of the housewives would complain that the rough sawn timbers looked dusty, no matter how they vacuumed the timbers the pores of the timber seem to appear to be holding dust. And they didn't like that.
Planed timbers are much smoother and don't have the rough surface to hold the dust.
This is why he changed to all planed timbers.

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