Thanks Jim
When two people tell me the same thing, there must be something to it. I will try this on the Cabana I'm building next week. I will let you know how it goes at the end of june when it gets raised.
Thane

remember when drilling without a guide, that you tend to have the drill a little out of plumb towards the driller. you can sight one axis but it hard to sight the other. a friend at the end of the stick can help.

as far as lay-out don't forget that the framing square is indeed handy off the edge of the timber. the tongue 1 1/2" the blade 2"

and don't blow out like I did yesterday.

hope all goes well. post some pics if you get a chance.

mo

I hold back on the drill and as soon as the feed screw, which is pulling the bit through the wood, runs out of wood it stops, no blow out. You might have to push through a knot or pitch pocket but not clear wood. Blow out does happen on occasion, that is life, as thoughts wonder.

Tim

Thane,
While I agree with Jim that pre-assembly is the "best" way to insure that your joinery will work and your peg holes are correctly laid out, it is by no means standard procedure or necessary. It is unlikely that a small shop or solo operation will have the time, room or means to pre-assemble joinery. We never pre-assemble and prick for draw except for scarf joints or in scribe rule, where you need the room for the assembly anyway for layout. In square rule, if your joinery is well done you should be able to layout for the peg hole on the mortise and then measure and offset the drawbore on the tenon without ever putting the joint together. The framing square is the tool to use, 1.5" or 2" off the shoulder in most cases. With experience you should become confident in your ability to cut and measure accurately. Large or inexperienced shops may pre-assemble because they don't have that confidence. Pre-assembly takes a lot of time that can be better used elsewhere. The drawbore on the tenon should be in the direction you want the mortised piece to go as the peg is driven. In some pieces such as rafter peaks and braces, the drawbore will be in two directions to bear against two shoulders.

I usually visualize this by sliding the prick for the tenon peg hole towards the shoulder, along the length of the timber.

Will - I'm not sure I understand moving it in 2 directions. For example - on a typical brace, if you slide the hole towards the shoulder this will pull the brace diagonally into the housing - butting it against the horizontal and vertical surface (effectively pulling into the corner of the housing). Sliding along the diagonal (length of the timber) effectively gives you a vertical and horizontal adjustment.

I agree (in theory) on the 2 part adjustment on a some rafters - you'd want to slide the peg hole so that it pulled into the shoulder and the face of the housing - but wouldn't you then want to do this on ALL pieces so that you didn't actually bore holes that forced a horizontal timber to 'hang' on the pegs?

Thane - it gets easier with practice, and as Will notes - many frames with carefully executed joinery need not be pre-assembled just for the sake of peg holes. But, if you add splines and scarf joints or scribing into the mix - and you'll have to decide what is the most effective practice for your project.

As an aside - be sure that your pegs are sized appropriately to the size of the tenon and that tenons have appropriate relish behind them - if you over draw bore or use too big a peg in proportion to the joinery you can blow the relish.

Exceptions to every rule. I am a small shop, I don't pre-assemble, unless I for see issues. I do see with more people in the shop there could be problems as Will points out.

The brace is simple, the two directions are toward the shoulder and away from the butt end.

As an option, any one not pegging braces? You could use 10 minutes per brace all tolled, for each brace, will it save time? Or is it worth it.

Tim

Tim

I agree, I guess I never thought of it in '2' directions, just 1, along the length of the timber. Move it 1/16" or 1/8" depending on size / etc. and go.

To preassemble or not to preassemble, this is the question. If a method can prove to be reliable then I would prefer not to. My normal method has been to use parralels 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 to make lines offset from shoulders and faces. I think the problem I was having was grabing the wrong parralel. Too many tools on the table... must put away tools not in use!
You can also offset the peg holes in a tie beam so that they pull in and down. This will ensure there is no wieght on the peg after the tennon has shrunk. Does this make sense?

Mike, you're right to say that my 2 directions is really one, into the corner. I think of it as drawing along the resultant vector of aligning it towards both shoulders. It's not always along the grain or length (in braces it is; rafter peaks, no). We don't bother with drawing to both shoulders on minor members or where bearing isn't an issue, but will offset (more than just drawbore) the peg towards the side we don't want shrinkage to occur at if that's an issue.
And yes, Thane, we usually offset the tie beam drawbore both in and down.

Will:
When I first started timber framing, I didn't do fit ups to test my joints or mark my tenon's peg holes. And I found that my tenon peg hole layout wasn't the best, at times.

Then I joined the guild and went to many guild raising. There I learned that this was the procedure used, especially at the raising for the forest service in NH.

Was that procedure at that raising a one of a kind thing?

Just curious.....