TinK, thanks for another great post supporting us Sobonites without totally bashing Benson. The main problem with Benson homes for me is that they are not built by the homeowner from local materials, and are not affordable to the average homeowner. I am not surprised about Bensons philosophy, especially not when you take into account his clients ($$$).

As for making things in the forge I am making my own blacksmithing tools which I will use to make my own timber framing tools which I will use to build my own house. Not practical, but it is a fun journey.
I would be surprised to find Jack Sobon posting here, I know he doesn't use a computer in his architectural business. All of the plans he showed us during the workshop were hand drawn.

I have done some timber framing with power tools and some with hand tools. Working with hand tools is very relaxing and also quite productive. During the workshop a spectator commented that she had never seen so many people working so hard making so little noise. I looked behind me at fifteen people chiseling, planing, and boring in relative silence and said, yes, it's great isn't it?

Quite the spirited discourse here gentleman. In part because it is there for the taking , I would like to stake some middle ground, sometimes a dangerous proposition. In our small corner of the world we use both hand and power tools to build competively priced traditionally joined timber structures( all of our joinery is chopped to the line and hand planed). Striking the many balances to survive in the building trades is an endless practice. I believe it a neccessity and responsibility, to explore the roots of the craft and the potential, moving forward to recreate the way we build for an ever changing world.

Pass the Kool Aid ,
Mike

Derek,

Thanks. You're a brave man, telling the truth.
And you're right: building is fun, but nothing is more challenging and rewarding than family. A wood project can be perfect enough, but can a guy ever be a perfect enough dad?

I agree: master builders are the true architects. Anyone out there read The Old Way of Seeing by Jonathon Hale?

Thanks the rest of you folks, too, for posting luddite thoughts, and those in between, to the world?

Boatbuilding, eh, Derek? My town has less timberframes than a bad carpenter has fingers and the largest working woodenboat fleet on the West Coast. On occasion I leave my tools and go commercial fishing with friends on their wood trollers. It's one of the more beautiful experiences in the world, being dozens of miles offshore, pulling in fish, feeling a boat from the 30's work in response to big seas.
The folks who built those boats were builder/architects. Each fish iced in the hold makes the boat ride a little smoother. A good boat with a plugged hold rides like a happy boat.

Thanks, everyone, for this forum.

Zach

Well, now, don't I find myself in an awkward position, being both a timberwright and a CNC operator.
So here's my place in it all:
I grew up on a farm where my swedish mother raised sheep and taught weaving courses, and my scottish/native father hand crafted the looms for the courses. He had a swedish loom shipped to Canada for my mother which he used as a prototype for his own creations. The swedish one had metal hooks and gears, parts which he was unable to get at the time. So instead he built the parts out of wood. The result was a most amazing tool, hand crafted for hand crafting! My older sister loved the weaving part, but I loved the wood, the joinery, the smell of my fathers workshop, and spent as much time in there helping him as I could.
Our farm became known as a great hang out for the many artists and craft people travelling through the area at the time, and turned into a sort of hippie commune (we're talking early 70's, here), so people would trade their craft and experience in exchange for a place to sleep and a share in the garden.
So the beauty that I saw every day wasn't a proffessionaly drawn landscape; it was a stained glass window made from marbles and yesterdays broken plate, family portraits painted on scrap cedar planks, my own personal mug made from clay from our own river, and an old Dhukabor house with the craziest additions and funky trim! Nothing was 'perfect', but it was.
When I moved back to the area a few years ago, I learned there was a timberframing shop here. I promptly got a job there and started on my path to learning the most rewarding of trades. Dwight Smith, my employer, was and is an incredibly encouraging guy, and the level of talent and skill in that shop was amazing. And not one of the more than 15 men that I worked with had any issue with the fact that the only tool I couldn't supply was a penis! It wasn't needed! Go figure...
Anyways, after I had proved that I could leave, split or take the line while ripping a 10"x12"x24' with a 16" makita, and was well into learning layout, we all found out that the rumour was true: we were getting THE MACHINE!
At this point many of the highly skilled guys, some of whom had been with Dwight for many years, bailed immediately. Only one guy was willing to run the Hundegger - no-one else stepped up, and for obvious reasons; if any one of you were propositioned to give up hand cutting to run a CNC, what would your reaction be? Thought so.
But these guys had the years behind them. They were known in the timberframing and building community and have gone on to some great frames -sigh-. I had a pretty good job and wonderful co-workers, and three kids relying on me. I only had the 2 years as a timberwright under my belt, and could not and still cannot forsee going on my own.
So I stepped up.
I run the day shift. What I do have left of the old way is control over the assignment of pieces, and I can see the cut block from the shop from where the wood was selected. I can tell if a larch was cut down in the spring or fall, and cull it accordingly. And I can still go out in the yard before each project and select the perfect timbers for the 'perfect' bent. Some of them are clean and clear, but the real ones have little knots that look like eyes, that some small child will look at every night as she falls asleep, imagining.
So there. Somewhere rooted in this, be it in the blood or the memories or the encouragement, lies my philosophy on timberframing. I will always have it just as deep as many of you, a machine will not change that, but right now I gotta do it.
(And hand cut my own frame on the sly... )
*Kristina*

my philosophy of timberframing is a bit like my philosophy of religion, where I follow John Coltrane, who said "my religion is to study all religions"
so it goes for me with timberframing.
I was lucky enough to be trained initially in centerline square rule, and saw japanese joinery cut on my first job. I studied ontario barns from childhood, built and renovated at a living history museum, and built a home for my family using a barn frame. I'm now studying engish framing and hope to travel to the UK soon. I would love to study timberwork all over the world and learn as much of the craft as possible.
I see timberframing as a way to make buildings that will inspire people, buildings that will support people. The times I had in my family's barn as a child were some of my best times. I can remember laying on my back in the hay and tracing the lines of the timberwork with my eyes. and plenty of times with the cows inside and a wicked winter storm outside, and the feeling of security inside the barn...
I also like to teach timberframing and have held about a dozen courses at my workshop so far. I learn a lot through teaching, I feel you understand something better after trying to explain it.
there is no end to what can be learned in this craft.

What a great thread is being weaved!!

Everyone has a different philosophy, and I believe it stems from a person's own immediate need and circumstance, one person might need to put out a product that appeals to the right person, another might be interested in preserving history ( accurately)

I am in this last category, it is very self fulfilling and humbling to have been able to be part of the latter.

there is much left to be done in each of our areas that we live, whether it is in North America or overseas-and I say to all reap as you go but in the end give back something to your country by using your knowledge to preserve for future generations the skills that went before
NH

There's been so much action around here in the last few months, and so many new forum members, that I thought I would give this topic the Bump.

Any one else like to add their philosophy on timberframing?

*Kristina

Hi all,

is not the real beauty of a timber frame or any wood structure for that matter the wood itself and how it is put together? So why does it matter how any of us cut the beams?
Just because hundreds of years ago beams were cut with two-men-hand saws or maybe a water powered mill and hewn and chiseled by hand should not stop us from using what is available today. It does not change the beauty of the framework. And since most of us here are trying to get the "perfect" joinery why not let a CNC machine do that for us at a faster speed and a lower cost.
Just take a look at the industrious Germans. They are still building stunning timber framed houses. They last hundreds of years. And yet it did not stop them from using power tools. And once the timbers age and twist and split you would never see a difference anyway. Same is true for joinery. I always have to crack up when I see those super fancy shmancy tenon-peg-lap-joints.... that do not add to beauty nor significantly to strength on top of the fact that you cannot even see them when assembled. So way not go with something more simple yet still strong. And I am not talking metal fasteners instead of wood joinery.
So as long as we will have trees and keep them growing we will certainly enjoy the beauty of well build timber frames, no matter how they were cut. One cannot beat the natural appearance and warmth of wood.

Go with the times. You are adding electricity and running water as well as insulation to any new constructed home as well as insulated windows and doors. So what is the arguing about power tools or not?
Let's face it, if we want to convince our customers that a timber framed house is not some prehistoric relict of long past times that costs a fortune to build than we have no choice as to use power tools. Of course, if any of you out there can find laborers that are willing to work for a couple of bucks an hour it is doable. In that case send some of them my way.

As to the insulation issue: Since there is a large amount of fast growth wood one could simply build a solid wood wall. It will have to be somewhere around 10" thick or so but then you could build the house entirely without insulation. Of course this does not help with our timber frame issue.

Edited- for spelling

Welcome to the forum EH!

I think that the powertool issue is more about how someone wants to live their lives. There is less of a connection to the craft when you start mass producing posts and beams. I personally like to use the old tools. They do the job to perfection, and they don't use any electricity, they don't make any noise or dust. An experienced framer with good tools can certainly put out some work in a day. Powertools are often a way to make up for the experience neccessary to be productive, although I am not suggesting that all powertool users are inexperienced.

This is not to say that it is wrong to use them. If you don't mind the noise, dust, tripping over cords, then they are just fine. I enjoy peace and quiet when I am working, and I also like being able to have a conversation with co-workers when I am working, so the hand tools fill my needs well.

For some people there is no choice but to automate for ecnomical reasons, some companies build many frames a year and have to keep up with demand.

I realize that earlier I stated that I felt that it cheapens the craft. That is only my view, and when the client moves into their new home, they probably aren't going to be worrying about how the joinery was cut, just that it was cut, and that it is beautiful.

I personally place a value on the work that is completed, and not the time it takes to do it, so it doesn't affect the customer how I do it, only myself. My own philosophy is always changing as I learn more about timber framing. While I often disagree with other people, I always try to be open minded about the way they see timber framing.

I don't know how much timber framing you do, but if you would like to stop over and try out my antiques, I am getting some timbers in hopefully next week, and you are more than welcome. You can contact me here or look me up in the phone book.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I did not intend to offend anybody. Sometimes I say things a little harsh. So whatever you feel comfortable doing be it hand tools or portable tools or even CnC machinery.
When I think of a timber framed structur I always picture a german style frame. That is a lot of wood to cut and that is way I am more open to machine cutting. I would spend my time fitting the frame and adding interesting details to rafters and so on rather than laying out a truck load of post and then cut the tenons... Let the machine do the repetitive work. I still get to design and assemble it.
Of course if I were to build a US typical frame with a number of bends and purlins hidden away behind Sips I might consider the more labor intensive route of hand cutting and hewing. But I cannot identify myself with that type of frame work.
I have done some screened porches and entrance ways in timber frame but have not yet had the chance to actually build an entire house. With only a few years in business I am certainly not all that well known for what I can and want to do around here. Right now I am gearing towards a spec house as it seems easier to sell a product that you can show to interested customers rather than showing them pictures only.
But maybe we can meet up some day and work on a project together. Could not quite figure out if you are just cutting frames for other companies or if you build your own as well.