I have taken the first Timber Framing course down at Heartwood (which of course was a great experience). I'm interested in experimenting with odd shaped branches for braces or archways. Do I need to get to another course or can someone give me a basic understanding of the process for laying something like this out or point me to a book that describes the process. I've got 3 acres of bush to experiment in before I get serious about actually building something. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

If you have the time to visit the Hancock Shaker Village during the weeklong workshop being held by Jack Sobon and Dave Carlon you should. Both these men have lots of experience in building with usual shaped timbers. The date for this year’s workshop is Sept 19th-23rd.
First of all you'll need some metal pins as show in Jack's book ‘Build a Classic Timber-Framed House’ on page 123. These pins are used to put your frame together lying down on a work area. The pins are made so you can remove them from the frame after your special layout is done.
Once you have assembled your bent (lying down) you lay your specially shaped timber on top of the bent in its intended location. Then using a plumb bob and string you transfer lines from the special piece to the other standard pieces. These lines locate the tenon pockets on the standard pieces and the tenons on the special pieces. It's a system of laying out timbers taught by the French.
Jack and Dave showed us this system during a slide show shown at this workshop.
If you have the time and can take this workshop, you‘ll see the slide show and learn a little about this system.
Good Luck, Jim

Paul, yesterday I got my notice about the Guild's Eastern Conference. One part of this conference is going to be a slide show showing curved pieces in place in a frame and a live demonstration of how to hew and shape a curved brace with a chainsaw. This is something you could consider attending. Good luck, Jim