First I want to thank all for your time in posting to my questions.

I did get the Design Workbook & indeed it is
very useful. so useful that i showed it to the Bldg. Safety wood plan reviewer in Anchorage & he is going to order one. Also, a structural engineer who has designed frames using RISA is going to get it.

Here the bldg officials wont approve the wood joints for Eq loading. They go by the code and only approve shear panels or cross-bracing, even cables, or a combo.

I want the frame to meet the eq design w/o the other methods, although i will use some of them. For this reason im going to use
steel/bolt connectors. Mayby split ring
, shearplates or steel side plates. Im also
going to use hidden steel splines where possible.

These methods aren't pure Timber Frame but
Post & Beam as others have said. However, this will speed construction & cost & meet EQ design criteria.

BTW, where im building is deep in the wooods
on a 1/2 section & a building official will never see it. <g>

Regards,

Rick Harvey, PE