Quote,"I do see a lot of people posting sketchup drawings on the Forestry Forum and wonder what their background in Timber Framing really is. How are they making the decisions on what joinery to use, tenon size, peg location, etc.."
TIMBEAL,
I would like to shed some light on your curiosity. Most people who post Sketchup drawings on the Forestry Forum have done a reasonable amount of research which includes learning from some of the more popular timber framing books, have taken classes on TFing, or have had "on the job training" working on existing buildings. Yes, there are people who are using the postings to get feed back on their design choices, from those who have experience and are willing to share their knowledge, and to help them learn how to design, draw and build timber frames for themselves. We don't see alot of professional TFers posting their designs for everone to copy...most are DIYers who feel that they can have a once in a life time experience building their own frame. Sketchup is a drawing program, not an engineering program...it is the modern day equivalent of paper, pencil, straight edge, and a scale rule. The advantage is that it is done in 3D, which can help the flow of ideas when designing, and make changes without having to re-draw everything over. I myself am "old school" and resisted using the computer to do my drawings. I have found the benefits to far outweigh the learning curve.
I feel that the Forestry Forum has helped produce and encouraged any number of new timber-framers, who will in turn, assist the next generation in learning. You have to give the site credit...it gets a lot of traffic!
I hope that helps.
Rooster
(Timber-Framer and Barn Restorer)
