I've been framed!!

[RossJarvis]

Some of you may remember the timber framed log store wot I built a couple of years back. Well I've now moved onto something a wee bit bigger.

Firstly a 12"x12"x8' post, this will be supporting a 6"x6" beam/wall plate, a 6"x6" beam and a 6"x12" glue lam beam. It was a bit dirty and a bit square so I thunked a bit on what to do with it;

For those of you who need to sit down when looking at the price of Festool don't ask how much that red and black thing cost (and I don't mean the tape, which itself was too costly!)

Nextly, whizz of the end to make it nearly square;

Then stick a screw in the middle, drill a couple of holes in a bit of stick, add a pencil and draw a circle on each end;

Then, with a combi-square, draw a diagonal across the corners;

Then whizz along it with a track saw, pausing briefly to muller a 60quid rip blade on a screw;

And voila, an octagonal post (or is it a large Smarties tube?);

Now for the beam/wall-plate, this was 6"x6" by about 10'. First job was to plane flat the points where it would be supported and then put in the mortice. For those with long memories this is a 30 year old Bosch DIY drill and Wolfcraft stand, which was almost, but not quite powerful enough to drill inch and a half holes;

Then attack with a chisel. A very complicated scientific procedure is used to determine the size of the mortice/tenon, "now then how big are me chisels?....hmmm, inch and a half, that'll be the mortice size then!";

Ooh, I've run out of room for piccies, I'll have to come back later.......if anyone's still awake.

 

[RossJarvis]

Choppity, chop, chop;

and to all intents and porpoises that's the first mortice done;

Whizz down the edges with a chamfer cutter in a router and slice the stops with a chisel to make it look like a craftsman did the job;

And there's stage 1 of the beam;

Nextly to throw some sharp implements at the end of the post;

and there's a tenon;

Check that the sticky out bit fits in the hole;

Keruumbs do those bits of stick weigh something!!! Anyway, so far success!!;

 

[Zeddedhed]

Personally I think your patois qualifies you as first class instructor on a green oak framing course.
I went on one last year and the guy leading it was as dull as ditch water. I actually came away feeling a bit depressed.
I think 'sticky out bit' and 'hole' is a far more descriptive name for an M&T.
I'll use that in the workshop from now on.

Oh, and nice work by the way. Is it going to be a cathedral perhaps? A football stadium? Those posts and beams would hold up a multi storey car-park by the look of them.

 

[RossJarvis]

Oh, and nice work by the way. Is it going to be a cathedral perhaps? A football stadium? Those posts and beams would hold up a multi storey car-park by the look of them.

Strangely enough it's just to hold the roof up on a small extension;

I think the engineer's got their decimal points wrong. The ridge beam on another part is one foot by two foot glue-lam, you could park a Chieftain tank on that and all we're going to do is put some tiles on!!

 

[RossJarvis]

The next job was to convert a 5"x10" bit of stick into a 6"x5" post for the end of the beam;

Apply the slightly-more-expensive-than-Lidl track-saw;

And there's a post. Cross-cut a number of wotsits on the end, hoping I've set the depth correctly;

Apply the "Birmingham Screwdriver";

and whittle with a sharp chisel;

That was a lot quicker than the last flipping tenon I can assure you!

 

[Flynnwood]

So where's the apprentice nowadays?

 

[RossJarvis]

So where's the apprentice nowadays?

I'm sure he'll be along in a bit. I think the lack of Hob Nobs on site has caused some form of aversion!!

 

[RossJarvis]

By the way, the engineer says we can't use oak pegs in the tension joints as they're not strong enough :shock: , we'll need steel rod. I'm just popping across to Winchester cathedral and then down to HMS Victory in Pompey to tell the punters what danger they're in :?

 

[wallace]

Nice work. Them sticks look mighty heavy

 

[Andy RV]

Looks good, I love the smell of green oak.

I think you need a new engineer, perhaps one with some common sense?..

 

[RossJarvis]

Looks good, I love the smell of green oak.

I think you need a new engineer, perhaps one with some common sense?..

I think the problem is that traditional oak framing isn't part of their training or experience, so they go the safe route. There seem to be only a handful of engineers who know much about timber structures.

 

[No skills]

Good stuff Ross.

 

[Woodchips2]

Well done Ross, another amusing write up of some serious weight woodwork this time =D>

Can I suggest you invest in a strong, maybe extra-strong, truss before you attempt to lift that delicate beam into position :lol:

Regards Keith

 

[RossJarvis]

Well done Ross, another amusing write up of some serious weight woodwork this time =D>

Can I suggest you invest in a strong, maybe extra-strong, truss before you attempt to lift that delicate beam into position :lol:

Regards Keith

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I'll have to see if an extra strong "roof truss" will fit inside my trousers (hammer)

 

[RossJarvis]

I've done a bit more bashing and chiselling for where another beam comes in off-centre of the post. I'm not sure if this one's been done before;

 

[RossJarvis]

With the application of much man-draulics the bits of stick have now been put into position;

 

[Woodchips2]

Trussed you are still in one piece Ross :lol:

Well done, that looks like a lot of effort went into those beams and columns =D>

You've progressed from a log store to a hefty timber frame, what's next?

Regards Keith

 

[RossJarvis]

Trussed you are still in one piece Ross :lol:

Well done, that looks like a lot of effort went into those beams and columns =D>

You've progressed from a log store to a hefty timber frame, what's next?

Regards Keith

Ooh, I think a cathedral.....but I'll need a really good lie down first 8-[

 

[Paul200]

I've a soft spot for this 'heavy' type of build. I had a few real timber framing companies on my books in Somerset and would find any excuse to deliver stuff to them personally - the techniques, as has been said, are beyond the remit of most engineers and the results are often beautiful. Loving this very entertaining post Ross. Cheers.

 

[RossJarvis]

I've a soft spot for this 'heavy' type of build. I had a few real timber framing companies on my books in Somerset and would find any excuse to deliver stuff to them personally - the techniques, as has been said, are beyond the remit of most engineers and the results are often beautiful. Loving this very entertaining post Ross. Cheers.

Thanks Paul,

It became time for the first king Post truss (it's not often I truss my King Post I can tell you, just ask the ex!).

First job was to plane down the tie beam and then level off the undersides at each end. I did this by using a couple of levels at each end as winding sticks, packing one up at one side till they were level, marking the opposite side of this side (if that makes any sense at all) and then planing across so the ends were level. Then by using a string line joining each end I could mark out, plane across and get 10 or so inches at each end flat and level in plane;

Okay so the picture's not quite what I said but it's never stopped the Guardian!

Nextly, I did a similar thing to plane a spot in the centre top of the beam parallel to the bottom bearing surfaces;

Please note the Record, made in England 5 1/2 plane wot I bought from Turtle's in Croydon in the mid 80s, still going strong after 30 years, though I really do need to buy a decent iron for it. You can also see the back end of an expensive block plane (the manufacturer seems to "LIE" a lot, which doesn't seem to be any better than the Stanley 60 1/2 it replaced, (okay it did take a day to fettle the Stanley till it worked!)), in fact there are a couple of issues with this Lie-ing plane, such as the moving front won't lock in place and there is little if any lateral adjustment......FAIL! Serves me right for dropping over a ton on a bit of metal I suppose #-o

Anyway, the tie beam will sit on the wall plates, so by flattening the ends and the spot where the post sits, parallel to each other, in theory it will work and I couldn't care less what the rest does.

After this I decided to "bread slice" the very long tenon on the king post, (pausing briefly to plane the bit of stick down with my Bosch GHO 26-82, do not buy this tool it's crepe!!!!);

After much careful assessment of the piece of oak, checking for knots, splits and such like and completely failing to see them (must go back to Specsavers, the batteries in mine seem to have run down), this was obviously a mistake and I should have just ripped the cheeks down like any sane man would have, but if you've seen how straight I can cut with a saw you'll understand why.

Here's a brief interlude where I'll show you the chisel's I'm using, they're Japanese and I flatten the backs and use a honing guide, as a qualified engineer I prefer to do a job properly, "nuff said";

"These chisels are made in Japan
By Koyamaichi San
They're made from old bridges
Not sold in Selfridges
And bruddy expensive too may I tell you"

Next job was to mark the mortice/mortise from the tenon, apply a knackered old Bosch drill and Wolfcraft drill stand with a stupidly big spade bit and auger bit and then chisel out a hole.

Now then, the experten will inform you always to use a wooden mallet, waxing lyrical about beech, iron-wood, lignum vitae or other such complementary materials, but I'm telling you, a 28oz Estwing framing hammer is the way to go when knocking holes through 6" English oak (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

Following these steps it was time to fit the sticky out bit to the hole, obviously, using the time honoured framer's technique I made sure something didn't quite fit to start so...going;

.....shave..shim...shave...going...;

....shim...shave..shim,shim...gone(ish)

The next job is to scribe round the shoulders of the tenon, undercut slightly with a chisel and hopefully get a tight(ish) fit....oh and then stick some leaning-over bits of wood in somewhere.