Saturday, September 13, 2008

Patrick's House near Wakefield











Thanks to Les, I met Patrick, who was in the home stretch of getting his frame ready for raising, but needed an extra helper to finish up the myriad of details and odd jobs. I don't have too many pics of the process but below are a few snaps just after the crane left and the majority of the frame was assembled. It was a great day and the frame went together with no problems at all. He is enclosing the structure with a hemp/lime mixture (similar to strawbale in assembly technique) and I'll enclose pictures as that process takes place.


Bob's Place in Lanark Co.



























































Bob, the owner/builder was putting up a stackwall log place with a nice masonry heater. It was a real pleasure to work for Bob.

Thursday, August 7, 2008


On Tuesday we arrived at the site to build the trusses which would eventually be "flown" in by a crane. I didn't take many photos other than at lunchtime, where we saw what must have been between 12-18 loon babies floating across the water.










Thursday was a long day as I had to get up at around 5:30 a.m. , have a shower and head to Mike's shop to pick up the come-alongs, to pull the two side of the great room together.

The crane came at about 8:30 and we started to lift the trusses and purlins. After that we flew in the SIP panels (from INUSLSPAN) http://www.insulspan.com/

































After the work was finished, at about 5:00 or so, I took a little tour around Buckshot Lake in a 10' Mercury Inflatable boat with the 7.5 hp Mercury engine that I salvaged from my dad's boat. Other than a brief thunderstorm or two, it was a pretty good day all tolled.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008






This is a recent raising at Buckshot Lake, near Plevna (quite a bit north of Kingston), Ontario. Randy Roels, a friend of my brother Mike, is the consultant for the timber frame details on the cottage. The view of the lake is magnificent and the owners will enjoy looking out at the view from their framed great room.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

College of the Rockies, Fernie Campus Facade Makeover

Here are a few pics of the facelift given to the College of the Rockies' Fernie Campus.


This was a rather large building at 110 feet in length. I was told it was a shopping mall at one point but is now a sattelite campus for the college. There are 2 bents, one being a hammerbeam and the other a king post structure. Also the windows and door trim were given an improvement.

Before

In the Shop

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Some Pics






Don Ng, a student in the course was kind enough to send along some of his snaps of the shed.

Thanks Don.


Tuesday, June 17, 2008








Here a few pictures from the Timber Framing Course.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

First Post

I recently completed a 4 month course in Timber Framing at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook, British Columbia. This is an excellent all around "dabble your feet in the water" programme that included as many of the aspects of the current timber frame industry as possible within a relatively short time frame. It was expertly guided by instructor Joe Gex-Collet and his sidekick Neil MacDonald.

Here are just a few of the topics covered and there was ample room to apply theoretical classroom learning to the shop floor.

Diploma in Timber Frame Construction

Theoretical and Classroom Topics

Drafting and Design
Trigonometry
Roof Geometry
Computer Aided Design (3 course in DIETRICHS Timber Frame Software and 3 day course in CADWORKS)
Square Rule and French Scribe Layout procedures
Timber Layout and Selection and evaluation
Cost Estimation (Board Foot Calculation, Joinery considerations and budgeting)
Structural Engineering introduction (1 Day Seminar with a Timber Frame Engineer)
Building Code Considerations (1 Day Seminar with the local building inspector)
Shop Organization, Roles and Responsibilities, group and individual organization and leadership topics
Timber framing history, tradtional styles and design methods and features)
Incorporating the "whole house" into the timber frame, including topics such as foundation, HVAC, electrical and plumbing, floorplan, stairs, windows and doors, envelope enclosure etc.)
Bent design, frame and raising considerations

Shop and Practical Work
Tool use and safety
Making a log square using snapped chalklines and either a chainsaw, broadax, portable bandsaw mill)
Sharpening

Joinery Layout and execution (mortise and tenon, dovetails, scarfs, rafter layout etc.)
Joining and Thickness Planing
Application of theoretical topics including square rule layout, roof geometry layout etc.

Projects

Sawhorse plan drafting, layout, joinery and assembly

A small shed building (approximately 8x8 feet) with traditional joinery, king post, ridge and common rafters

A large facade (over 110' long and 21' high) which included a hammerbeam bent, king post and ridge as well as window and door trim. This was all designed and executed by the students of the course.


All in all, it was a great course and a great few months. This type of trainng is well suited to anyone looking to begin a career as a timberframer, or to anyone who'd like to build their own structures and start their own business.