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The Hunting Lodge
SBC wishes to thank Timbercraft Homes for their talent in design, cutting of the timber frame and assistance in the frame raising. Here is this Timbercraft Home story. Building the "Fox Island Hunting Lodge" was a unique experience for those of us in the shop. Because the timbers were hand-hewn, we had to adopt several new methods for the lay-out of lines and how we cut and finished the joinery. Timbers that were along outside walls usually had a re-cut face (or two if at a corner) which we used as a layout face or plane. All other timbers had center lines snapped down their lengths. All measurements whether for laying out housings, end cuts, mortises or even router jigs, had to be measured from or squared to, those lines. When one timber met another, say a girt (horizontal member) coming into a post, we had to scribe the interface of the joint. We did this by cutting a cardboard pattern to fit all the irregularities of the girt end, marked the girts centerlines on the cardboard, then aligning the cardboard appropriately to the posts centerlines. It got interesting when we had to align the top surface of two different size timbers. We had to compensate for the relative height of each timber in relation to its centerline. We assigned a relative height (or nominal size) for each by drawing a square on the end of the timber, which if cut down the length would yield smooth, square sides. Rafters that landed on girts would have a receiving flat on the girt which would be the top surface of that square. We had many notations on our plans to keep track of all the relative heights and compensatory measurements. Our policy is that if one person does the layout, another has to check. We had many "discussions" on how to adjust several of the joints which had multiple height requirements. Cutting the joints also provided some unique challenges. Since the surfaces were not square and often uneven, we had to clamp a plywood jig to the timber we were cutting. By measuring to the centerlines and adjusting with wedges, we would then have a flat surface to run our routers and saws. Almost all housing had 1 to 4 scribed edges. We routed, by hand, as close to the line as comfortable, then finished up with chisels and gauges. This was a unique experience for most of us. Especially interesting was studying the joinery that was already in the timbers. We could still see layout scratches, tooling marks from band saws and chisels, old hand-hewn pegs here and there, and occasional initials carved into the surface. We use power saws, routers and drills so we can help it, but to be impressed by the joinery and amount of effort that went into creating those timbers the first time around. |
