Finally
 

I finally finished my entry project!

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Nice!

Really nice!

That looks fantastic. It really dresses up the side of the house.

Thanks guys!

Bout Damn Time !!!!! ;)

Looks great !!!

I do find it a little funny that you built this whole damn house... but the entryway cover, man, it's so hard to get up the motivation... ;)

i dig it.

Its easy to procrastinate with a roof over your head. :) I should have done the finish work first. Of course I still have to stain this so it isn't finish finished.

It looks great! congratulations on a job well done.

Digging the wooden pegs. Did you go some where to learn that or just read about how to do it. I have a plan in my head for a pavilion in my back yard using that technique.

I researched it on my own back when I built my house. There are a couple really good books you may want to read. Timber Frame Construction by Jack Sobon and Roger Schroeder and Building the Timber Frame House by Tedd Benson and James Gruber. The pegs (trenails) are easy enough to make. You just split your wood down to a rough square over the size of your through hole and then use a draw knife to size it. You should use a commander rather than a mallet to drive them but I used what was on hand since it was only a few pegs.

What a nice addition to Grifftopia. Good work!

#1 daughter had an AP art assignment so she grouped my tools for a photo to work from.

Totally Grifftopic. Will you miss the water dripping down the back of your neck when you come into the house?

Why is the mortise so deep? Is it a lap or saddle joint?

You must have an enormous caulk

ing gun

I'll miss the terminal velocity snow knocking me unconscious when the morning sun warms the roof.

Its a lap joint. I like to have a lot of material around the peg holes to reduce the chances of a full split when I drive it in. The forces on the joint are minimal so it is an aesthetic choice as well.

Do you have any pictures of the wooden pegs?

I have an old one of us doing a Yeungling commercial with a peg driven but not cut off. The peg is left with edges so it bites into the joint. You can't use dowels because of weakness since dowels don't follow the grain.

thanks. I am going to order those books today. Again, beautiful work. Well done.

Did you use a hand drill to drill the holes? what size? or is in some ratio based on the thickness of the wood and joints?

I used an inch and a quarter bit in a hand drill. There are some really cool old-timey mortising rigs you can use but for the house frame I only had a long auger bit on a heavy duty Milwalkee drill. I'm sure there are ratios that could be used, but I don't get too caught up in my lack of knowlege, when in doubt I overbuild. Most of timber framing is received knowledge from failures and successes since forever. These are probably as reliable as strength of materials indexes with the exception being old growth lumber had much tighter growth rings and was (is) stronger than modern trees which grew more quickly in less dense environments.

:thumb:

very cool. looks great.

That's awesome Griff. I'm so impressed. :)

Looks great, and will be super functional as well... the question is, how many goats will it hold. ;)

Definitely not goat tight construction.

I looked up "commander". Wow. I have the end piece of an enormous beam, say, 6"x14"x24". I imagine I could bomb a hole through it and wedge it down onto a baseball bat and voila! That is one serious tool.

Griff, I applaud you for your accomplishment here. I am humbled by your skill. Congratulations on a job very well done.

I almost forgot, you can take a timber-framing class from these guys. I took a home-building course from them, but not the timber class. The Shelter Institute

I'm just a tourist, you should see what serious people can accomplish. Thanks though. :)

Please thank your daughter for me. I like the pic so well it is now my desktop.

Cool!

Griff, how are the posts (columns?) attached to the "sills" on the tops of the rock walls?

I threaded bolts into undersize holes which I used to level the 4x8s then set them in a bed of mortar. If I were concerned about rot (read lived in the Pacific NW) I would have mounted the wood on a metal fixture set in the mortar. It should be very dry there though.

hm. some clarification please. It sounds like the 4x8s are the toppers on the walls, set in mortar and bolted to the wall. How are the columns attached to these horizontal pieces?

There is an approx 4" square tenon (or pin) on the bottom of the post that is set into a 4" square mortise.

Thanks, do they hold them around the country or just in one place? Did you take the 5 day class? I like the idea of buying a kit from them and putting it up yourself. I picked up one of their books.

I think the classes are still in Bath. I took the one week class when I did it, since I already had some construction experience, but other folks with less background did the one-week as well.

Funny development, Benny recently realized the turkeys exist. He has been collecting them and putting them in the entryway. I'll try to get a pic, this pup is a hoot.