A traditional timber framing blog...

Holder Bros. Receive Timber Framers Guild Journeyworker Designation

2010-10-12T14:47:00.001-04:00

Monroe, Georgia

Whit and Gabel Holder were recently accepted as certified journeyworkers in the newly started Timber Framers Guild Apprenticeship Program.
The Holder Bros. were selected by the TFG as part of the first thirty professional timber framers in the United States to receive the designation of journeyworker as recognized by the Federal Department of Labor in Washington, DC.
The program operates according to the National Standards of Apprenticeship developed by the TFG.
There are currently four apprentices enrolled in the program, and each apprentice must enroll and work under the supervision of a journeyworker.
Apprentice timber framers will spend three years of on the job training using the TFG training curriculum and complete 144 hours of related classroom training.
This program has been in development within the TFG for approximately ten years.

Wm. Ball & Co. boring machine in action

2010-03-23T09:34:00.000-04:00

Still hewing...

2010-01-14T16:20:00.001-05:00

I'm starting to get my swing back finally.

Posted by Gabel.

My morning workout.

2010-01-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

Nothing like face hewing dry white oak to get the blood flowing in the morning...

I think I'll make some pegs when I finish this side.

Pardon our (lack of?) progress...

2010-01-08T16:16:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your patience with us lately. We've been extremely busy the last couple of months finishing a big job and then moving our shop. We're beginning to get our feet back under us and we hope to start updating the blog with some sort of regularity.

Happy new year to all and stay tuned.

Inside a mortice and tenon joint

2009-10-13T15:44:00.001-04:00

I recently had some reclaimed timbers in the shop that had been resawn on one face. The sawyer had sawn through the center of the pegs, giving a unique perspective into the anatomy of a mortise and tenon joint that was cut approximately 150 years ago.
Blind peg, slightly pointed on the tip, some side draw (probably inadvertent) is noticeable.

On the Newsstand...

2009-10-13T14:25:00.006-04:00

The Holiday 2009 issue of Lake Oconee Living Magazine as just been released and it features an article on a Holder Bros. project. "Barn Again" by April Moore Skelton tells the story of the barn at Horse Branch Farm. Ms. Skelton tells the story of the barn and how it found its way to Georgia from Pennsylvania after 150 years. The article also features a sidebar about converting an old barn by Whit Holder.

Steps in a barn conversion

2009-10-07T09:11:00.010-04:00

Converting an old barn frame into a new residence or outbuilding has become more common in recent years. This is a great way for owners to combine the timelessness of a historic structure with the comforts of a modern home. And, if done properly, it is a way for us to preserve a piece of our architectural heritage for several more years.

This type of project is not without its own set of challenges, though. Here’s how to get started, along with several things to be aware of before you begin.

Study old barn frames

An understanding of the different types of barns and their common layouts is essential in determining how to integrate the new living space into the old framework, and in choosing which barn style fits your project best.

Before starting a project, do some homework on barn framing.

These guys are taking their homework seriously. They must be timber framers.

Set a project budget

Before you contact any professionals, it is necessary to determine your project budget.

Hire a professional timber framer

This is where a lot of projects can go wrong out of the gate. The internet is full of “great barn deals,” and there are many companies in the business of chopping down old barns with chainsaws and shipping the parts. But there are also many reputable timber framers who do this type of work every day and have the necessary skills and experience to give you the most barn for your buck.

This client is happy because he hired the right timber framers

Listen to your timber framer

When it comes to choosing which barns to avoid, which barn to purchase, which repairs should be made, and which pieces need to be replaced, listen to your timber framer. Their knowledge and experience will save you time and money in the end and give your project that extra “wow factor.”

Try to leave the original framework un-altered

There are patterns in the way old barns were built. No matter how skilled your timber framer is, additions and alterations will stick out from an aesthetic perspective. In the most successful conversion projects, the owners think of the barn as a piece of history that they are giving a second life to, not just a bunch of beams to be cut up to fit a floor plan (re-read number 1).

Marriage marks

2009-07-22T14:42:00.008-04:00

Marriage marks (sometimes called carpenter's marks) are markings cut into the timbers of a timber frame to indicate where they are located in the building. Think of them as labels to show the carpenters where the piece goes when they get ready to put the frame together.

Marriage marks are mostly associated with frames that were scribed together -- each piece being custom fitted to its exact location, and therefore different than the other similar pieces. In scribe frames, it's common for each timber at a specific intersection to be labeled with it's own unique mark as you can see in many of these photos.

Here's an example from an 1850's building in Graniteville, SC.

You'll also notice that the marks are Roman numerals. That's the most commonly seen labeling system. It's faster and easier tor cut the straight lines of Roman numerals with a chisel or race knife as opposed to the curving Arabic numerals such as 8 and 5. Often times a "flag" or other modifier would indicate a specific side of a building or floor level. The use of modifiers keeps the carpenter from using numbers like LXXVIII -- Each wall might start at I and the north wall may have a flag left while the south wall has a flag right. Or perhaps the north wall is cut with a 2" chisel and the south wall a 1" chisel.

There is an incredible variation among marriage marks from one region or country to the next -- and even within the same area you can see several different systems that were used at the same time. Unfortunately, we don't have a comprehensive understanding of how many different systems were used or their distribution even in any one country. Anyone looking for a topic for their master's thesis?

I've included a few photos from buildings we've worked on, built, or studied.

Kingpost meets tie beam in a truss at the City Market in Charleston, SC.

Post and brace joint in a barn near Shepherdstown, WV.

Riven Eastern Cedar stud in the reproduction of a
1670 era indentured servant's quarters
at Charles Towne Landing State Park near Charleston, SC.

Exterior view of the Single Brother's House (1679) at Old Salem Village, Salem, NC

Top of the queen post in the attic of the Historic Massie School in Savannah, Ga.

Cutting a "VII" with a chisel on a white oak window stud for this oak timber frame.

Perhaps the coolest website ever...

2009-07-10T17:17:00.006-04:00

I have found a website that everyone who is interested in traditional carptnety should find fascinating. Here's the link.

Carpenters from Europe and Beyond...

And here's a description pulled from the site...

"A new website by France's Ministry of Culture and Communication is devoted to carpenters and their work. The site sketches portraits of about a dozen men and women who, although they came to carpentry via different routes (family tradition, compagnonnage, apprenticeship or by teaching themselves), share the same passion for traditional techniques and hand craftsmanship, as well as an interest in ancient knowledge. A rich collection of multimedia brings together historic documents and contemporary accounts, reveals some of the secrets of France's ancient trade guilds, or compagnonnage, and presents images of carpenters throughout history. This is a living laboratory, based on gestures of the woodworking trade, and one that sketches a portrait of a heritage that is both alive and changing, both physical and ethereal."

Wow. Now that's cool. What if Americans valued this part of our culture to this extent?

Pit sawing

2009-07-09T07:48:00.006-04:00

Here's a couple of videos from a few years back of Gabel sawing with a couple of different guys. These videos were shot at the Carpenter's Fellowship meeting in 2006 at Avoncroft Museum. This particular set-up, which is similar to pit sawing, but is called see-sawing.

Photo slideshow from John C. Campbell Project

2009-06-18T18:31:00.002-04:00

To see photos of the finished frame, go here.
It looks pretty good.

What We've Been Doing This Month

2009-06-14T20:44:00.002-04:00

video platform
video management
video solutions
free video player

Local Materials -- our take on this

2009-04-28T15:53:00.002-04:00

It's pretty amazing how we have items from all over the world available to us. Right here in Monroe (and I'm sure it's no different wherever you are) you can buy food that was grown in Florida or California or even Chile or New Zealand. You can buy clothes or shoes made in places I would have trouble finding on a map. It's not really a surprise that we've grown used to our things coming from "somewhere else".

Does it matter where our stuff comes from? I think so. It's pretty wasteful to ship and truck materials from all over the world in to build a house while we are blessed with tremendous resources in our area with which to build beautiful, durable, and healthy homes.

So how does this relate to traditional timber framing? People often ask us what kind of timber we use. I love this question because my answer is not exactly what people are expecting. "We use local timber." Then I get to explain that with all the high quality timber grown within 30 miles of us here, we don't see any good reason to buy wood from somewhere else. So we use mostly pine and oak, with some poplar, eastern red cedar, and miscellaneous hardwoods thrown in from time to time. I love it when the woodlot where the trees are grown, our shop, and the project we are building are all situated within 30 miles or less. Even better is when we can take some of the trees standing right on the building site and mill them into timbers, flooring, millwork, cabinets, and other parts of the houes. It doesn't get any more local than that.

Here's a picture of a recent project - a set of 35' trusses for a building in Athens. The trees that we got these timbers out of were growing less than 5 miles from the shop. One of our favorite local loggers went into this property and sustainably harvested these trees using small equipment, leaving the woods in better shape than when he got there. In 15 or 20 years, I'm expecting to get some more clear, straight logs from this beautiful stand of loblolly pine.

Coming soon to a shop in Georgia...

2009-02-19T11:28:00.003-05:00

If this sexy thing works half as good as she looks...

Kingpost truss

2009-02-17T12:30:00.001-05:00

This is one of the four trusses we have been hewing the tie beams for. It is 35 feet wide, and I can't get a good photo inside the shop. I'll get some good photos when we go to site.

All of the sticks are sawn except the ties. Our bandmill will saw logs up to 24 feet, so we chose to hew the four tie beams. I have seen this before in historical buildings.

The roof of the Commissary building of the cotton mill in Graniteville, South Carolina was framed in the 1840's with kingpost trusses of a similar design. All of the heart pine sticks in those 13 trusses were water sawn except the 40-foot tie beams, which were hewn. I bet their mill couldn't handle that length either.

The Snap

2009-02-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

The Snap (sometimes called the French Snap) is an old framer's shortcut. The trick is to saw one of your tenon shoulders, roll the stick twice, and saw the end cut down to the same depth as the shoulder cut you just made. Then strike the waste firmly with a heavy mallet or the poll of your axe and it will split the grain along the cheek of the tenon. This saves you from sawing half of the end cut and splitting one tenon cheek. Oh, Snap!

Even More Hewing...

2009-02-14T11:58:00.003-05:00

Josh lays out the end of a log in preparation for snapping lines.

I wish all four logs were as straight as this one.

It's easier to see your line if you peel the bark and snap on bare wood.

This was the best log so far--dense, clear, straight, and none to big. Perfect!

More Hewing...

2009-02-05T18:11:00.007-05:00

A video of this weeks hewing...

This is extremely satisfying work, but also extremely taxing on the body. I think everyone is glad to have a few days to recoup before we tackle the next two, which we will hopefully get from the logger next week.

Hewing 36-foot tie beams

2009-02-05T07:46:00.005-05:00

two-man cross-cutting

2009-02-04T15:43:00.006-05:00

Josh and Rich cross-cutting the end cut of a hand-hewn 36-foot 8 x 10 yellow pine beam with Josh's Grandfather's saw.

Sustainable Harvest

2009-01-20T17:05:00.009-05:00

We have been sawing timbers this month for three framing jobs. Our local logger has been bringing us some very nice Southern Yellow Pine logs. The logs have been very dense and clear and we have sawed many boards as well as timbers.
These logs were harvested from a woodlot just five miles northeast of our shop. It is a private woodlot, and will remain so. It was time to cut some trees in order to improve the overall health of the woodlot, and it will be ready for another selective cutting in 10-15 years time.
The logs averaged 50-60 years old. This timber will spend the next phase of its life as roof trusses in a church 25 miles east of our shop, where they will hopefully be for a long enough time to grow two or three more stands of 50-60 year old timber. Who knows what they will become after that?
We are thankful for this sustainable resource.

Der Hammer!

2008-12-30T13:54:00.005-05:00

For carpenters everywhere.

If anyone understands German, that would be even funnier, I'm guessing.

One of my favorite shots...

2008-12-16T16:02:00.001-05:00

What we're up to today...

2008-12-03T14:38:00.001-05:00

This is what we've been doing today -- we'll have a full report in the next few days.

These posts should hold the roof up...

2008-11-28T09:45:00.004-05:00

We finished a job in Alabama this week. The last trip was to complete this porch.

We had a little truck trouble getting there, but in the end we got the porch up in 2 1/2 days. Not bad, considering the roof was already on and we had 3" of clearance to work with.

The posts and plates were 12" x 12" cypress. Heavy. I should say Very Heavy. The scarf joints looked really good. The sticks are massive but the scale looks right from the entrance. The porch is 72' long and has 6" x 10" arched braces. Put together with hand made, riven and tapered heart pine pegs.

Rich made 50 pegs in under 5 hours on the shaving horse, which is not too bad considering how dry the wood is.

I'll try to take some photos of the porch after construction is complete and the stone is laid on the front of the house. Hopefully we will return for the barbecue that the owner plans for the completion party.

Topping Off the Frame

2008-11-26T09:50:00.008-05:00

Folks sometimes ask why timber framers place an evergreen bough on the peak of the frame after a raising. The short answer--tradition. But I'll take a stab at the long answer, since there isn't much information out there about this tradition.

"Topping off" a new frame is a practice that has been around for hundreds of years. It's the act of placing a bough on the highest peak of a newly completed frame. The bough is always an evergreen. I have used pine, cedar, magnolia, and even a discarded Christmas tree.

Ask ten timber framers about topping off the frame and you'll get ten slightly different answers. But the common thread is that the whetting bush is placed as a symbol of thanksgiving and respect. Some say it gives thanks to the forest for providing timber for a new home. Some say it gives thanks for a safe raising. A few simply say it's "good luck."

Whatever their beliefs are, topping off the frame is a special time for each person. For the folks starting life in a new home, it can be almost like a dedication ceremony. For the carpenters who built the frame, it's a chance to stand back and see the fruit of their labor. For everyone present, it's a moment of celebration.

For me personally, placing a whetting bush is a chance to stop and smell the roses. Finishing a job well done is satisfying on a basic human level. Then there's the appreciation I feel for my trade and my fellow carpenters, and the thankfulness I feel for a safe raising and for our renewable resource of timber.

The adze

2008-11-11T16:13:00.017-05:00

The adze is a great tool for creating smooth reductions quickly, or for simply making a flat area on a log. Framers used to drop joists into their beam pockets upside-down and adze them flush with the top of the beam. Then they would flip them over and drop them in rightside-up, and they would be flush.

Here's a video of Brad and Jim adzing joists the old-school way, and it illustrates the importance of dropping the joist into the pocket first.

Here's a video of Will adzing a flat on some cedar pilings for this job.

The real meaning of hand hewn

2008-11-11T16:12:00.012-05:00

Hand hewn is a term that is widely misused today to refer to almost anything with a rustic appearance. The real meaning is actually quite limited in application. Hand hewn refers to a timber that has been converted from a log using only axes -- most commonly a felling axe and a broad axe.

Most people who are "hewing" timbers today are using either a power planer to create a textured surface or are adzing sawn timbers -- both of these methods make an "interesting" texture, but are completely inappropriate for historic work, as the tool marks are completely different than what you see on authentically hewn timber. It is important to note that each hewer leaves behind subtle, tell-tale tool marks that allow an observant person to play detective and determine among other things whether the carpenter was left or right handed, which direction along the timber he was moving as he hewed, how high off the ground the log was, the size of the different axes used, whether one person hewed the entire timber or one man went up one side, while another man went down the other, whether two faces were hewed before the log was rolled, or whether one face was hewn and the log rolled each time.

I am sure that is much more information than most people care to know about how a carpenter swung his axe on a particular day a couple hundred years ago. Nevertheless, it is valuable information when it comes to understanding how a particular building was built; especially in terms of documenting existing timbers to better understand the original techniques or when we need to repair, restore, or replace damaged or missing timbers in a way that is consistent with the original means and methods. It is entirely possible when replacing a timber, to study other contemporary pieces from the same building and then hew the replacement the same way the original was done, reproducing the act of conversion as well as the product. Not only do I believe there is cultural value in this knowledge and skill--keeping alive and in some cases rediscovering the subtleties of a traditional building skill that mostly died--it is simply the most accurate process for reproducing a hewn timber. While I understand that such a level of detailed care is not appropriate for many jobs, occasionally it probably is – when accurately replicating parts of the original process is an important part of the clients program. Or when close just doesn't cut it – such as work done on cultural treasures.

Even on the more everyday projects, I still think it is important to recognize authenticity and to value it enough to avoid cheap imitation.

Tools of the Trade - Axes

2008-11-11T16:06:00.009-05:00

Axes are the subject of this installment of tools of the trade -- where I choose one tool or family of tools that we use in our timber framing work and talk a little about it. I am excited to write about this in particular, as I have a real soft spot for axes (as you can see).

Axes come in all shapes and sizes, from small 1 1/2 pound hatchets to large broadaxes with a 14" edge. While we don't use every one of the axes pictured, we do use many of them regularly in our work of building and restoring traditional timber frames. While we also use a few modern tools (I'll talk about them in a later blog), the foundation of our craftsmanship is our skill with the tools that were traditionally used to make timber frames. These traditional tools still work just as well today as they did when Master Hugh Herland built Westminster Hall, provided the carpenter has the training and skill to efficiently and accurately put them to use.

As for axes, we reach for some of these when we're cutting timber frames to rough out joinery such as housings, reductions, or tenons. You can remove a lot of wood in a hurry with a sharp axe if you know what you're doing. Hand axes and hatchets are often used for various trimming tasks, such as pointing pegs. We use some of the larger axes when we're working on a job that calls for hand hewn timbers. For that process, a felling axe is used to score the logs (removing the bulk of the waste wood) and then a broad axe is used to "take it to the line", smoothing the timber and creating the distinctive pattern of a (correctly) hand-hewn timber. That texture cannot be duplicated by modern techniques - if you want it to look right, you have to do it the right way.

In the photo, clockwise from top left, is an American Jersey pattern felling axe, goosewing broad axe from Austria, 12" American broad axe, Gransfors Bruks broad axe, Gransfors carving axe, Gransfors mortise axe, American broad hatchet, small American broad hatchet, competition throwing axe, bearded axe based on ancient Scandinavian pattern, Gransfors forest axe, American Hudson Bay axe, American half wedge felling axe.

These are some of our favorite tools to use here at Holder Brothers Timber Frames. Stay tuned for more Tools of the Timber Framing Trade ....

Build it the Medieval Way, Pt. 1

2008-11-11T14:25:00.006-05:00

Last month I travelled to the UK to take part in a unique carpentry exercise. A dozen or so carpenters from the UK, Europe, and America came together with the goal of building a wooden structure strictly with 12th century tools and methods. Knowing what the rules were, we had left at home all of our framing squares, tape measures, spirit levels, power tools, pencils, and calculators, and brought instead our plumb bobs, dividers, chisels, and axes.

We met at a farm called Cressing Temple in Essex, England. In the 1200s this farm was owned and managed by the Knights Templar, who built two huge timber framed barns on the property. These barns, which are still standing, are called the Wheat Barn and the Barley Barn.

These barns are truly magnificent to behold. I felt small when I first walked into them. The locals refer to the Wheat Barn as "the finest 12th century timber building in Europe." That may be a bit of hometown pride talking, but it is hard to dispute that while you are standing in it. It is 70% original, and now houses a museum with interactive displays and a viewing platform--a gargantuan steel structure that resembles a MacDonald's playground. But it is nice to be able to get a closer look at the roof framing for those of us that do not travel with scaffolding.

The Barley Barn, built in 1220, was the inspiration for the structure we were to build. It has more repairs than the Wheat Barn, but is equally as impressive. The floor is open (no museums) and that makes it more striking and photogenic. Several years ago, a man named Adrian Gibson first noticed the geometric relationship between framing members. Adrian passed away in 2006, but his discovery has inspired Laurie Smith, a Welsh scholar, to continue to investigate the use of geometry in building design.

I was there to see for myself how (if?) a building could be built in three dimensions using only geometry to locate framing members. It also seemed like a good chance to clear my head and get back to basics--plumb, level, and square. The mysterious Daisy Wheel, sort of a medieval protractor, seemed like it could be added to that short list, but I had to see it work firsthand.

In next weeks installment, we get into some serious hewing, and blood is spilled.