With the weather being snotty, I’ve had a chance to start working on my photos.
Attached is a pic of the Yew wood Hammerbeam trusses I built for my dining room. I bought the logs from a guy who was cutting them up for fence posts and firewood. One of the logs is over 600 years old.
The second pic is of part of a herd of Roosevelt Elk that like to hang out in my pasture and tear up fences. In this pic, it’s winter and the big bulls have shed their antlers, although there are a couple of “spikes,” young bulls whose horns tend to cling to their noggins a little longer. The rest are cows and last Spring’s calves.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
Edited 1/4/2003 1:42:17 PM ET by Notchman
Replies
Hey Notch, I can almost see those pictures.
: )
Are there any dogs in those elk ?
Quittin' Time
Chalk up their being small to this being my first picture posts.
I'm either timid, paranoid about getting yelled at if I made them too big, or just sized them too small out of ignorance. (Take your pick).
No dogs in the photo.
I'll try to do better in the future, unless the worksmanship in the structure being displayed is so shoddy that I don't want it to show! In that case, look for low pixel count and fast upload. :).
Jules Quaver for President 2004
Edited 1/4/2003 9:58:59 AM ET by Notchman
Hey! Those beams look sweet, Notchman. Could you repost a little larger? Post some more, too.
Is this a little better? (Resolution needs improvement....)
Jules Quaver for President 2004
Edited 1/4/2003 2:05:48 PM ET by Notchman
Awesome, man. Can you improve the resolution? Maybe double your dpi? Did you bend those curves? Laminate and cut them on a bandsaw? How wide are they? How tall?
I picked logs that were straight and about 10" in dia. Yew is prone to a lot of defect, like wind shake and ingrown bark but I was able to pick through a pretty good pile (3 log truck loads) to get good ones.
I have a woodmizer sawmill and cut the beams to about 6" X 5," made up templates for the arch segments and roughed them out with a Prazi beam cutter and brought them to finer shape with a 4 1/2" grinder with about 36 grit disks....then sanded to finish.
The assembly is structural so I cheated and bored and counterbored for bolts, then plugged the counterbores with 1" dowels stained dark and that stand proud about 5/8."
The pitch of the ceiling is 9 1/2 / 12 which was chosen to make best use of the beam length I had and provide an eye-pleasing scale for the truss. DW and I ended up making a lot of choices about that room to highlight the trusses and a Bev Doolittle print, "Doubleback," which is hung right below the trusses and complements the wood, or vise-versa.
The biggest problems were 1. Yew is very hard when dry and difficult to finish and 2. it's a fairly toxic wood that is nearly decay proof and the sanding dust was nearly intolerable. I really have a passion for that tree, however, so the suffering was endured with good humor.
The location is Western Oregon.
I'll see what I can do about the resolution.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Well, I decided not to repost the trusses, but while I'm at it, I'm attaching pics of my entry, where the woodstove hearth is; The mantle is a solid piece of yew 12' long, 6" thick and 12" deep. I left the sapwood on so the contrast is apparent between the cream-colored sapwood and the blood-red heartwood. Note the fluted surface on the face; yew is an understory tree and takes on some interesting shapes.
The "cruck frame" behind the hearth is also structural and the logs are Doug fir...both came off the place here about 1/4 mile apart. Their radii is within 1 1/2" of being identical!
The second pic is of the kitchen. A bit of scribed log work.
Last but not least is a couple of 17' Chestnut Prospector strip canoes I built of Port Orford Cedar and yew wood left from the truss logs.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
Edited 1/4/2003 8:21:21 PM ET by Notchman
I'm loving that kitchen but the canoes are a large BTMP file that won't dowload to me. I posted some advice in the Irfanview thread/photo gallery a few days ago about pictures you might find worthy. Save as a JPG and re-post. Irfan has a resizer too. I usually make them jpg s about 720 wide at 72dpi for posting and emailing..
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Yea, sorry about that. I'm doing a bunch of other photos for some family stuff and let that one get by me.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Try this;Jules Quaver for President 2004
Flat bottomed? Like a jonboat?.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Round bottomed.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Is that a cedar strip made canoe? I'm in the process of a cedar strip kayak 20'er
Nice
Namaste
Andy"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Yes, cedar strip...System 3 epoxy. Plans came from that book with about a half-dozen plans in it (Can't spot it at the moment).
I can't do anything the easy way so I tweaked the plans a little to get another foot of length and a little more rocker for river paddling. Also hand beveled each strip so I didn't have to do the bead and cove and developed a clamping method so I didn't have to use staples when gluing up the strips.
A really, really fun project, building a canoe! I've built several boats in my life, but canoes are special! (and kayaks!)
BTW, the one sitting on the cradle on the dock was a canoe I built for a customer from out of state who has vacation property on a lake near here. Building the canoe has led to a longtime freindship and a lot of ongoing work for him. Took nearly a year of on and off effort, but that canoe has a lot of features that are hard to catch with a camera.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Notchman
Check out this site. I use to go on it as much as Breaktime when I started my Kayak and got my plans from him and the book..Nick Schade. He and his brother are good people at Guillimot Kayaks. I'm presently working on the 20' Expidition model Kayak....I should be done sometime before I die...lol
High Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
Be well,
Namaste
Andy
"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Edited 1/5/2003 1:00:11 AM ET by Andy Clifford(Andybuildz)
Edited 1/5/2003 1:02:10 AM ET by Andy Clifford(Andybuildz)
Thanks Andy!
I especially like that Adirondack Guide Boat!
Jules Quaver for President 2004
These are some fir trusses in the neighborhood.
Sorry not yew but you understand....
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
I just love that stuff! Nice craftsmanship, too!Jules Quaver for President 2004
Here's some more:
The first is a set of kingpost trusses of old growth fir I sawed out of some "boomsticks," containment logs used to contain rafts of logs being transported on water. They're in our guest house which I originally built for a quadaplegic relative who later passed away.
The second pic is of some pole trusses I built for a client out of Port Orford cedar poles. The upper faces were sawed flat and I bolted them in place after the ceiling was finished. They're non-structural.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Notchman, piffin - nice. The "Doud Fir kingpost trusses" one was really dark Notchman, but from what I could see they looked good.
I love exposed framing members, even less grand stuff than what you guys are posting. I really like exposed hardware too - big arsed bolts and 1/4" plates, enameled glulam hangers, those rings you see around structural poles (I guess to keep them from splitting?), anything like that.
When I started doing this kind of stuff, I had a couple of Draft horses and my horseshoer went to a blacksmith school.
I had great hopes that he could do some ironwork for me but, despite the fact he accumulated a great assortment of blacksmith tools, he never came through with anything.
To your point, I agree. There's some really clever, attractive and functional treatments that can be done to timber and log work that really dresses it up.
Jim, if I remember right, you're in the PNW. If you ever travel Highway 126 up the McKenzie River, they built a new Forest Service Guard Station at McKenzie bridge in recent times. It has a trussed log entry with some nice iron work. Someday, I'll get a shot of it.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
We are planning a weekend trip to Brookings in February. I'll take a look at a map and see if that bridge is anywhere nearby.
My computer crashed this morning. Lost the entire hard drive. First time and I don't have much of my stuff backed up. Could be a long week trying to reconstruct several things I had on file...if I can even remember what was there...
Anyway, tonight when I saw yours and piffin's photos I wanted to scan in some photos of way more modest beam notching I've been doing the past few years. But this old 386 I'm limping along on until I get the new one back up and running won't take the scans. I'll try to get back here when I get back in business.
Meanwhile, you guys keep those notched beam photos coming. I love that stuff. You got any more shots of the inside of your place?
I've had two drive and one system crashes over the years and KEEP LEARNING TO BACK UP. I don't do it often enough..
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Piffin,
I dont know the name of the program, but a computer engineer student, friend of mine has a program that automatically backs his system up to an external harddrive hooked up to his computer once a week a so, it activates itself automatcally at a set time, if he is using the computer at the time it notifies him and will automatically do it after a set amount of time of in-activity after that. Though he may have written the program himself, I doubt it, might want to look into it?
Piffin -
Something's wrong with those trusses - The plates appear to be missing in several locations. You need to hire an enginer to get a repair.I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing.
Your tag line was appropriate for this one, I think. LOL
Did you mean wall top plates, gusset plates, or dinner plates?
I don't know if you noticed but I introduced these saying these are "in the neighborhood". My wife works for the owners and this is their guest house which she will soon have responsibility for overseeing the domestic duties on. A competitor is building it so I have no responsibility for the work - just sharing the look - but I'm interested in what you see missing for my own edification. I think the engineering is through the frame builders, Rockport Post and Beam, who ship and build traditional timberframes all over the area. They have exquisite quality and I have not ever seen or heard of a failure in their product. Musy just be something not seen - or was you pulling mine leg?
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
I was pullin' your leg - Big time.
I was trying to tell you the nail plates were missing - The ones that are on a "normal" roof truss. I think sex is better than logic, but I can't prove it
Real nice work, man. Where in western Oregon are you? I have some family in Depoe Bay. I live in western Idaho, 14 miles from the Oregon border. Looks like fine country to me.
I'm in Coos Bay area, about 120 miles south of Depoe Bay.
It is nice country here...a backwater in some ways...lots of wildlife...fairly quiet.
Went through Caldwell area last Fall. I hadn't been through Boise in about 20 years. Wow! Has that town grown! I nearly moved to N, Idaho in mid '80's to the Sandpoint area. Idaho's a great piece of the country!
Jules Quaver for President 2004
"Coos Bay"? You know Gary Gray by any chance?
Sorry, don't know him. Larry Haun is apparently around here somewhere , too, but never crossed his path, either.
Since you like this stuff, ran across pics of my house early on. Photo is of a scribed locking notch I used on the joists over the kitchen. This joint is used because it keeps the log from twisting out of its joint, plus less material is removed at the joint site.
2nd pic is of a beaver dam on the creek below the house a couple of years ago. (Fine Homebuilding, Rodent style)Jules Quaver for President 2004
Sweet. You cut those joints by hand? Have a jig for hogging out most of it with a machine first? Radial arm saw maybe? I probably overlooked the thread(s) where you told all about this project already, man. Don't feel obliged if you're already sick of talking about it. Looks like a heck of a lot of fun to me though - I'm jealous.
Is that your Woodmizer in the background?
My son and I went to The Pacific Science Center several years ago and saw a full length movie on the IMax screen about beavers and their affect on the way Europeans moved across North America. Awesome flic. Awesome animals.
Joints all by hand, except for a little hog out with a chainsaw. I enjoy the heavy chisel work, actually. And yes, that's the faithful old Woodmizer.
Yeah, Beavers are interesting. The creek that dam is on is a spawning stream for Coho, Chinook and Steelhead. One winter, there was a dam just below the one in the photo and it was built across a pretty high cutbank and the salmon couldn't jump over it. I went down below the dam with hip boots and a pickaroon to breach a slot for the fish. They were banging around my feet...about 20 of them and soon as I got the water flowing in one spot it was like a fish parade as they leaped right past me...a real memory.
The beavers here don't build lodges in their ponds...just use the ponds to transport food and dam parts. They live in burrows in the banks. DW and I have snuck down at night to watch them working and pulling sticks and small poles around. A flashlight doesn't seem to spook them. Make any noise though and BANG, they're gone!
Their dams wash out over the winter, but serve to create the pools and gravel beds for the spawning fish. It's quite an amazing cycle.Jules Quaver for President 2004
I don't get it? You work all day building and then you have time to build canoes in the evening? Beautiful work. Where do you find the time?
At the end of the day I'm pretty much out of gas.
I really am enjoying your pictures.
Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Well, thanks for the kudos but some of the stuff I've put up here represents projects stretched over the last 10 years or so.
I'm sure that if you look back on your output over that period of time, you'd be amazed at the volume, not to mention the quality.
Now here is a kind of unique project that has been ongoing at a vacation home on a nearby lake for an out-of-state client. The house is about 3500 sq. ft., was built in the 70's by a local physician, and the interior was a mix of Mediterranian, contemporary and whatever. The property is boat access only, so transportation of materials is always an issue.
The owners wanted the house to have more of a rustic cabin feel and pretty much let me loose to play.
The shots here are of the master bedroom with the original textured drywall and popcorn ceiling.
I covered that with rough sawn Port Orford Cedar (POC) planks with drawknifed edges on the plank edges to give a "log" appearance. I then took POC poles, cut flats on them on my Woodmizer, notched the joints and bored, bolted and plugged them into a trim configuration.
This particular room was done about 8 years ago, and I've since done about half of the house, with long-term plans to do it all in a similar scheme.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
What a difference that makes.I have a few questions.
1.When you drawknife or peel these poles what kind of cradle do use ?
2. Where do you find all your timbers?
3.How do you figure out what to charge your customer on a job like this?Don't tell us how much you charge, I mean you must have some idea how long it takes to peel poles, but to Peel,drill,bolt,plug,stain,varnish,caulk? Do they just pay you time and material?
Great looking work Notchman, Looks like fun.
Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Edited 1/10/2003 12:41:41 PM ET by Pro-Dek
On peeling: I have a couple sets of sawhorses I built that are heavy duty and they're of two different heights; one set is about 24" tall for doing pole peeling and smaller timber work; the other set is about 14" high for doing heavier stuff and a lot of times I'll just straddle the work when pulling with the drawknife.
I usually set up Vee cradles on the horses and sometimes I'll secure them with a chain and binder, and on the small poles, a short stick of 1 X 3 screwed to the pole and the horse is usually sufficient.
Like your hammer collecting, I collect drawknives and my favorite for this kind of work is a handforged one I bought from a log building supply a few years ago. The blade is 1/2" thick and 3 inches wide X 14" long, it's razor sharp and has enough mass to really get the job done.
Most of the logs and poles come off my own tree farm. Of the 60 acres, most is timberland and Doug fir, with scattered Western Red Cedar and Port Orford cedar. There's one area on top of a ridge that is my "pole patch" with a nice selection of trees averaging 4" to 10" in diameter, straight as a string and about 60 to 80 feet tall.
Securing the rock to the walls: This was built like most shower pans, with preslope, 30 mil liner, CBU and once we got above the flood zone, we used masonry clips screwed to the walls. The one free standing wall has rebar. I used a little extra lime in the mortar mix.
All the masonry was sealed with Agri-Seal (Nasty stuff, but a good product).
This kind of work is pretty much time and materials, although I don't nail the guy for the time I spend traipsing around in the woods looking for some particular shape or curve or... I usually give him a ballpark up front and get his OK. I ran pretty far over on the bath project, but he and his wife were thrilled and there was never a complaint.
The view? It doesn't show in the pics, but this is on a coastal lake and on nice days, the view is of waterskiiers and legs, etc. The house windows are reflective coated.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Thanks for the reply Notchman.
One note on the reflective glass. That stuff works great in the daytime, but don't stand there at night in the nude and expect any kind of privacy.
I worked on a remodel and the homeowner felt pretty cool having that reflective glass in the bath, till the neighbor called one night and asked her to put up a curtain or something because they could see her completely naked. :-)Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
This next batch is of the Master Bath which was a REAL facelift. The original had a beige wall-hung toilet which faced a closet with mirrored doors. There was a lot of decay beginning to happen around a big walk-in shower, so I gutted the whole thing.
Built a walk-in shower with jetted tub. The rock was hand picked from the Illinois River, a tributary of the Rogue River to the south of me. There's about 2 tons of rock and mortar in this project and it's upstairs so I had to do a lot of reinforcement in the entry below.
"Tiled" the floor with smaller flat rocks from the same source, but grouting was a real booger! The counter tops on the vanity and dressing table are myrtle wood (California Bay Laurel or Pepper Tree).Jules Quaver for President 2004
Notchman, that is one cool looking entry to the shower area, are the shower walls and floor made of the same material or is that just the entrance way?
Again looks very cool
Shower walls are river stone. The arch over the entry is a piece of Western red Cedar. The floor of the shower is flat riverstone.
One thing that's nice about this project is the scent that the Port Orford cedar gives the house....not overpowering but sweet and long lasting.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Notchman,
Did you find the stone yourself from around the site?
No. I got a permit from the Forest Service to handpick the rock on a large gravel bar on the Illinois River in Southern Oregon. It's about 80 miles from me, but that particular River travels through a lot of varied geology (originating in N. Calif) so the rock that accumulates is really varied with Jasper and agate and basalt and granite and churt, etc., so there is a great selection of colors ande shapes.
The photo really doesn't do justice to the beauty of the rock. It turned out so cool that DW had me do our shower with the same rock. It was nice to be able to practice on a customer first....usually it's the other way around.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Notch- What did you use on that bath sink counter? Was curious how you secured the wood together and what kind of sealer?Character? I never had any problem with character. Why, people've been telling me I was one every since I was a kid.
The myrtle wood planks were bisquit joined edge to edge about every 6" and set on a plywood sub-base. I think the finish was satin varithane. It's held up very well, but the place gets only occasional use.
I did their kitchen counter tops with the same material, and just keep them wiped down with mineral oil.Jules Quaver for President 2004
Looks great, Notchman. Kind of a dream project, huh?
Tell us more about the Forest Service rock collecting permit. Was that unusual for them to issue such a permit? Did you have to badger them? Is there paperwork involved? That seems like a great resource for materials for special projects. Do tell.
Hey, was that a flying saucer in the window of the bathroom photo?
That saucer (now gone) was one of those analog dishes that used to dot the landscape....someone once suggested they be named the national flower!
The rock permit was pretty easy to get, but it took some time because the Illinois River is one of the "Wild and Scenic " rivers and the Forest Service had to get the blessing of the Oregon Dept. of State Lands.
The permit cost $10 and granted me about 6 mos. to hand-pick up to about 10 cu. yards of rock (no machinery allowed, but that wouldn't be effective or fun anyway).
And I ended up getting just about 10 yards and still have a good stash for some projects here at home.
And it is a dream project working for these folks...they'll show me a picture of something they like and then turn me loose with artistic freedom to "surprise" them. (They keep calling on me so I'm pretty sure they're happy). Actually, I've found that if SHE's happy, HE's happy!
Jules Quaver for President 2004
Although the view is great from the tub looking out , the cross country skiers and snow shoers, must get an eyeful as they pass by. :-)
You were probably ready to get out of that bath by the time you were done. It looks like ALOT of work. Did you use any special additive to the grout to make it stick to the walls? Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
My question about dogs in the elk was a rather obscure reference to a forum exchange that has become kind of famous all over the internet. Called "Dogs in elk".
Here is a link to one of the copies of the original.....
http://www.cuppachat.com/dogsinelk.htm
And here is a link to what is supposedly an affirmation of the validity of the whole thing...
http://web.media.mit.edu/~solan/dogsinelk/validity.htm
Warning, do not take a drink of coffee or any other liquid just before beginning to read this. Unless you have one of those waterproof covers on your keyboard and/or are fond of the sensation of coffee in your sinuses.
: )
Quittin' Time
Notchman
Beautiful trusses .nice job dude. I need to make me some of those soon...but where to find wood like that around here is an issue.
Nice job!
a
One works on oneself, always. That's the greatest gift you can give to community because the more you extricate your mind from that which defines separateness, that defines community. The first thing is to become community. "Ram Dass"
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Andy, there are many guys who cut them green here in WI. I know of a couple who Kiln dry but the problem is that the big stuff dries awfully slow. I'm digging back in my brain but it was 1-2 wks for 1", 4 wks for 2", etc. The serious kiln guys really balk at thick stuff as it is a fixture in their kiln for too long to make a profit. Checking is always an issue for them and speculating on thick wood that probably will check & split rather than drying 1" with a high probability of success is the formula that drives the availability.
There used to be a timber framer (with a pole barn) in Lake Mills South of APV. They did some fine work. They might be a place to talk with when you take that step.
I am assuming Yew would not be your choice. Not any of that here in cheese land. Oak, Hemlock in spades, and the other usuals. I don't know if Hemlock would be structurally strong enough. When you decide to get into it ping me and I'll slide you a couple of suppliers.
Nice trusses, they look great. You need a nice Elk mount hanging up there with them. Tasty little buggers, I bet.
Very nice work, your one lucky guy to live in a place like that, where are you near, looks like Montana?