Workshop notes.....with a lot of pics!

[Piston]

I went to a 2 day workshop last weekend with Jim Rogers.  (more info here http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,51914.0.html )
 It was a very valuable learning experience for me and a huge stepping stone in my 'beginner level' timber framing education.  I figured I would take some notes before I forgot too much of what I learned.  Rather than writing down some notes in a notebook or something, why not write them here for everyone else to read!  Not to mention, I won't misplace my notebook if it's written here.  

We started off talking about tools, reference faces, and crowning timbers, along with some time for questions and answers.

The next step was watching Jim layout and cut a tenon while he explained every step along the way, it was really helpful watching him go step by step before we attempted cutting our own tenon, he also gave a lot of small, but important, pointers, stressing the common 'rookie mistakes'



 


Here is the site of the future shed, the owner setup the tarp which came in really useful for the first day of intense heat, the shade was welcoming.  


 


You can see the existing shed in this pic, which will be attached to the new shed.  


 


Not a very good pic here (photographers fault) but you can see the two carpenters squares on the timber, one on each end, acting as "Winding Sticks" to help judge the twist in the timber.  This timber did twist slightly clockwise as you see it in the pic.  Quick note here, all these timbers were hardwood, mostly Oak and some Hickory mixed in.  



 


Here Jim was explaining how important it is to visualize the timber in the frame, before laying out or cutting anything.  We went over the timber drawing and looked at the timber itself, checking the basic layout of the joints and making sure none will fall on a large knot.  


 


The end of timber cut line is visible in this pic, and Jim is marking out the tenon length and shoulder line.  Note the location of the tape, it's hard to see, but he is using the "10" mark on the tape as the zero point.  There a couple reasons for this, one-is that the true end of the tape, has a moveable hook on the end so that when you push the tape up against an object to measure the distance, it shows the right length, and also when you pull the tape and have it hooked around an object, it still shows the correct distance...this movable hook may or may not be exactly accurate, so we don't use it.  Of course we could just use the 1" mark as the zero point, but the reason we don't, is because when you 'forget' about this 1" difference in your measurement, it won't show up very easy, and you won't notice the mistake.  Whereas when you use the 10" mark, you will notice the large 10" error a lot easier than a 1" mark.  Another note, is that if you have a timber that is 10' long for example, we use 120" to measure out the length, and it is simple math to add 10" to it, rather than some other arbitrary number.  



 


Here is a shot of laying out the 1.5" tenon, 1.5" from the layout face.  Also a good example of how easy it is to layout the two lines for the tenon using the Big Al.  Another nice thing about the Big Al, is it doesn't fall off the timber as easily as a framing square, also it has a large fence on both sides and sits on the timber itself, rather than having to lineup for the body of the framing square and hold it as you mark.  
A common mistake for beginner's like myself, is to use the wrong face of the timber for reference.  I had to keep reminding myself to use the right face of the timber, marked with either a solid triangle, or an open triangle, both pointing towards the same 'edge' or "arris" as it is called.


 


Here you can see the tenon starting to take shape.


 


This is after we turned the timber 90 degrees (towards the camera) and laid out the side of timber cuts.  You can see on the face where there are now red "X's" marking the waste wood to be cut away.  Jim is using the combination square to mark out the relief cut which will be seen on the bottom of the timber.  The 45 degree cut will look nicer than a straight cut, and also distribute the stress a little more so the timber will be less likely to crack or check at the relief cut.


 


Another shot of the tenon being laid out.  You can see the relief cut layout better in this pic, that Jim just made with the combo square, referencing the correct edge of the timber.  The word "Tenon" is written on the timber, as well as all the "X"s as to minimize the chance of cutting the wrong lines.  

 


The opposite side of the timber, laid out......


  


....and the bottom of the timber.




Now that we have the tenon laid out, and have double checked the measurements (because of course we measure twice and cut once  ) we are ready to knife the layout.



When knifing the layout, we are basically 're-layingout' (is that a word?) the entire joint, and using the very accurate cut line of the razor knife as our reference for cutting the joint.  This way, we aren't actually cutting the line of the pencil, we are cutting the line that we just made with the knife, which is extremely accurate.  In fact, Jim showed us how he could easily make 1/32 and even 1/64 marks with the knife, whereas the tip of a carpenters pencil is almost impossible to get that accurate.  The importance of accuracy was stressed quite a bit, since as the timber dries, it will distort, move, and twist, and the more accurate we can be now, the less this movement will effect our frame later.  Also, especially when cutting a brace, even minute mistakes will show up quite large if you have long timbers.  


 


Here is Jim starting the knifing process.


 


Knifing the shoulder line....Note:If this was the second tenon in this timber, he would have measured once again with the tape measure, using the opposite shoulder line as a zero point (where the 10" mark would be lined up with) and measuring right to the line and marking the line with the knife.  Since this was the first tenon in the timber, it wasn't too important to be dead on, since we are creating the zero point with this shoulder cut.  One tip I learned that was very helpful, was to use a speed clamp to clamp your tape measure onto the opposite end of the timber, to hold the 10" mark right on the shoulder cut.  This is how one person can measure out very accurately, the second shoulder line.  


 


Knifing the tenon.....This cut is the start of the 1.5" tenon, at 1.5" from the layout face...



 


Knifing the side cuts.  Remember when laying out the tenon (or any lines for that matter) that a solid line is a cut line, and a dashed line represents a hidden cut line, for instance the depth of a blind tenon on the inside of the timber when you want to visualize it from the side of the timber, but not a cut line.  Also, an "X" on waste wood represent a line that will be cut away completely, whereas a squiggly line (that's a technical term ) represents waste wood that will NOT be cut all the way through, such as a relief cut or side cut that will go to the tenon and stop, 1.5" in, in this case.

 


Knifing the 45 degree cut line, notice using the reference edge to line up the combo square.


Now that all the layout lines have been double checked, measured twice, knifed, and remeasured, we are ready to start cutting the tenon, almost.  First, we need to make sure the skill saw is set at a true 90 degrees.  

 


We do this with a framing square, by laying the body of the square on the 'bed' of the skill saw (whats the name of that piece?)
Make sure to lineup the tongue of the square to the blade, between the teeth, since the set of the teeth could give and inaccurate reading.  (there's that 'accurate' thing again!)
Oh another quick note (in case you didn't already know, I didn't) the larger, longer blade on the framing square is called the body, the shorter narrower one is called the tongue.  


 


Cutting the end of timber cut line first.  Later, we will take off an extra 1/8" from the end of tenon, this will reduce (maybe remove?) the chances of the tenon bottoming out on the siding as it is put through the through mortice in the receiving timber.  As the receiving timber (post) dries, it will will decrease slightly in diameter (I believe this is radial shrinkage?) and since the beam with the tenon will shrink very little longitudinally, it could theoretically 'push' out the siding as the two member dry, so this is why we cut off an extra 1/8".

Obviously we can't cut a 6x6 with a 7" or 8" skill saw, so we have to cut one line, turn the timber 90, then cut another, and so on, until we get all the way around the timber, and we'll finish the cut with a handsaw as shown below:
 











....And Walah!  We have our first chunk of waste wood to celebrate!  


Here is our new end of timber.  



 


It's now back to the drawing board to transfer the tenon cut lines to the end of timber.


 


Now we have our tenon laid out on the end of the timber, as well as our red "X"s and squiggly lines to show that we won't cut straight through the timber.  


 


The last step of course, is to knife the lines on the end of timber, the lines we just marked.  Again, referencing the correct edge/faces on the timber-this is very important!


We're now ready to cut the lines for the tenon.  However, we can't just arbitrarily start cutting lines, we have to do it in a specific order.  We cut the lines the same way we laid out the tenon, so we start with our first, which will be the line we laid out 1.5" off the layout face.  Since this line will be 1.5" deep, we have to set the saw blade so we don't cut too deep, we want to leave just a fraction of wood and pare to the line with our chisels or slick.  



 


Here is Jim setting the depth of cut, you can see the line he is using to visually set the depth of cut, just a fraction short.



 


Upon closer inspection, I guess there isn't too much room for error.  You can see the cut line from the knife vs. the pencil line above.  


 


....And now making the actual cut that we just set the depth for.  This will be the shoulder cut and is cut just shy of the knife line.  He will go back later with the chisel and pare right to the line, using the knife line to set the chisel tip in, creating an exact, accurate shoulder cut.  



 


We finally get to use our chisels!  Here is a shot of 'chopping out' the waste wood, taking half the wood to the line, then another half and so on, until we get right to the line.  



 


Our first cut, 1.5" off the layout face, is starting to take shape.


 


Using the slick to pare down to the line.  


 


A great way to check the depth of the tenon, which of course should be exactly 1.5" from the layout face, is to use a framing square (in this case a small square where the body is 1.5" thick, rather than the tongue, like a larger framing square) and you lay the square across the tenon, and using a speed square up top, move the speed square back and forth OVER the carpenters square, if the carpenters square stops the speed square from moving past it, you know you have some more wood to remove, little by little.  
You should also try to rock the carpenters square, which will show you any high spots, you can then pare these spots down, or if you want, pencil over them and remove enough wood to remove the lines, then test again.  Be careful not to take off too much wood, you can't put it back!



 


A Rabbet Plane works well for getting up close to the shoulder when removing small amounts of wood, also smoothing the tenon.  The smoother the tenon, the smoother it will slide into the mortice, plus it looks better!


The framing square works great for checking the depth of tenon right up against the shoulder, but it doesn't work too well for checking the rest of the tenon, for this, we can use a combination of the combo square and framing square (hmmm, conveniently they call a combination square a combination square because it is used in combination with the framing square )
This is shown below, since we know the body of a framing square is 2", and the depth of tenon is 1.5" we set our combo square to 3.5" and use the combo as shown:
 






 


Another useful tool aside from the slick or chisel to pare down to the line, is the hand plane.  A good sharp hand plane works excellent for this.



 


Remember before when I mentioned paring to the line?  Well you can see here how accurate you can be with the chisel to pare down to the shoulder line, the one we knifed earlier.




Now that the shoulder is cut and the face of the tenon is cut, and measurement checked to be exactly 1.5" off the layout face, we transfer the next cut line onto the face of the tenon, mark it, knife it, and cut it.  Not all tenon's will have this cut, this one does since it is not a full width tenon, the mortice it will go into is only a 4" mortice.
 






 


These lines are now measured, marked, knifed, and "X"d out.  

Time for a lunch break!  



 







 


Cutting the other side of the tenon now.....


 


Turn it over, and do it again....


 


Dropping the cut down, and meeting the two together.  The skill saw makes quick work of the cuts, but also makes quick work of mistakes.  A good sharp ripsaw could make a nice single cut as well.  



 


Now flip the timber, and make the opposite shoulder line cut.  This was cut first with the skill saw set at full depth (after confirming that it wouldn't cut into the tenon) and finished up with the handsaw.  

 





 


Now pop out the waste wood.  If the grain is straight and there are no knots, it should pop right out.  This one had a knot and Jim had to take little by little, an alternative would be to use the handsaw on the end cut as well, which would work good too.  

 












Now that the majority of the waste wood is gone, we use our outside calipers (set to 1.5" using the tongue of the framers square) to check the depth of tenon, and ensure it is exactly 1.5"




It is important to note, that we already set the tenon to exactly 1.5" from the reference face, so any wood that needs to be removed, HAS to be removed from the face we are working on now, not from the first face we cut!  




 


Once we're happy with our tenon thickness, we pare to the shoulder line.



 


Now we take off the waste wood from the top of the tenon, note the line on the tenon Jim is cutting down to.  Also, when using a handsaw, never cut what you can't see!  So this means you start your saw kerf, and only move the saw blade down, on the side that your watching, and when you finish that line, you move around to the opposite side of the timber, and cut the line that you can now see, this avoids the saw wandering on one side or the other.



 


....and remove the waste wood.



 


....and pare to the line.



Almost done.  The only thing we have to do now, is flip the timber over and remove the housing wood, and relief cut.  Since all timbers are housed 1/2" on this frame (according to the frame rules on the plan) and we are using 6x6 timbers, we reduce the tenon height to 5.5" from the reference face.  In other words, if the timber were a perfect 6x6 (which it rarely is) we would be removing a 1/2" from the underneath.
 



 





 


Removing the waste wood.....
 



 










Here is a step back to show where we are working....



 


Now we need to make our 45 degree cut for the relief cut.  If you want to be exactly 45 degrees, you can use the speed square as a template to rest your chisel on.


  




With the relief cut finished, we go back and take off the 1/8" from the tenon that I mentioned earlier.
 








Mark our hole location....1.5" off the shoulder, and centered on the tenon.




 


....And chamfer the edges.



 


And we mark the tenon location according to the plan, and that's it, we're done!  

Wasn't that easy?  

 



It took me a lot longer to write up these notes than it did to cut the tenon, I will post more next post, but I'm taking a break for now.....Feel free to critique as necessary.  

[TonyZ]

Nice explanation, but I have one question about the design of the tenon. With all that wood of the 6x6, why is the tenon an inch-and-a-half? It seems weak. Wouldn't a three-inch tenon be stronger?

[Jim_Rogers]

Rule of thumb is that the tenon is 1/4 the thickness of the timber. So a 6x6 means a 1 1/2" tenon set 1 1/2" off the reference face/edge. In an 8x8 the tenon would be 2" and offset 2" for simple matching layout.

That's why.

Jim

[frwinks]

thanks for sharing Piston...looks like a perfect setting for a TF workshop

[Jim_Rogers]

Yes, thanks for sharing and the write up was perfect.

Jim Rogers

[Piston]

The next step was to lay out and cut the mortice on the post that will receive the tenon we just cut.  

We start out by laying out the housing and mortice.
 




 


Since we'll be using a boring machine, we need some reference for where to start each hole.  For this we draw a line down the center of the mortice to indicate where we will bore the holes.  Once we have that line, we use an awl to make an indentation on the center line, so the bit will naturally sit in the 'starting hole' to make it less prone to wander.  


 


Now we knife the lines, after double checking the position of the mortice.  



 


Here you can see the mortice and housing after they are knifed out.  



 


Now we set the boring machine on the timber and take our measurements for the depth stop.  Since this will be a through mortice we will bore half way from one side, and the other half from the other side.  



 


We place the blade of the bit on the edge of the timber, so the threaded point is hanging down the side, and set our depth stop for half the distance of the mortice.
The depth stop is nothing more than a block of wood clamped on the side of the boring machine, keeping it simple.
 





 


You can see the points made by the awl in the above pic, which is helping the bit stay in place while it gets started.



 


Once it's set up, you just bore away!  
We bore the tops and bottoms of the mortice first, then the middle, so the bit will have fresh wood all around it for the first 2 holes and will help prevent wandering.



 


Hole 1 done....

 
 


Hole 2 done....





Hole 3 done.


Rather than using the boring machine for the other side, we all wanted to see the chain mortiser work.  So we turned the timber over and set the chain mortiser up.  This thing works fast!
 


 















 

Flip the timber back over, and it's just a matter of chiseling away the waste, and paring to the lines.  Just like the tenon, we will start with making sure the side measured 1.5" from the reference edge, is pared and measured first, then we will make sure the mortice is 1.5" wide.  



 













Here is what the side that the chain mortiser did looks like.



 


Now cutting the line for the housing.



 


....and since you can't cut what you can't see, you have to cut down the line from the other side as well.



 


Then chisel out the waste wood little by little.  

 



Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the finished mortice, but basically once the waste wood was chiseled away for the housing, it was just a matter of paring to the line.  The only other note for the mortice, was to 'dish out' the center portion of the housing, a little more than the outer sides of the housing.  It's hard to explain but picture it as if you put a straight edge across the housing, and the edges of the housing were supporting the straight edge, whereas the middle of the housing has a slight amount of gap, maybe a 1/16" or 1/8".  I bet Jim could explain it a bit better than me  
And there you have the tenon cut earlier, and the corresponding mortice....sounds simple really.....

[Piston]

The most valuable part of this workshop for me, was having someone who knows what they're doing explain the process in 'dumbed down' detail and demonstrate exactly what to do, and not only that, but exactly what NOT to do.  I would then lay out a joint on my own, and Jim would come double check it and approve (or some cases not approve ) my work and tell me to knife the lines.  After that I could cut the joint starting with step 1.  It was very helpful for me to have Jim watch what I was doing, and correct something I did wrong.  My main goal in this workshop was to get formal basic instruction to form a base foundation for me to grow from.  My expectations were certainly exceeded with how much I learned in such a short amount of time. 
I have read the Sobon shed book (minimum 4 times cover to cover) the Sobon House book (3 times cover to cover) the Benson book (2 times cover to cover) and the Chappell book (also twice cover to cover) I have also read this forum until my eyes bled!  I'm saying this because I want to make a point.  As much as I have read, and as much as I even understand what to do, and why to do it, I didn't really know HOW to do it, or the process of doing what I was 'supposed' to do.  It was a huge help that I read as much as I have, but it was absolutely priceless to have someone like Jim put it all 'together' sorta-speak. 

If you ever get a chance to take a workshop with Jim, it will definitely be worth your time!  I hope I will be home for the next one he offers and I will certainly be signed up for it. 


Following the mortice and tenon, we then cut a brace and brace pocket.  I will try and post pictures and more details over the weekend.  Unfortunetley my battery was on it's last leg for the second day and I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked while cutting and laying out the brace tenons and mortices. 
In short though, that one Sunday has "demystified" brace layout and joinery for me.  I am certainly pleased with my results. 

Thanks again for taking the time to pass on some knowledge to me and others Jim.   

[Satamax]

My dear Piston, it hurts me when i see people struggle.

On your tenon



You started well! IMHO. But why in the world, didn't you do several cuts with the saw set at the proper depth?

What i mean. When i do a tenon, instead of using a chisel, i cut the  shoulder line using the right side of my blade, so i can see the line well. Motor side on the end side. Then i go on the other side of the piece of wood, and i do several cuts every 1/4 or a smidge less, starting at the end of the piece of wood working back to the shoulder.  When that's done, knock the "shims" of wood with a hammer. And pare with a well sharp chisel, untill i reach the bottom of the kerf. Way easier than using the the big chisel to knock the whole thing off!  Same thing aplies for half lap and full lap joints! Or having the chain morticer from makita, if it doesn't have too much play, you can cut the tenons with it too! I have a holz-her, which is not that great for this, as the guide and chain doesn't go much deeper than 8 or 10 cm (3.5 to 4 inch)

Hope this helps!

[Dave Shepard]

I disagree. I remove all the waste with a framing chisel then finish with a slick. The big time waster is using the circular saw for so many cuts, then having to finish the cut with a hand saw, and then later still having to pare to the line.

I've had people try to prove the speed of power tools to me, all have failed so far, one didn't even show up to finish his tenon. This black locust tenon took 45 minutes, it's cut on a 6"x10" timber. One guy said he was going to show me how it was done. He spent 28 minutes cutting little slices on one side of the tenon, cutting over the line into the shoulder no less, when he asked how long it took me to do mine. He never finished the project. As for the chain-mortiser guy who came next? I had to spend about as much time cleaning up the holes as he spent boring them.

[Satamax]

Hey Dave, what hand saw? I have a hilti plunge saw for up to 2.1/4 then an ols haffner for up to 3.5, and if i need more i have the makita for up to 5.1/2 depth of cut. Set the saw for the proper depth. Knock the slivers of wood, then pare.

45 minutes for a tenon? Sorry mate! 

Well, ok black locust is a btch. I never work with it, the round part and keyholes take time i admit.

If power tools take so much time, why in the world people use them? 

I'll abide the day you'll show me how to cut a tenon and it's matching mortice with a twybill. 

Btw, i do roves and make frames for a living. Well, not for the moment. I have stairs, shuters, and wood siding to do!

[Dave Shepard]

Before I respond further, I'd like to say that my comments are made in effort to offer a different perspective. I respect that others have a different approach than I do, and am not suggesting that anybody adopt my methods.

I use a Stanley Sharptooth. That was a really wonky piece of black locust, and the wedge and peg holes, rounded tenon etc. all add up. Right now I'm cutting 5" long tenons on hewn 6"x8" timbers, maybe 6-8 minutes each, and perfectly dimensioned.

In my experience, people use power tools because they don't believe hand tools can be faster. You have to select the right tool and make sure it is in proper working condition. You can't pick up an old rusty hand saw with no set, give up half-way through and saw hand tools don't work.

I'd be interested to know the best way to layout and cut this scarf joint with power tools on a hand hewn timber.

[whiskers]

since we know the body of a framing square is 2", and the depth of tenon is 1.5" we set our combo square to 4.5" and use the combo as shown.

There seems to be an extra inch of combo blade, am I missing the obvious again?

[trailmaker]

  This is a really outstanding post.  Thanks for sharing Piston.

[Satamax]

Before I respond further, I'd like to say that my comments are made in effort to offer a different perspective. I respect that others have a different approach than I do, and am not suggesting that anybody adopt my methods.

I use a Stanley Sharptooth. That was a really wonky piece of black locust, and the wedge and peg holes, rounded tenon etc. all add up. Right now I'm cutting 5" long tenons on hewn 6"x8" timbers, maybe 6-8 minutes each, and perfectly dimensioned.

In my experience, people use power tools because they don't believe hand tools can be faster. You have to select the right tool and make sure it is in proper working condition. You can't pick up an old rusty hand saw with no set, give up half-way through and saw hand tools don't work.

I'd be interested to know the best way to layout and cut this scarf joint with power tools on a hand hewn timber.

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

Hi Dave. Well, here we're talking diferent maters. On your Jupiter line, because this is what it's called for me. On hand hewn timber, there's only one way as far as i know, tap a centerline on the lengh of the piece of wood with chalk line. Draw the joint relative to this centerline. At the ends of the piece of wood, with the piece of wood laid on bearers or trestles, get the two verticals with a plumb bob, the wood musn't move. Turn the wood over, joint the two points of the verticals with a chalk line. Which is now a miror centerline of the other side. The hard part is to have lengh reference from one side to the other. What i would do, is lay the piece of wood on it's side and plumb the two shoulders. Tracing a square line tween theses two shoulders vertical lines and the centerline on both sides should give acurate enough lengh reference. A bit overkill compared to what the old guys used to do, using a face as a reference. But that's what i would do. Will you have some downwards force on your joint?

Myself, i would have done it more this way.



I agree with hand tools is the way to go on hand hewn. Thought i might try something like this one with a board nailed to the reference face 



And still, i'll abide when you show me how to cut a tenon and it's matching mortice, "on the fly" with a twybill

Don't take it bad. But in the real world, when you need to make money, using hand tools is nice or necessary sometimes. But they take an horendous time to sharpen. And for example, planing a piece of wood is way faster with a planer and jointer than with a stanley N°7   Cuting a piece of wood, even hand hewn is way faster with a chainsaw than a frame saw.

[Satamax]

Huh, i thought about your joint and machine on hand hewn. Easy peasy, program the CNC machine, stick the piece of wood in it and done  

[thecfarm]

Hate to see this fine thread turn into a hand-power tool debate.
I myself have no idea about cutting beams,tenons and all the other words and cuts.  But Piston did a really great job showing what was done.I want to thank him for the time he spent. I know it took alot of time for the pictures and to post about each one.

[Piston]

There seems to be an extra inch of combo blade, am I missing the obvious again?

Yes whiskers you are!  you are missing the obvious fact that I can't do basic math and add 2" + 1.5"! 

Your right, we set the combo square to 3.5" and check the rest of the tenon that way.  I'll go back and edit the post so I don't confuse anyone else, and to try and hide my embarrassing mistake 

Now where did I put that calculator?

[Piston]

Thanks for the 'Thanks' guys 
I figure if anyone can benefit from me writing my notes down here then it makes me feel like I've helped a little. 

In regards to the power tools vs. hand tools, one of the greatest things about Jim's way of teaching is that he encourages everyone to try new things and develop their own system of cutting joints.  He has been doing this for a LONG time (not trying to make you feel old Jim ) and he is still very open minded about new techniques and learning.  He showed us a few things he recently learned and has no problem trying a new way of doing things.  What I'm saying is similar to what Dave said, there are more ways to do things and one single way is not the best, or the most efficient for everyone.  Jim told us to learn different ways of doing timber framing, and use what works best for us, by coming up with our own system.  So I think it is important to keep an open mind with tools.  Sometimes power tools will be quicker and more efficient, and sometimes hand tools are the only possible way to cut a specific joint.  I personally didn't like the chain morticer as much as the chisels. 

[dukndog]

Great post, Piston!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Dave Shepard]

That scarf joint is in a purlin post. It is 4' long. The joint you showed would not have the rigidity necessary for a post. All repairs I am working on are drawn by Jack Sobon. I let him do the engineering. All layout is done off of reference faces, never off of a center line.