A Timber Framer's Workshop: Joinery & Design Essentials for Building Traditional Timber Frames - Softcover

Steve Chappell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 188926900X ISBN 13: 9781889269009

Publisher: Fox Maple Press, 2011

Synopsis

This revised edition of A Timber Framer s Workshop has over 150 new photos and includes updated engineering specifications for pegged joinery, along with expanded in-depth technical information on the joinery, design and construction of Traditional Timber Frames.

The major portion of A Timber Framer's Workshop was first written back in 1983. Over a period of a number of years several revisions and additions took place, as it was used as the handout workshop manual for Fox Maple Timber Framing Workshops. At last, it was published for general distribution in 1998.

When this book was first published in 1998, scientific testing results for pegged mortise and tenon joinery simply did not exist. The corollaries that could be made at that time were drawn from testing results for bolted connections. This is common in engineering as the essential physical laws concerning force and motion, primarily Newtonian physics, are symmetrical. However, nothing ever beats a direct test for a specific condition as the results end with an emphatic exclamation point. In the past five or six years testing has at last been carried out for a number of the most common pegged joinery conditions and the results have been published. The impetus for this revision was in large part to update and to include these new testing results so that the readers would be privy to the latest engineering results available for timber frame joinery.

Along the way, over 150 new photos and drawings were added and editorial additions were made to clarify specific conditions, or to more fully explain a critical aspect of timber framing. While the essential book is the same, virtually every element is expanded in some way to paint a more vibrant picture of the technical aspects of how to build a traditional timber frame. In addition, there is an expanded element of color and nuance to help the reader more fully understand the magic of timber framing... and that timber framing really is the Jazz of building.

Illustrated with over 500 photos and CAD drawings.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Steve Chappell is a builder at heart and a teacher by nature. His journey in timber framing began on the northern coast of California in 1970, when by chance he joined a group of individuals in the construction of a joined timber frame. The group was led by a New Englander who grew up playing in his uncle's barn, and whose vague memories fueled the design. The concept of building with timbers using joinery alone, secured by wooden pegs struck a chord. Inspired by the experience, he moved from the Oregon coast to Maine in 1973 to study the early buildings of Colonial America first hand. Building, teaching and writing about the craft has been his passion ever since. In 1975, after two years of studying and repairing antique barn and house frames, Chappell started what would become one of the first timber framing company's in North America devoted to building new joined timber frames since its waning days at the end of the 19th century. This essentially marked the beginning of the timber framing revival. The early 1980's saw a growing interest in timber framing. As a way to fill the information gap, Chappell began conducting a series of timber framing workshops in 1983, and soon founded Fox Maple School of Traditional Building to better develop a structured curriculum. Over the years he has instructed thousands of individuals in workshops from Maine to California, Alaska to Argentina, Hawaii, Europe and across Canada. The same year he founded Joiners' Quarterly, The Journal of Timber Framing & Traditional Building, where he has written extensively about timber framing and traditional building. It was through Chappell's call to unite in editorial essays in JQ that the seeds of the Timber Framers Guild were first sewn, from which, the original organizing committee, and the Guild, were formed. Chappell is a passionate advocate of timber framing. In this book his nearly 40 years of experience is laid out for all to use. His intimacy with the craft is ever present, and his passion contagious. If you want to understand traditional timber framing, read this book. Chappell portrays the craft, with all its nuances, the way it was meant to be.

About the Author:

Steve Chappell began his timber framing career in 1970 and has been building, teaching and writing about the craft ever since. As the editor & publisher of Joiners Quarterly, The Journal of Timber Framing & Traditional Building, Chappell was an early and prominent advocate of timber framing and traditional building during the early days of the revival. The Journal represented the most comprehensive source for timber framing and traditional building information available at that time. Through his calls to unite in JQ, the seeds of a guild were laid, and in 1984 co-founded the Timber Framers Guild. As a way of bringing the written information into more tangible use, Chappell founded Fox Maple School of Traditional Building in 1983. The schools campus, in West Brownfield, Maine, currently conducts courses in timber framing and traditional building methods, including traditional clay infill, thatching and progressive natural building systems.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fox Maple Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 188926900X
• ISBN 13: 9781889269009
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 252