Main Conference
The main Conference kicks off Friday with Featured Presenter John Abrams and “Sharing Ownership of the Future, and Building It, Too.” John will look at the future of the economy and the building industry and forecast the changes that may be needed in our companies - large and small - to bring new prosperity and excitement.
John will join Jonathan Orpin and Tedd Benson later in the day for a panel discussion and Q&A session on dealing with these challenging economic times.
Other business topics at the Conference include “Bidding and Managing Commercial Projects,” a panel led by Pete Dunnigan, and “Veteran Voices” with the UK's Bill Keir reprising his extremely popular talk from the last Western Conference; Bill will tell us his lessons learned from decades in the timber framing business.
Our group of presenters from abroad will be augmented by Laurie Smith, the Welsh artist and historian, who will have just led a sold-out workshop (with Jack Sobon) in the nearby Berkshires on Geometrical Design. Laurie will give us a recap of these principles and show historical examples. Other presenters supporting our Conference theme include architect, timber framer, author and founding member Jack Sobon with “Working by Hand: A Course for the Future?”
Rob Hadden has been featured in his “DIY Down Under” series in Timber Framing, and he will come all the way from Australia to share his experiences in building his homestead complex there. In “Creating Unique Materials” and “Fearless Timber Framing in Australia” (our closing presentation Sunday morning), Rob will show us how he has built beautiful buildings using traditional methods, local materials and a whole lot of ingenuity.
Saturday's Featured Presenter will be James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere, The Long Emergency, and A World Made by Hand, a novel set in a future without oil and other “necessities” where the hero just happens to be a carpenter.
Other presenters include:
- John Miller and Ben Brungraber with “A Cautionary Tale” about managing client relationships and doing an engineered remediation of trusses in failure.
- Rudy Christian on “What Does Green REALLY Mean?”
- Architect and LEED Accredited Professional Jeremy Bonin on “Building a Sustainable Home”
- Jim DeStefano and Stewart Elliott with “SIPs and ICF Hybrids”
- Collin Beggs and his excellent presentation from the last Western Conference on “The Evolution of a Timber Framer,” showing his progression from a solo timber framer to a full design-build firm
- A unique presentation by architectural historian Molly McDonald on the “Historic Carpentry of Archeologically Excavated Wharves”
- Ace McArlton and Jacob Racusin updates us on some natural building techniques with “Straw Bales & Timber Frames - Best Practices”
Details on all the presentations and events are available here. We hope to see you in Saratoga!
Hands-On Demos
Saturday will feature demonstrations in the Exhibit Hall that will include:
- Joint Busting: Give your best shot to our new Joint Busting Machine. Specs and guidlines are here.
- Panel Busting: Foard Panel will demonstrate the strength of SIPs by using a pressure test. Results for both EPS and XPS panels will be shown. Foard engineer Paul Malko will be available to answer questions about the testing device and procedure.
- Children's Discovery Workshop: The timber framing kid's brigade will be raising a small barn frame and also building their own toolboxes. Please be sure to sign up your child when you register for the Conference to be sure we have materials for them and to reserve their spot on the raising crew.
- 18th-Century Dutch Frame Raising: We will be raising a small frame representing the geometric layout principles and hand tools that would have been used in upstate New York in the early 1700s. Jack Sobon and Laurie Smith will lead the event.
- Timberlinx will be assembling a frame demonstrating the use and installation of their unique fasteners.
- Rigging: Steve Dewey from Albany All-Lift will customize their training curriculum for timber framers in a 2-hour demonstration on the use and inspection of slings and other rigging hardware. A Crosby Pocket Guide will be included for all participants.
- Natural Plastering: Creating an effective air barrier for timber frames with earth-based enclosures systems: a hands-on demo by Ace McCarlton and Jacob Racusin to follow up their Conference seminar.
In addition, we'll have our usual events such as the Benefit Auction (our major fund raiser for the year), the Slide Show when everyone has a chance to show their work, the Summer Beam Bookstore, The Trade Fair and Mixer and TFG and TFBC Membership Meetings.
Benefit Auction
Our Benefit Auction, one of the highlights of our Conferences, is now online for pre-Conference bidding and also for donating items. If you can't come to Saratoga Springs or want to send an item and support the Guild, please visit www.tfguild.net.
This Dutch-style timber frame will be constructed by the Guild's Geometrical Layout and 18th-Century Hand Tool Workshop in the week immediately preceding the conference and without power tools or tape measures, using methods typical of the early 1700s in upstate New York. The pine timbers are hand-hewn and trestle sawn; frame dimensions are approximately 13' wide x 14' deep by 19' high'. Joinery is secured with riven pegs. Designed by Jack Sobon with geometrical principles developed by Welshman Laurie Smith, this frame will be produced by 25 skilled international artisans. The frame will be assembled on Saturday, November 7th, at the Guild's annual Eastern Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. The winning bidder (from this online auction or at the live auction in Saratoga on the evening of Nov. 7th) should plan on taking delivery of the disassembled frame at the Conference on Sunday, November 8th (truck or trailer required). Alternately, for an additional fee of $300 we can ship and store the frame in Becket, Mass. and hold it for pickup.
Tours & Open Houses
On both Friday and Saturday Vermont Timber Frames will offer tours and open houses at some nearby commercial projects (including some massive horse barns) and homes they've built. Transportation will be provided.
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Laurie Smith
If you wish to book accommodations somewhere other than the Saratoga Hilton, there are hotels nearby. Visit the Saratoga Convention & Tourism Bureau at 