2007 Western Conference

Pre-Conference Workshops:
April 10-13, 2007

These workshops are an opportunity to hone your skills in an all-day intensive session with a small group of participants and expert instructors.

A separate registration fee is required. If you sign up for a Pre-Conference workshop but are not staying at Asilomar (a commuter), you must pay an additional $8.75/day State Park Use Fee. Pre-Conference fees do not include meals. Lunch is $11/day for workshop commuters and is optional. If you are staying at Asilomar you must reserve a room either registering online or using the Registration Form; meals and the daily Park Use fee are included in your room fee.

At a few past conferences, we have been fortunate to have visiting daiku — Japanese carpenters and temple builders — demonstrating their remarkable techniques. This year at Asilomar we will ratchet that experience up a few “notches” by hosting a pre-Conference workshop when a small group will able to work alongside these craftsmen on a larger project.

Kojiro Sugimura, head of the Nagoya-based Asakusaya Company (Design and Construction of Japanese Temples and Shrines) will bring four co-workers from Japan and will be assisted by James Wiester and Ross Grier (as interpreters), Tim Brennan and Mike Laine. Beginning Tuesday morning (April 10th) they will spend the three days before the Conference laying out and cutting a timber-framed “machiai,” an outdoor structure used as a waiting room for a tea ceremony.

Twenty-five workshop attendees will have the rare opportunity to work and learn from them in an intensive yet intimate setting. Interspersed with the construction will be demonstrations and instruction from the masters in sharpening, layout, architectural history, design, tuning of wooden planes (kanna) and tool maintenance. Personal attention in the teacher/student relationship is our goal.

The workshop will continue through Friday with the raising anticipated late that day. Attendees will be asked to bring their own tools and see the project through to completion, but are welcome to attend all Conference seminars and activities as time permits. All materials will be provided, and the Conference fee is included in your workshop tuition.

Thanks to Bob Sproul and East Fork Lumber for providing the Port Orford cedar for this project.

While the structure of timber frames varies significantly from stick-built homes, the heating, cooling and power systems are identical. A homeowner must understand the capabilities of mainstream sustainable technologies in order to specify or implement systems, which are affordable, cost-effective to operate, energy efficient, and provide a healthy indoor air quality. The true beauty of a timber frame home is derived from the pureness of the materials and the created space. Selecting systems that mimic this aesthetic is an imperative.

Attendees of this workshop should have an interest in learning about systems that inherently contribute to environmental sustainability and owner comfort and safety. The energy systems in this category are solar photovoltaic, wind, and micro hydropower generation (wind and hydro will be addressed only cursory to the solar photovoltaic detailed discussion). The heating and cooling systems are hydronic radiant (floor, wall and ceiling), geothermal heat pumps, solar hot water, and hybrids, combining these technologies as appropriate. While taught at a level assuming no initial knowledge of these technologies, persons that have a comprehensive understanding will learn about procurement and implementation practices to save money and time, as well as best practices to avoid traditional mistakes when selecting or implementing this technology. Therefore, the seminar is appropriate for trade professionals seeking information outside their core expertise, as well as existing or potential homeowners with limited understanding of the building trades.

Because of the volume of information to be covered, and the interrelated considerations of these systems, the seminar is appropriate only as a two-day exercise. Attending only one day is inappropriate in that the attendee would not fully comprehend the related nature of systems. Furthermore, missing a day would create a knowledge gap causing a distraction to the other seminar attendees should this information need to be readdressed. Although attendees will receive comprehensive handouts and extensive hands on practice in design and implementation of core components, the pace will be very fast.

My goal is that every attendee would leave this seminar understanding the critical issues to be considered when implementing these technologies in their own home. Similarly, should a tradesperson have prior experience with one or more of the systems, he/she would be able to expand their business offerings relatively easily with a little more professional training and/or hands on experience. The format and presentation content will allow plenty of time for questions and discussions (at any level of detail) related to these systems.

About the Instructor

A 16-year veteran of the Guild, Al Wallace is a frequent contributor to the Eco-logic column in our monthly newsletter, Scantlings. He is currently President of Energy Environmental Corporation and a former Director of E-Star Colorado. He holds a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from USAF Academy and a Masters degree in Architecture and Landscape Architecture, as well as a Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Colorado. He brings his extensive experience in the research, design, business and hands-on implementation of energy-efficient systems to this nuts-and-bolts course on what works with timber frames and why.

For most carpenters the geometry of building is based on straight lines, right triangles and various polygons; generally planes that are readily seen. The history of solving complicated roof problems using knowledge of these basic elements and simple but accurate drafting is well documented. The modern carpenter in the US has become separated from this past as modern building practice placed less and less importance on a traditional training regimen.

In this one-day seminar we will demonstrate basic drafting techniques to develop specific building information into solutions for the unknown intersections contained in a complex roof structure. Couple this skill with very basic math and you will have another method to derive all the proportions, lengths and angles needed to layout most roof systems.

In the process we need to develop and use a plane needed to solve roof problems that does not clearly present itself in the building envelope. This plane (the top of the hip or valley before the backing angles are cut is one example) is defined by the Tangent length, the Hip or Valley length, (which are at 90 degrees to each other) and the resultant hypotenuse. This plane also intersects various commonly considered building planes and the resulting information is needed to layout joinery. Tangent is a concept obscured from modern builders that I first spotted in an old framing square text. I had been looking for it. The framing square contains information about the tangent plane, but it, too, is well disguised.

The power of the tangent is not really obvious in a regular pitch, regular plan (adjacent roof pitches are equal and eave intersection is 90 degrees so the plan view of hip or valley is 45 degrees to the eaves) roof so we will jump to the next level. For our course we will consider the regular plan and irregular pitch roof. The roof pitches differ, the hip run is not 45 degrees but the eave intersection is 90 degrees. An example of this would be a hip roof with a ridge.

We will use preprinted materials to be efficient with our time together. Graphic solutions will be demonstrated and explained, simple math will solve for all the numbers needed, layout and cutting of folding models will take place as time allows.

Attendees should have plenty of roof cutting experience, some experience with compound roof problems, basic calculator skills and an open mind. The pace will be brisk. For the good of the many a few may fall behind in this exercise but all will take away something of value. Any study of the topic before attending this seminar would be a good idea (Will Beemer's articles in Timber Framing, Ed Levin's publications in the TFG Joinery & Design Workbook, Vol.1) to name just a few sources). We will not limit this program to any skill level but because this is an advanced offering results and satisfaction may vary. A short online quiz will be available to allow attendees to assess his/her skills before investing in this class.

About the Instructor

Curtis Milton is the owner of Monolithic Building Services in Jackson, New Hampshire. He is a member of the Guild's Board of Directors, and also serves as Treasurer, and has taught numerous compound joinery workshops and led many Guild projects.