2009 Western Conference

Pre-Conference Workshops
Thursday, March 26, 2009
SEPARATE REGISTRATION REQUIRED

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. Workshops begin at 8:30 am on Thursday prior to the opening of the Main Conference. This is an opportunity to hone your skills in an all-day intensive session with a small group of participants and expert instructors. Tuition for all one-day pre-conference workshops is $150/Guild members; $200/Non-members; Fee includes lunch and breaks on the day of the workshop, but does not include main conference registration.

Will there ever be a time when timber design software will be affordable, accurate, and easy to use? Selecting appropriate software is difficult for all design professionals, but particularly for those analyzing timber frames. After patiently waiting for software developers to satisfy our basic needs, finally there are some good analysis tools for timber frame designers to choose from.

This workshop will present information on cost, availability, and capabilities of several programs, and will use examples to demonstrate software for basic beam sizing, truss design, and connection design. Tips and tricks for manipulation of these programs, as well as manual techniques to supplement the software, will also be given. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops to test drive demonstration versions of RISA 2D or Visual Analysis and upload spreadsheets.

Computer programs are tools and cannot be substituted for the engineering judgment of licensed professionals. Since software selection is relative to user needs, the suitability of programs for both professionals and non-professionals will be discussed.

About the Instructor

Jesse Kendall, P.E., is the structural engineer for Timberpeg Design Services in West Lebanon, NH. He has been a member of the Timber Framers Guild since 2000 and currently serves on the Timber Frame Engineering Council.

This one-day workshop is geared toward both the professional timber framer with a little or a lot of experience in design, and the professional designer with a little or a lot of experience working with timber framing. The workshop will combine presentations with hands-on sessions that allow participants to look at real-life design problems and opportunities, and see how they are eventually worked out in three dimensions. There will be a special emphasis on solutions that are, literally, "outside the box": unusual roof lines, angled layouts, and multiple roof lines.

Given an existing floor plan, participants will design a timber frame concept to fit or take the proffered design and make changes, given a few programmatic twists. It is an opportunity to try something you have never done before — experiment with an unusual roof line, a different approach to the framing layout, or something that budget usually precludes. Participants will be working with pencil on tracing paper, or for those SketchUp savants out there, bring your laptop and transfer your ideas directly into SketchUp models.

Depending on the design and the skills of the group, participants will develop a balsa wood model or SketchUp model of their individual designs. Less attention will be paid to the particulars of timber sizing and joinery in favor of developing a workable concept in three dimensions. This is the fun part — seeing your ideas made manifest in 3D.

All drawing and modelmaking materials will be supplied. If you are experienced with SketchUp and would like to use it, please bring your laptop to the workshop.

About the Instructor

Andrea Warchaizer is a graduate of the Yale University School of Architecture, has worked as a residential designer since 1990, and in 1994 started her own design firm. Andrea has taught extensively, including classes at Keene State College and Norwich University, and has been a guest lecturer at Massachusetts College of Art, Virginia Military Institute, and Yale University. She has published articles in Timber Framing, Timber Frame Homes, and Timber Homes Illustrated. She has been an active member of the Timber Framers Guild since 1990 and served on the board of directors for six years (including two years as Board President). She has taught workshops on timber frame design at Heartwood School, Yestermorrow School, and Rocky Mountain Workshops. Andrea has also been a board member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association.

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. Previous "Thinking Tangentially" workshops demonstrated basic drafting techniques to develop specific building information into solutions for the unknown intersections contained in a complex roof structure. The purpose was to derive all the proportions, lengths and angles needed to layout most roof systems.

For this course, we will use that information for the regular plan and irregular pitch roof to layout and cut the rafters. 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 (as shown).

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 is available to allow attendees to assess his/her skills before investing in this class.

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 is 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 has been a member of the Guild's Board of Directors (where he also served as President), and has taught numerous compound joinery workshops and led many Guild projects.

Timber frame shops and worksites have benefited greatly from the advances and versatility in forklift technology. These powered industrial trucks can carry and stack timbers and other materials, and with telescoping booms can now carry loads on rough terrain and place them in places that could previously only be reached by cranes and rigging. A fork truck is often one of the first and most indispensible items of heavy machinery a shop buys.

With the advent of variable boom length and angle come complexities of varying load capacity and the dangers of losing stability. A truck operated in an unsafe manner by a non-qualified operator may cause severe injury or substantial property damage. The federal government requires that all operators be properly trained.

This workshop covers the safe and efficient operation of fork trucks, including operational safety, inspection and general upkeep. Upon completion of the course, participants will understand the hazards and requirements necessary to avoid accidents. They will be familiar with the characteristics, operational modes and operational components of fork trucks.

This workshop satisfies the theoretical goals of Part 10G: Forklift of the Guild Training Curriculum and meets the Federal OSHA Standard 29 CFR1910.178 for formal training of fork truck operators. Practical training and operational competence must also be completed and demonstrated with equipment specific to the workplace of the participant. A mutiple choice test will be given at the end of the workshop; a certificate will be issued upon successful completion.

About the Instructor

Joel McCarty is Co-Executive Director of the Guild and coordinates Guild community service projects. He is a certified trainer in fork truck and aerial lift through CraneTech and scaffolding through the Scaffold Training Institute.