Heartwood 2020: Timber Framing II

Our second one-week timber framing course of the summer session saw the class grow from just eight students two weeks prior to the start to 18 students on the first day. In anticipation of the smaller class, we had contracted with Evan Taubes, Guild member and owner of Scratch Builders, to fabricate about half of the timbers so we’d be sure to finish the frame and raise it at Heartwood by the end of the day on Friday.

The larger than expected class allowed Will, who was joined by Evan as a co-instructor, to focus more than he usually does on the classroom presentation, spend more time in demonstrating layout and fabrication techniques, and provide more one-on-one instruction. It also allowed Barbara Grisé, our intern, to act as assistant instructor along with Will and Evan, which enhanced the one-on-one instruction Heartwood offered that week.

Our client for the class was John Gordon Gauld (https://www.instagram.com/johngordongauld/ or www.johngordongauld.com), who will be using his timber frame for his work studio, for which this 16’x30’ timber frame with a loft is very well-suited. The three-bent, two-bay frame with principal purlins and common rafters, a re-purposed design originally sized and drawn by Jack Sobon, proved to be an excellent learning experience for the students both in the fabrication and the erection. Because we had the extra time, we all ventured southwest to Egremont, Massachusetts, to install the frame on John’s foundation and slab. The 20 or so students and instructors were easily able to hand-raise this frame in a safe fashion, leaving a very happy client on Friday afternoon as the late afternoon sun cast a warm glow on a very pretty frame.