2024 Timber Framers Guild Conference

Rick Collins

Rick Collins is recognized for his expertise in both the history and the future of timber frame building. His portfolio encompasses visionary buildings that redefine the role of wood in the built environment, as well as authentic restoration and preservation work.

Rick is a structural timber expert, who is committed to the preservation and continuation of our built and natural heritage. A master carpenter with formative experience in metalwork and mechanics, and a journeyworker timber framer with the Timber Framers Guild, he has a BS in Forest Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rick served in the USMCR as a Combat Engineer. He has been studying engineering and building science for decades. He is also a self-taught scholar in the methods and tooling that were used by Europeans who settled the Midwest from the 1600s-1800s.

A long-time cultivator of creative energies within the US timber framing trade, today Rick focuses his energy as a consultant and a subject matter expert – adding to the efficiency and context of a project by grounding process with practicality and linking community with place.

Presentation

Pragmatic Preservation in the Midwest
Our built heritage continues to disappear at an alarming rate. In the US Midwest, the majority of historically significant timber frames are owned by individuals and private stewards. Unlike our counterparts in many places abroad, there is little outside fiscal support for preservation of these frames. So how do we educate clients, choose what to preserve, what to conserve, and what to repair and how? How do we weigh and balance modern vs traditional tooling and fixes? Take a look at many challenging and diverse projects as we review the strategies we use to save the greatest number of structures as possible within challenging bounds. We’ll look at the scopes of work, their technical aspects, and how a long range view of the project shapes a successful outcome.