TFG Events & Workshops

Suquamish Pre-Conference Line-up!

TFEC Seminar

Join us for a day of all things related to engineering for timber frame construction. 

Schedule

• Welcome: David Connolly, TFEC Chair (10 a.m.)
• A Brief Introduction to Wood Species Identification: Dick Schmidt
• Will It Truss? Timber Detailing to Truss Behavior: David Connolly
• Lunch (12 p.m.)
• The NEW Beamery - Modernizing the Traditional Timber Frame Shop: Jonathan Orpin & Scott Ratterman
• Pre-Bid Engineering for Timber Frames: Josh Coleman
• Designing Timber Connections - Screws, Hangers, & Codes: MTC staff
• TFEC Member Meeting
• Adjourn (5 p.m.)

We will convene at approximately 10 a.m. with a welcome from TFEC Chair David Connolly. The day will conclude with the TFEC member meeting, after which we will join the trade show mixer and the opening of the main conference at 5 p.m.

Register here: Yes, let's go!

Pre-Conference Tour to Jay Smith's Anacortes Workshop

Travel to the workshop of wooden boat builder and expert Jay Smith. Over his career spanning 35 years building and repairing wooden boats, Jay Smith has become the nation’s leading expert in Nordic lapstrake boat construction. A master craftsman in his own right, he runs his shop, Aspoya Boats, out of Anacortes, Washington. The name is taken from the place in Norway where he began his career as an apprentice at a small shop run by a distant relation.

Jay later received a grant from the Denmark-America Foundation to work and study traditional Faeorese boatbuilding. When not out in his shop, Jay maintains an extensive library and tool collection, researches Nordic boat-building traditions, and passes on his knowledge via hands-on workshops at the Wooden Boat School in Brooklin, Maine, and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, Washington.

Tour cost is $50.00. Fee includes ferry ride, continental breakfast, and light snacks at the workshop. We will meet 7-7:30 a.m. in the north tower lobby and enjoy a quick continental breakfast to go. We must leave by 7:45 a.m. to arrive on time to catch the Port Townsend Ferry. Participants are encouraged to purchase lunch on the ferry, as we won't have time to stop along the way, and lunch is not included in your tour fee. We will be driving the scenic Highway 20 up Whidbey Island beyond Oak Harbor and Naval Air Station, Whidbey. Then we will enter Deception Pass State Park, stopping at its base before crossing the historic bridge to Fidalgo Island. 

Tour and talk by Jay Smith from approximately 10:50 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. Jay will provide some drinks and light snacks. 

We'll be arranging a carpool for this adventure! To coordinate please email: Jennifer Anthony

Register here: Yes, let's visit Anacortes!

Join us for a ‘40 Frames for 40 Years’ small frame build. 

Bring your tools and your know-how to help us build in conjunction with the Suquamish Nation. We'll be building a small frame to help serve the tribe's foodways. The building will be used to teach food preservation, smoking, and other traditional food preparation methods vital to the Suquamish Nation.

Cross-Cut Saw Sharpening and Use with Dolly Chapman!

Join Dolly Chapman on Thursday, October 23, for a free 3-hour mini workshop and demo on cross-cut saws from 2-5 p.m. 

Dolly Chapman worked 30 summers as a “permanent seasonal” trail crew leader for the US Forest Service, mostly in the eastern Sierra Nevada. She continues to work on trails as a volunteer, an instructor, and contractor, privileged to work with many excellent stewardship groups and land management agencies. Her knowledge of the sharpening and use of cross-cut saws is widely known.  As one of the first women to work on professional trail crews in the late 70s, she has faced her fair share of hurdles, but the wilderness evened the playing field. Now she sharpens hundreds of cross-cut saws each year and teaches the upcoming generation and with it, she passes on her immense technical knowledge and deep love for the land.

Dolly stays well-connected with other fans of traditional skills through her business, Chapman’s Sharp Crosscut Saws.