TFG Events & Workshops

Al Cobb

SIPSchool

Trends, Changes, and Insider Information on the SIP Industry
SIP Veteran Al Cobb will share facts, data, and opinions that have been forged at the altar of the Structural Insulated Panel industry over three decades. Details, habits, and techniques when using SIPs with timber framing will be discussed, with an emphasis on understanding how SIP packages can be your best option or a regrettable decision. The presenter will pull... read more

Al Wallace

President

Energy Environmental Corporation

Pre-Conference Workshop: MBA in a Day with Al Wallace
As a timber framer, you are focused rightly on the craft of delivering outstanding value to your customers. In that light, the focus of most TFG training at these conferences is on the technical training related to the art and science of timber framing. This workshop takes a different approach with the understanding that if you cannot be successful at running your... read more

Al Wallace has been a member of the TFG for over three decades. He has served on the TFG Board, presented at TFG conferences, and conducted MBA in a Day pre-conference workshops. He is president of Energy Environmental Corporation, where is he focused on delivering heating and cooling solutions for net-zero energy homes. His experience also includes work at Oracle, Sybase, and Cisco Systems as a National Accounts Manager for intelligence systems, after serving as an Air Force F-15 and F-5 Instructor Pilot for seven years. He has a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy, and MBA from Golden Gate University, and dual Master’s degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture with Certificates in Design/Build and Historic Preservation from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Andrea Warchaizer

Owner

Springpoint, Inc

Presentation:
SketchUp - User Tips & Tricks read more

Ariel Schecter

TimberHomes Vermont

Scribed Reciprocal Roof Frame
TimberHomes Vermont had the pleasure this year of building an unusual pavilion with a reciprocating roof, framed with 8 tree fork posts and round log rafters, and erecting it on a remote peninsula off the coast of Maine at the former homestead of the famous philosopher and yurt architect Bill Coperthwaite. The methods we employed for the scribing were creative,... read more

Ariel grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York State, gaining expertise in the building trades at a young age working tirelessly on elaborate Lincoln Log, Knex, and Lego projects. He went on to study structural engineering and sculpture at Brown University but did not discover timber framing until years after graduating. He pursued other passions in the meantime, living as a street musician in New Orleans, a steel sculptor in Northern California, and spending several years in a very colorful intentional community in rural Tennessee. It was here that Ariel stumbled into a weeklong timber framing workshop, and quickly concluded that this old and beautiful trade would become his calling.

He relocated back to the northeast and has since worked for a number of talented timber framers, whose guidance has been instrumental in shaping his path through this expansive craft. At TimberHomes he particularly enjoys the playful juxtaposition of milled, square timbers with organic, natural shapes from the forest – the melding of engineering, logic, and creative expression.

Ben Brungraber

Co-Founder

Fire Tower Engineered Timber

Presentation:
Timber Bridges read more

Celeste Bernard

Vice President of Product Experience

LPL Financial

Presentation:
Marketing & Branding read more

Curtis Milton

Owner

Monolithic Building Services

Presentation:
Building Science read more

Dick Schmidt

Engineer

Fire Tower Engineered Timber

Timber Grading: Why? How? Then What?
Dick Schmidt and Tom Nehil present a full day of sessions relating to the why, how, and what of timber grading. In this session, the first of three addressing grading of lumber and timber, we will look at the "how come" of stress grading. We will look at the requirements of the building code and how they are expressed... read more

Eric Howard & Bo Foard

Presentation:
Welcoming Comments by the Guild's Board President and our Executive Director read more

Hank Silver

Owner

Ironwood Timberworks

Carpenters Without Borders
The organization Charpentiers Sans Frontières (CSF), or Carpenters Without Borders, was founded in France in 2002 by ethnologist François Calame. CSF regularly organizes traditional carpentry projects, convening experts and apprentices from numerous countries. Over the past 20 years, projects have been organized principally in France, but also in Norway, China, Romania, the United States, and Italy. For each project, an international... read more

Hank owns and operates Ironwood Timberworks, Inc. in Hatfield, Massachusetts. As a member of the organization Carpenters Without Borders, Hank has been lucky enough to travel the world working with an international crew, using period tools and methods.

Jack Sobon

Jack A. Sobon: Architect

A Fork in the Road
Woodworkers of all types, in much of the world, and in every age, have utilized natural tree forms in their work. Rather than bending or jointing straight sections to create the required curves, the necessary shape was found in the tree. Forked tree sections are especially useful and were probably incorporated in the very first primitive timber structures.... read more

Mr. Sobon is an architect and builder specializing in the repair of historic timber framed buildings and the design and construction of new, traditional ones. He has an architecture degree from Rhode Island School of Design and was initiated into the craft of timber framing in 1976 by a contractor working with old barns. To further his understanding of the craft, since 1980 he has constructed over fifty timber framed structures using only traditional hand tools and in many cases starting right in the forest.

He has taught over 70 workshops using historic methods and is the author of four books on the craft including Build a Classic Timber Framed House, Historic American Timber Joinery, and Hand Hewn. He is a founding director of the Timber Framers Guild of North America and an original member of the Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group, an offshoot of the Guild.

He lives in the forested hills of Western Massachusetts.

Jackson Dubois

Estonian Windmills
In May 2022, carpenters from seven countries descended on the remote island of Vilsandi to assist in the restoration of three 19th-century windmills. Vilsandi is 6km long, and has only 7 year-round inhabitants, but this lonely island is home to a handful of stunningly beautiful traditional Estonian post mills. These structures are simple timber frames that house remarkably inventive mechanisms... read more

Jackson Dubois is a lifetime member of the Guild and a graduate of the ATP. He says, "the projects I've had the honor of working on since 2004 have brought me to beautiful places with great folks doing really fun work.

"I derive great satisfaction from the sense of community and camaraderie engendered by the Timber Framers Guild. As a member of the Board of Directors, I enjoy working with fellow members and directors to further opportunities to 'Enrich our Communities Through Craft.'"

Jan Lewandoski

Restoration & Traditional Building

Presentation:
Timber Bridges read more

Joe McCarthy

Presentation:
Covered Bridges read more

Joe Miller

Presentation:
Joint/Beam Busting demonstration/competition read more

John Abrams

Founder & CEO

South Mountain Company

In 1975 John and his family inadvertently landed on the Vineyard. Their arrival marked the end to a wandering back-to-the-land hippie odyssey and the beginning of South Mountain. For nearly a half-century he has devoted himself to creating, nurturing, and growing SMCo and a variety of public initiatives, mostly related to affordable housing. John is a co-founder of Building Energy Bottom Lines, a peer group network of 60+ Northeast U.S. businesses in the architecture and construction industry. His writings include COMPANIES WE KEEP: Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place, which was published in 2008. These days, he concentrates on building capacity the 2022 transition, after which he looks forward to a life of writing, activism, grandparenting, skiing with family, and travel with Kim.

Josh Coleman

Presentation:
Covered Bridges read more

Lance Shields

Presentation:
Double Tenon Tension Joints read more

Len Brackett

Founder

East Wind (Higashi Kaze)

While traveling through Japan in the 1970s, Len Brackett serendipitously met an abbot at a temple in Kyoto. After uncovering Len’s interest in carpentry, the abbot connected him with a group of very skilled and gentle local craftsmen. He spent the next 5 years apprenticing alongside them.

Temple carpentry, along with tea house carpentry, is considered the pinnacle of the craft tradition in Japan. A body of knowledge accumulated over centuries by craftsmen who habitually refine every element of their trade isn't picked up easily. The workweek was 70–80 hours with rare days off.

Upon his return to America in 1976, Len began a new study: adapting this architecture to meet western expectations.

Luke Barnett

Founder

Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute

Sightlines and Resultant Angles: Windsor Chairs & Roof Framing
Solving for Sightlines and Resultants using Trigonometry This presentation will be about the various ways to solve compound angles for the Windsor chairs and Hip roofs. We will discuss multiple solutions to find resultant and sightlines angles using patterns, Stereotomy, and mathematical formulas. The goal of the presentation will be to give participants the freedom to design chairs and furniture with... read more

Luke Barnett is a wood artisan who specializes in traditional American Windsor chairs. He has won awards and been featured in internationally published magazines. Early American Life Magazine named Luke as Top American Craftsman in the Windsor chair making field for 3 consecutive years. His chairs have been displayed in the traveling Smithsonian museum exhibit called “The Way We Work”. Luke was a featured speaker at 2018 International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta, Georgia. His speech titled “Be the Spark” focused on engaging students at younger ages through community outreach.

Marcus Briggs-Cloud

Presentation:
Ekvn-Yefolecv Maskoke Ecovillage  read more

Mason Lord

visit website

Barn Move 101: Adaptive Reuse of a Small 19th Century Barn
In the spring of 2022, Hudson Valley Preservation (HVP) moved a 19th-century barn - in questionable condition - to a new location for its reuse as a pool pavilion. This presentation will be an introduction to the challenges of evaluating, designing, and executing traditional and contemporary strategies for timber repair, replacement, and hardware incorporation. Ben Brungraber of Fire Tower Engineering... read more

Mason founded Hudson Valley Preservation in 1991 with a vision of integrating assessment, design, and building knowledge while maintaining close client relations and communication. After obtaining a degree from Duke University, he apprenticed as a restoration craftsman with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. His passion for quality construction and historic preservation has been critical for HVP’s award-winning recognition along with his combined knowledge of architecture, engineering, traditional trades, and history gained from 40 years of experience with old and new buildings. Mason brings a unique approach to every project by acquiring a thorough understanding of the existing conditions of a structure and can visualize the future potential embodied within.

In 2022, HVP has partnered with HatchSpace to start an initiative called Touch a Trade. Touch a Trade’s goal is to spark interest in working with your hands. On October 22, 2022, in Kent, Connecticut, Touch a Trade will host an event that will offer youth and adults alike the opportunity to safely participate in trades, crafts, and self-sufficiency skills with their own hands.

Mathieu Peeters

Presentation:
Japanese Apprenticeship read more

Michael Cuba

Transom Historic Preservation Consulting

Dendrochronology & Documentation
Dendrochronology is an effective tool for helping historians and homeowners determine the construction dates of historic structures. Timber-framed buildings are often great candidates for the application of this science. This session will examine the science of dendrochronology and new emerging methods currently being developed in Europe. While the accuracy of this science is impressive in the results that it can... read more

Michael lives in Haycock, Pennsylvania, and operates Transom Historic Preservation Consulting. Michael is active in the Timber Framers Guild as an active member of the Traditional Timber framing Research & Advisory Group and as editor of TIMBER FRAMING, the Guild's quarterly journal. Michael serves on the boards of the National Barn Alliance, the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania, the advisory board of Handshouse Studio, and historical societies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Miles Jeness

Estonian Windmills
In May 2022, carpenters from seven countries descended on the remote island of Vilsandi to assist in the restoration of three 19th-century windmills. Vilsandi is 6km long, and has only 7 year-round inhabitants, but this lonely island is home to a handful of stunningly beautiful traditional Estonian post mills. These structures are simple timber frames that house remarkably inventive mechanisms... read more

Miles lives in Huntington, Vermont, where he runs Vermont Heavy Timber. His passions include restoration carpentry, timber frame joinery, animal husbandry, and molinology.

Patrick Moore

Founder

Professional School of Practical Stereotomy

Pre-Conference Workshop: Stereotomy with Patrick Moore
One of the greatest ways to learn stereotomy is by practicing net models. The net of an object is the flattened-out surface that can then be folded back into its 3D shape.  Students learn the basics of stereotomy by creating the net of a cube, pyramid, irregular pyramid, single and double curved surfaces, and then onto roof designs. A lot... read more

Patrick Moore has more than 10 years of accredited schooling from around the world and became the first person from both American continents to be received as a "Compagnon Passant Charpentier" in France. He completed his masters with the esteemed "Association ouvrière des compagnon du devoir de tour de France. He has had pieces of work on display at the "Musée du Compagnonnage" in Tours, France the "Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec" in Montreal, Canada, and currently has works on exhibition at the "Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum" in Kobe, Japan. Patrick has two diplomas; one in heritage carpentry and the other in heritage masonry, and is a holder of two Red Seal Certificates: carpentry and cabinetmaking. He specializes in historic joinery and carpentry practices and has worked around the world on nationally and internationally classified historical sites. He wields an extensive portfolio: two UNESCO classified World Heritage Sites, numerous nationally classified historical monuments in Europe and North America, as well as new construction of luxury high-end private residences. He has written articles for multiple woodworking journals in North America and Europe. In 2014, he founded and created the Professional School of Practical Stereotomy in Ottawa, Canada, a school unique in the English-speaking world where students are able to obtain a master's certificate in Stereotomy.

Instagram - @thestereotomist
Facebook - School of Practical Stereotomy - École Pratique de Stéréotomie
Twitter - @thestereotomist

Paul Malko

Presentation:
Designing for Building Envelopes read more

Rick Collins

President

Trillium Dell

Practical Reconstruction: Historically Sensitive Repairs & Restorations
Practical Reconstruction discusses techniques that timber framers, building professionals, or building stewards can use to help their teams/clients plan and execute thoughtful, historically-sensitive repairs and restorations. This methodology was initially developed to respond to an overwhelming desire to preserve or repair “at-risk” historic timber frame structures in the Midwest (often owned by underfunded organizations or private owners, minor in national... read more

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, Journey worker timber framer, metalworker, mechanic, educator, writer, and farmer. He is committed to the Preservation & Continuation of our built and natural heritage. He has a BS in Forest Science and served in the USMCR as a Combat Engineer. 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.

Ricky McLain

Senior Technical Director

WoodWorks

Mass Timber Structural Design: Engineering Modern Timber Structures
For many years, exposed heavy timber framing elements have been permitted in U.S. commercial and multi-family buildings. Today, one of the exciting trends in building design is the growing use of mass timber—i.e., large solid wood panel products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and nail-laminated timber (NLT)—for floor, wall and roof construction. Like heavy timber, mass timber products have inherent... read more

Ricky is WoodWorks’ in-house expert on tall mass timber buildings, providing analysis and guidance on architectural, fire and life safety, and structural design topics. He supports the AEC community both directly and collaboratively with WoodWorks Regional Directors, and guides the development of education and resources related to tall mass timber buildings in the U.S. Prior to this emphasis, Ricky’s role encompassed all building types and wood systems. He also has extensive experience in lead engineer roles related to structural design, project management, and construction administration. Ricky is Executive Director of the Structural Engineers Association of Vermont, and a member of numerous committees and councils related to building design.

Rudy Christian

Owner

Christian & Son, Inc.

Resurrecting the Detroit Central Farmers Market
The Detroit Farmers Market was built in downtown Detroit in 1860. Designed by an architect, it was an incredibly beautiful and elegant timber framed building. So special that when it was no longer wanted in a growing Detroit, it was deconstructed and re-erected on Belle Isle, an immense city park in the Detroit River. There it was kept in use... read more

Rudy R. Christian is a founding member and past president of the Timber Framers Guild, founding member and past president of Friends of Ohio Barns, founding member and past Executive Director of the Preservation Trades Network, and a founding member of the Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group and the International Trades Education Initiative. His experience includes national and international speaking engagements and instructing educational workshops as well as the publication of various articles about historic conservation. An article entitled “Conservation of Historic Building Trades: A Timber Framer’s View” was published in the APT Bulletin, vol. XXXIII, No1, and his collaborative work with author Allen Noble entitled The Barn: A Symbol of Ohio has been published online. In November 2000 the Preservation Trades Network awarded Rudy the Askins Achievement Award, for excellence in the field of historic preservation.

Rudy’s professional experience as President of Christian & Son, Inc. includes the reconstruction of the historic “Big Barn” at Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield, Ohio, and relocation of the 19th-century Crawford Horse Barn in Newark, Ohio. These projects featured “hand raisings” which were open to the public and attracted a total of 130,000 interested spectators. He also led a crew of timber framers at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Masters of the Building Arts program, in the recreation and raising of an 18th-century carriage house frame on the Mall in Washington, DC. Christian & Son’s other work includes working with a team of specialists to relocate Thomas Edison’s #11 laboratory building from the Henry Ford Museum to West Orange, New Jersey, where it was originally built, and the restoration of the Mansfield Blockhouse, a hewn log structure built by the U.S. military in 1812.

During the summer of 2006, Rudy, his son Carson, and his wife Laura were the lead instructors and conservation specialists for the Field School at Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village during which the 1838 timber frame granary was restored. Since May 2015, Rudy and Laura have been working as consultants to the World Monuments Fund in the restoration of the Golden Palace Monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar. In the summer of 2017, they reconstructed the historic timber frame belfry at Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio, in collaboration with Stan Hywet Hall, and recently completed restoration of the timber frame roof system of the 1721 Jean Hasbrouck House on Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, New York. Currently Christian & Son, Inc., just completed restoring the 1861 Detroit Farmers Market, which has been reconstructed in Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum.

Stephen Morrison

Presentation:
Heartwood School Overview read more

Tedd Benson

Presentation:
Context and Content - Then, Now, Next read more

Tom Bodett

President

HatchSpace

Presentation:
Founder Hatchspace/Featured speaker read more

Tom Bodett is a writer, humorist, storyteller, and lifelong carpenter and furniture maker. His love of woodworking and the 40-year pursuit of ever-elusive perfection has produced his most fulfilling creations. As he winds down his publishing and entertainment career the importance of craftsmanship, and the joy it adds to his life, compels him to make more dust and shelves and fewer dust-covered books on the shelf.

Tom Nehil

Co-Founder

Nehil-Sivak

Timber Grading: Why? How? Then What?
Dick Schmidt and Tom Nehil present a full day of sessions relating to the why, how, and what of timber grading. In this session, the first of three addressing grading of lumber and timber, we will look at the "how come" of stress grading. We will look at the requirements of the building code and how they are expressed... read more

Will Gusakov

Owner/Operator

Goosewing Timberworks

Carpenters Without Borders
The organization Charpentiers Sans Frontières (CSF), or Carpenters Without Borders, was founded in France in 2002 by ethnologist François Calame. CSF regularly organizes traditional carpentry projects, convening experts and apprentices from numerous countries. Over the past 20 years, projects have been organized principally in France, but also in Norway, China, Romania, the United States, and Italy. For each project, an international... read more

Will owns and operates Goosewing Timberworks, LLC in Lincoln, VT. He has worked overseas with a variety of organizations, most notably Carpenters Without Borders (France), and Vanaajamaja (Estonia).