knee braces are an important part of traditional timber framing. they work primarily in compression, with opposing braces resisting lateral loads in opposite directions. traditional brace joinery provides relatively little resistance in tension.

at star hill, we lay out knee braces by establishing the long point at each end first. those are our critical reference points because they determine where the brace actually sits in the frame.

for example, with a 30-by-30-inch brace and half-inch-deep housings, our long-point-to-long-point measurement is 3 feet 7 1/8 inches.

we locate those two points 3/8 inch in from the edge of the brace timber. that gives us a nominal half-inch nose using 45-degree geometry.

we'll often use a story stick to transfer the long-point dimension, especially when cutting multiple braces.

once those two points are established, the rest of the layout is developed with 45-degree lines. you can do the entire layout with a framing square, combination square, or speed square.

there are other ways to approach knee-brace layout, but this is the method we use in our shop.

curious how others here approach brace layout. do you work from the long points, or use a different reference?

I'm building a treeless treehouse or tower for my kids it's a 12x12 with 2 level + loft. Eventually it will have king posts and a ridge beam when I can get a telehandler out (like pic 5).

How would you guys frame for cladding or tongue and force on the exterior while looking nice inside and out? The ground level will remain open with a trapdoor coming up through the floor.

Would you run studs vertically or horizontally, spacing? I would prefer to do vertical tongue and grove so that may answer the question. Is there a more elegant way? I did not add grits but could potentially dovetail some into the existing posts. Please help me with suggestions and window placement and height for 3-6yr old kids.

Considering buying a used one for ~$1750 OBO and shipping it home (nobody sells these where I live, but i'm nearby the seller right now).

Makita 7104L 120V version, not the Japanese 100V version.

Based on the serial number, it appears to be manufactured in 2022. Recently serviced last month by makita. Fully operational, no issues.

Please share your thoughts on the limitations of this machine versus others you've used. Do you think 1750 is a good deal? I do. I've built one TF frame in a 2 week course, and I'm building one now in my yard with smallish beams (4x8 and 6x10), and I think this could be perfect for it.

Thanks!

So glad to finally finish these box beams. Let us know if you are interested. #woodworking

Mostly solo project that will have a metal roof for winter but will remain an open air space frame until next summer. Should I oil the timbers? Leave em be? Grateful for any input.

Alright - I’m not a novice to sharpening - I’ve done all the systems but I always struggle with getting the back of large chisels flat. This is my 2 inch Barr chisel and I’ve been at this for hours. I’m using Shapton water stones. The 120 doesn’t seem to cut very well but the 220 and 320 give me a good slurry. I at first thought that my stones weren’t flat so I lapped them all with a diamond plate. Then went at it again. From looking (and test cuts) it’s obvious I am not flat at the edge on the back - I have no joke been at this for at least 2 hours now. Any ideas? My other Barr chisels weren’t this bad and I got them flat rather quickly (and they cut beautifully!) but I’m struggling with this 2 inch.

Hi folks - Im building my first timber frame and things are progressing along and Im close to finishing the joinery for the first bent. My initial plan had been to cut all of the pieces and then on assembly day put them all together as I think is common. What Im wondering though is if its a bad idea to assemble the bents as I build them. And by assemble I mean peg them into a complete bent.

Im still working out my work flow - I think ideally it would be easier to cut all the posts at once, all the tie beams at once, etc but since this is my first build I wanted to do a complete bent first to make sure my joinery was working and that my measurements were OK. The problem Im running into is storage space - I have limited room to store the cut beams and since Im doing a test fitting anyway as I cut the joinery for a bent - could I not just pin all the sections and let that bent sit as a completed unit? Then do the next two in the same fashion? Then all I would need to do on raising day is attach the door posts and the girts. My point is that I dont have room to store the cut beams inside so is there any reason not to just complete the bent and store it assembled outside?

I know that this is likely uncommon due to the space required to store an assembled bent - but in my case I can assemble it then just pick it up with the tractor forks and stack it over by where the raising will happen later on.

So is this a bad idea? My guess is that I might run into some issue with fitting the bent into the post brackets on the bottom. Maybe this is something that's easier to attach at the base and then pull the joinery together at the top?

I’m designing a frame for a sauna, posts are going to be mounted on concrete feet but I’d also like to do a deck that sticks out the front abit and a step, how would I go about doing this? I could do little beams coming out of the cross piece like this sketch jointed with dovetail or m+t. Or half lap but maybe that would compromise the structure
Apologies for the terrible drawings

This is considered a timber frame, right? I've been collecting the wood from scratch. Here's how i'm putting it together by myself on a solo build.

TIA!

Looking for some advice. I have a timber frame home with what I believe is a tongue and groove floor on the 2nd floor. This floor squeaks like crazy! The floor appears to be pine and has no nails holding it down. I have tried graphite and baby powder to repair the squeak but neither has worked. The next recommendation I received was to drill a screw near all the squeaks and into the timber below. Does this sound like good advice? Is drilling a screw directly into the top of the timber recommended? The squeaks are at various places so I would guess multiple screws would be needed.

Not sure if it matters but the house is as built in the 80’s. The floor is softwood and the board on the floor on the 2nd floor is the same as the ceiling on the 2nd floor.

Hey yall, I've not gotten a chance to try doing some timber framing but im interested in the technique. I'm having trouble conceptualizing this scenario:

Assuming that we try and create the joinery to attach P1 and P2 to J before installing the posts, and we want J to be level, we need to know what P*-A is before installing those posts so that they can be level. In order to do this, we would need to know what P*-B is

But P*-B is kinda nebulous. its the dirt, there could be variations, itll be hard to get a solid measurement, and given how precise the joinery is I could see this being a problem.

Couple possible answers I'm thinking:

A: It does need to be that precise; We can actually get the post holes to be measurable enough such that we can get fairly accurate measurements (how?), so finding P*-B isn't actually an issue

B: It doesn't need to be that precise; The kind of construction doesn't rely on P1 and P2 to be perfectly level, and J will be close-enough, so we don't actually need P*-B to be all that accurate

C: There's something else going on here I'm not considering

Any input would be appreciated. I also understand that this issue (and other issues such as moisture) may be avoided by not putting the posts in the ground (i.e plinth), but I'm wondering specifically how we'd do this if we wanted to mount the post directly in a post hole.

The crew has mostly done decent work but this is killing me. Is dry fitting to ensure proper fit before bolting down not the bare minimum?

6 of my buddies and I started this. Two of us are finishing it out. Still got siding to go. All wood cut and milled on our site. Even the white oak crane. All mortise and tenon - yes some power tools but still lots hand tools involved. Raised with crane. Decided to go with sho sugi ban because we didn’t know another way to self treat our wood. Lots more to go. Just me and my buddy right now. Did not do the roof and did not lay the brick. Everything else was 6 friends fresh out of school and family when they needed work.
Thank you for looking.

Hi folks - just got my Makita drill for drilling peg holes. But I’m a bit confused - the trigger lock appears to only work at full trigger. I know I’ve seen videos of folks using this drill in things like the Mafell BST and locking the trigger at a slower speed. Is there a chance mines defective? The manual seems to indicate it should work at lower speeds too.

Visiting family in the north of France and spotted this heartbreaking difference in the city center of Rouen. On the left the wood can breathe, is healthy and is gonna do its job for the next centuries, on the right it'll be all gone in the next 20-30 years - or they'll have to do a massive overhaul of the facadea for 6 figures.

I know I’ve asked before - but I was hoping some other folks could chime in if I’m doing something wrong here. I’m struggling with keeping milled fresh pine from discoloring. But after some reading I think I’m dealing with two different things. One I can likely do something about and one I can’t. If you look at the pictures attached I think the one with splotchy blue stains is mold - I don’t know why I keep getting it. This beam is stored in an open barn - lots of air - and I sprayed the beam with a borax solution as well. This is the discoloring I’m struggling with. The other two picture seem to be in the grain and I believe is possibly the sap wood just changing color. I don’t mind this and am guessing there’s not much I can do about it.

Am I reading this right? Anything else I can do about boards that are molding as is the first picture?

really based on a suggestion from someone here, i tried something different with this arno 50mm chisel.

we took it to the 2x72 and ground a 22.5° primary bevel. then added a 25° secondary bevel and blended the whole thing together into a convex edge.

boy, it turned out really well.

it's acute enough that it works great for paring, but that convex shoulder behind the edge seems to give it plenty of support for chopping too.

i've been using it for both and so far i'm really impressed with how the edge is holding up.

curious if anyone else here is running a convex edge this acute on their framing chisels?

My brother , Big John , and myself built this 30 foot covered bridge ( mostly Hemlock some Pine )
We followed a Burr truss concept . Pretty happy with how it’s progressed. We are not Timber Framers .

Hi folks - I'll start by saying that Im not looking to start a debate on brands and the price of tools. Im just looking for some honest input from folks who use track saws as part of their timber framing work flow.

As I've started cutting my first frame I've found myself using my Dewalt corded track saw for cutting some tenon shoulders to ensure I get a clean line. This has worked well - but its apparent to me that this saw is not meant for this work. The motor struggles as 1.5 inch depths in fresh white pine and the smallest track I have is 4 feet which is a bit of a pain. If possible I'd prefer to keep this saw reserved for other carpentry - which is what it was bought for initially. That said - I have appreciated using it in my joinery and will continue to do so until I find a better alternative.

Because of all of this - I've started glancing at track saw that appear to be more meant for this use case. Specifically the Mafell KSS 80Ec/370 Cross-Cutting System. Im intrigued by many of its options and the fact that it has a short track that it can lock onto. The price is obviously high and Im certain this tool is meant for folks who do this professionally but I was wondering if anyone can provide some insights into the tool, if they like it, and how valuable it is in their timber framing tool kit. I havent found a ton of reviews - the ones I do seem to like it - but also mentioned doing things like "Cutting 8x8 timbers to length" which surprised me as a use case. (Do they just cut on all 4 sides but even that wouldnt get all the way through? (Link -> https://www.timberwolftools.com/documents/KSS80%20article%20in%20Timber%20Framing%20magzine%20-%20March%202014%20-%20TF111web.pdf)

Im a buy once cry once kind of tool person and if this is a tool that would be valuable in my kit going forward I would at least consider it. I know Im only doing the Will Beemer frame now - but I have aspirations to build a large barn next and perhaps even our future house. So if it's a tool that will last a long time and provide immediate value I'd consider it sooner rather than later.

Thanks!