Hollander House

otb designworks · 19 Dec 2010, 15:15

Thank you much for the kind words, and for taking the time to post them!

I don't know how we would have pulled this off without Sketchup, that is for sure. Having "truth" to constantly refer to was critical, at least for me. Having to cut a multitude of systems long before any actual assembly of the structure would have made me much more nervous if I couldn't double check everything under the sun with SU.

One of the nice things about this design is that it is a mirror image of itself around the center of the bastard system and there is a mathematical grid that underlies the bearing point layout that gave us a ton of reoccurring layout numbers that we could constantly cross reference and check from different places.

Almost nothing is more satisfying that laying out a timber that was in another system setup months ago, and, when placed in it's new system, all the theo lines from the first setup layout perfectly with the new one. That is the sort of thing that brings a smile to my face!

Sketchup and lasers are a potent combo!

otb designworks · 23 Dec 2010, 14:09

Now that we have cut the bastard valleys into their respective bent systems, it was time to get the jack rafters and purlins scribed into the valleys.

In order to accomplish this, we needed to place the bastard valleys in space, place and scribe in the purlins, place and scribe in the two ridges that the valley peaks will bear on and then place and scribe in the rafters.

To place the valleys correctly, I used SU to generate elevations for the centerline of each bearing point under the valleys. Using this information, we could construct a temporary cribbing system that would support everything and allow us to micro tune the placement. Of course, not only the elevation needs to be correct; the spread between the two has to be correct along the entire length and the butt ends need to match up with the wall layouts.

[flash=853,505:cq3f7jm5]http://www.youtube.com/v/LiUL5Gcvmoc&fs=1[/flash:cq3f7jm5]

watkins · 23 Dec 2010, 19:36

Dear Chuck,

Just thought I would write and compliment you on your work. I have enjoyed folloing your postings and watching the video presentations. Serious woodwork!

Have a good Christmas.

Kind regards,
Bob

otb designworks · 3 Jan 2011, 15:03

@watkins said:

Dear Chuck,

Just thought I would write and compliment you on your work. I have enjoyed folloing your postings and watching the video presentations. Serious woodwork!

Have a good Christmas.

Kind regards,
Bob

Thanks Bob! I appreciate you taking the time to post here and for your appreciation of the woodworking skills we are demonstrating. I hope your holiday season was excellent and that you are looking forward to the new year!

This video shows the completed bastard crotch system right before we disassembled it. You can see that the jack rafters and purlins have all been cut in and that the bastard valley backing cuts are complete as well. This is the last major shop set up for a while as we will now be concentrating on raising the structure outside so we can cut all the posts into the floor system.

[flash=853,505:2d6hl1p2]http://www.youtube.com/v/ryl-efbbuJA&fs=1[/flash:2d6hl1p2]

watkins · 3 Jan 2011, 15:36

Dear Chuck,

You may already know about these, but just in case you do not:

Page Not Found

(www.tfguild.org)

and

http://tfguild.stores.yahoo.net/stfordeoftif.html

and

http://www.encina.co.uk/framewright_pro.html

Kind regards,
Bob

watkins · 3 Jan 2011, 15:58

Dear Chuck,

I have just viewed the video, and it seems to me that the setting out is a substantial part of the job. Do you user laser levels and various other surveying tools to set up your frame supports?

Looking at old timber frame buildings I always marvel at the skill of the carpenter/joiner who used the most rudimentary of tools to set out the timbers. The barn at Lacock is a good example

Page not found – My blog

(www.greatbarns.org.uk)

Kind regards,
Bob

otb designworks · 4 Jan 2011, 14:26

Hi Bob, thanks for the great links!

I have never actually joined the timber framing guild, but I am certainly aware of all of the great resources they have compiled and made available. I had not seen the Encina software before and thanks for bringing it to my attention.

You hit the nail on the head when you observed that the laying out is the critical, and most challenging, portion of the job. We like to joke, in the shop, that the cutting is the easy part. And in this endeavor, SU was absolutely critical, both for initial layout, but also for cross checking and confirmation of points across set ups.

The laser and the builder's level (transit) are two essential tools we use on a daily basis. Our workflow begins with snapping out the plan view centerlines of all of the timbers in the setup onto the shop floor. Great care is taken to ensure that this is done as exactly as possible. We then place the timbers over the layout, with each timber having been bulls-eyed and the four centerlines snapped onto each timber (also called quartering). Once that is accomplished, we use lasers to place the timbers exactly over the layout lines initially snapped. For scribing, we will have timbers on top of each other, but all carefully set in space. This allows us to use lasers, and levels, and once in a great while plumb bobs, to transfer notch details from one timber to the next.

I, too, am continually amazed by what the craftsmen that went before us were able to accomplish with what we would, today, consider to be rudimentary tools. Though, Homo Sapiens Sapiens has been around for at least 50,000 years and it isn't hard to imagine, with that kind of time, that engineering and construction methods developed by the ancients were every bit as "magical" as what we consider mundane today. Gravity always pulls a plumb bob straight down, and water always levels itself, and the precession of the equinox is as consistent and reliable clock as any we have developed so why is it so hard to imagine that humans as intelligent as us could accomplish feats beyond our comprehension?

I have been reading a fantastic book that goes into some depth about the precision and craftsmanship of some of the oldest structures known to man and I get the peculiar feeling that humans have forgotten more knowledge than we can even comprehend. I am all proud about being capable enough of a craftsman to fabricate these bastard valleys and then I meditate for a moment about the stone work of Machu Picchu, or the incredible astronomical precision of the layout of the Valley of the Kings, or the ability to move and place 200 ton rocks, or the vision and drive necessary to even design such monumental constructs and I laugh to myself and am reminded of my pitifully small place in the universe.

pbacot · 4 Jan 2011, 17:07

@unknownuser said:

I have been reading a fantastic book that goes into some depth about the precision and craftsmanship of some of the oldest structures known to man and I get the peculiar feeling that humans have forgotten more knowledge than we can even comprehend. I am all proud about being capable enough of a craftsman to fabricate these bastard valleys and then I meditate for a moment about the stone work of Machu Picchu, or the incredible astronomical precision of the layout of the Valley of the Kings, or the ability to move and place 200 ton rocks, or the vision and drive necessary to even design such monumental constructs and I laugh to myself and am reminded of my pitifully small place in the universe.

and that book would be..?

You should be proud and your work is no less "magical". Thanks for sharing it.

otb designworks · 5 Jan 2011, 14:12

Fingerprints of the Gods, by Graham Hancock.

And while I appreciate your kind words (and I really do), the mathematical and scientific sophistication of, say, the Giza Plateau, boggles the mind and makes what I create seem like the scribbling of a small child in comparison.

Now, if I could only figure out how to easily move 200 ton boulders....

otb designworks · 12 Jan 2011, 14:47

Finally standing posts!

This video shows the installation of the first four posts, from using string lines to determine the center of the main bearing post to installing 3 of the 4 posts that surround the stairway and hold up the bastard valleys.

The stairway posts are connected to the floor beam with traditional mortice and tenon joinery and the main bearing post (Old Glory) will sit directly on the pressure treated plate.

I have written about the process in a bit more detail on my blog, whose link is below in my sig line.

[flash=853,505:39o9719u]http://www.youtube.com/v/ECAFAhuaaZQ&fs=1[/flash:39o9719u]

otb designworks · 13 Jan 2011, 14:19

Here you can see that all the posts around the stairway are in, as well as the tie and base post on the bedroom side of things.

How about that floating tie and kneebrace? Worked like a champ for the post install.

[flash=853,505:3mcmndws]http://www.youtube.com/v/cB6nthnLhvI&fs=1[/flash:3mcmndws]

otb designworks · 16 Jan 2011, 16:08

More posts and a couple of ridges going up in the air!

[flash=853,505:3bxza4hs]http://www.youtube.com/v/UxE2ggQlDY0&fs=1[/flash:3bxza4hs]

otb designworks · 20 Jan 2011, 13:37

Here is the system with one of the bastard valleys installed.

Please notice the complexity involved in cutting a 35' tapered octagonal bastard valley so that it sits perfectly on 5 bearing points, all while maintaining proper elevation throughout it's length; about as difficult as it gets, I think.

[flash=853,505:3vnuwigy]http://www.youtube.com/v/uoWhR9q5Kdk&fs=1[/flash:3vnuwigy]

watkins · 20 Jan 2011, 14:11

Dear Chuck,

I am sure there are days when you wish you hadn't said 'yes' to the job. Looking on the bright side, any job after this one is going to be a piece of cake.

Keep going!

Regards,
Bob

otb designworks · 27 Jan 2011, 14:27

We have joked about that exact thing, Bob! I have to think that these bastard valleys are the most difficult single timbers I will ever have the privilege to work on.

And, no doubt, I will be happy when this one is in the done category.

[flash=853,505:125j268r]http://www.youtube.com/v/Wo5Gp3chUmg&fs=1[/flash:125j268r]

[flash=853,505:125j268r]http://www.youtube.com/v/kTZlIQwaNZg&fs=1[/flash:125j268r]

otb designworks · 21 Apr 2011, 14:27

Here is a ray-traced animation that I rendered in Cheetah3D. It took my 8 core mac 5 days to export this out, and that is without soft shadows, true radiosity, minimal ambient occlusion samples, and no sun light for the interiors (I faked it with a distant light).

I am happy to answer any questions you may have and please enjoy. Definitely choose the 720p resolution option for playback, if you have the bandwidth available.

[flash=853,505:2y61xlke]http://www.youtube.com/v/wtJUq3r-0jU&fs=1[/flash:2y61xlke]

otb designworks · 23 Apr 2011, 13:16

Took a quick ride up in the man-basket of the Gradall for this one.

[flash=853,505:1xsqwfh0]http://www.youtube.com/v/Oile8fsj0Jk&fs=1[/flash:1xsqwfh0]

pbacot · 23 Apr 2011, 19:27

Very cool. I admire the line of work you are in and the results. I am curious why are the cross beams so large in between the bastard valleys?

otb designworks · 24 Apr 2011, 13:39

Thanks for your kind words and interest!

The cross beams between the bastard valleys are called purlins. The longest one is almost 19' long and, since it has to span that distance unsupported, had to be a 12x10. If we made all of the purlins that size, they would look ridiculously large up towards the peak, so we had to come up with another solution.

Since the bastard valleys are tapered (it reduces form 15" to 12" diameter along its length), we thought that that provided us with a nice opportunity to also reduce the size of each successive purlin. So, the smallest purlin ended up being a 6x7. The effect, when looking up, is that everything you look at is becoming smaller and lighter as it rises towards the peak, which, in turn, makes the 2 11/16" pitched ceiling seem more soaring and uplifting than you might expect.

We also cut a reduction on each end of the purlin before creating the tenon that sits on the valley. Because the valley is a octagon in cross section, where the purlin intersects it, the facet of the valley is actually fading away from the plane of the joinery. We sized each purlin so that its actual bottom is the same height as the bottom of the facet, at that point in the valley length. This made the whole system visually thought out and allows the eye to pass from purlin to faceted valley without a discordant jog in the timbers.

I hope that all made sense; it is a heck of a lot easier explaining design decisions like this with the SU model than it is trying to put it all into words.

designerstuart · 27 Apr 2011, 11:12

very nice, thank you for taking the time to share both your modelling and construction processes. this is really valuable and i'm sure will serve you well in the future.