Hollander House

[otb designworks]

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]

@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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[otb designworks]

Thanks Stuart, I appreciate the words of encouragement!

This video shows all of the common rafters in the kitchen and bedroom set in space and prepped for scribing down into their final positions.

[flash=853,505:1twfo0n2]http://www.youtube.com/v/gPTbPqg80po&fs=1[/flash:1twfo0n2]

[PDS869]

Very cool! It's great to see the progression from pure digital design, through design development, through manufacturing, and finally on to on-site construction.

[otb designworks]

Here we have all of the kitchen side rafters cut into their final positions and installed.

[flash=853,505:23emaebf]http://www.youtube.com/v/Yp1iF06-v1o&fs=1[/flash:23emaebf]

[otb designworks]

We are now working on the triple common valley set up, in the shop, that will be joined together with the rest of the frame, outside, once we get as much done inside as is possible.

This video shows all three of the common valleys, already scribed and cut together, sitting on their cribbing, waiting for the next step, whcih will be scribing and cutting in the ridges that will eventually hold all of the valleys up. We use the SU model extensively for these highly complex setups, as the ability to generate reference numbers and cross check information wherever desired is instrumental to efficient progress.

[flash=853,505:n3s7ysb5]http://www.youtube.com/v/dN2X-SWo1lg&fs=1[/flash:n3s7ysb5]

[otb designworks]

Once the valleys had been cut together and we verified correct placement in space, we could bring the ridges up, from underneath, the valleys and position them for scribing. Once we ensured that our elevations would match perfectly with the ridges we already have sitting on Old Glory, outside, we could scribe and then cut the housings in the ridges to allow the valleys to sit on the ridges. This video shows the ridges and valleys in their final configuration, ready for us to start placing jack rafters on them.

[flash=853,505:3cs3us4b]http://www.youtube.com/v/mMVh1W3sgBw&fs=1[/flash:3cs3us4b]

[otb designworks]

We now have the Garage and Entry jack rafters cut into their final locations. As we have 5 bastard jack rafters on each side, outside, we need to cut the common jack rafters into the valleys, in the shop, to match up with the ones outside.

As this is a complex and precision exercise, we had to fabricate fake ridges, in the shop, to support the jack rafters at the correct pitch, for scribing. This video shows all 10 of them, sitting above the valleys, ready for the scribing procedure.

[flash=853,505:2qq9tted]http://www.youtube.com/v/Zk2eBlMFRos&fs=1[/flash:2qq9tted]