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Safari Timberframe

Amusement Park Timber Framing

By Derek Folsom on August 13, 2015

If you’ve visited Six Flags in New Jersey in the past couple of years, you probably haven’t had enough time to admire the phenomenal timbers that are located at the Camp Adventura load platform, or the store, or the Safari Station.  It’s okay if you were distracted. I understand it’s […]

Post and Beam Joinery on a Timber Storage Shed

Timber Framing vs. Post and Beam Construction

By Derek Folsom on July 23, 2015

Timber Framing vs Post and Beam Construction Something that is commonly confused is the difference between timber framing and post and beam construction.   The major difference, really the only difference, is the type of joinery that is used.  A timber framed building uses traditional joinery, like mortise and tenon, […]

Power tools used for timber framing or post and beam construction

Tools of the Timber Trade: The Wire Wheel

By Derek Folsom on July 08, 2015

To finish the Tools of the Timber Trade series, I would like to visit one of the unsung heroes of timber fabrication, the Wire Wheel and Angled Grinder. Every tool that we have visited in the past couple of weeks is used to make the traditional joints that we cut […]

Beam saw used for timber framing.

Tools of the Timber Trade: 16″ Circular Saw

By Derek Folsom on July 02, 2015

Over the past couple weeks in our Tools of the  Timber Trade blog series, we have traveled to the Chain Mortise world, we walked down the Maebiki Oga saw trail, and we sauntered through chisel land. Today we will navigate one of the big hitters; the 16″ circular saw, which […]

Tools of the Timber Trade:  The Chisel

Tools of the Timber Trade: The Chisel

By Derek Folsom on June 25, 2015

The chisel is one of the earliest created tools. Man (or some form of man) has been using tools for the past 2.6 million years, which, when taken at face value, were stones that were chipped/broken to create sharp edges.  These tools were categorized by Mary Leakey, a British paleoanthropologist.  […]

Hand Tools

Tools of the Timber Trade: Maebiki Oga

By Derek Folsom on June 18, 2015

Today our timber framing tool journey takes us to Japan where we will discuss the Maebiki Oga saw, or as the English call it “The Whale Back Saw”.  Below you will see a photo of Dan Devine, our resident “Tool Guru” using his personal Oga saw. According to Amemiya-Daiku, a […]

Tools of the Timber Trade: Chain Mortiser

Tools of the Timber Trade: Chain Mortiser

By Derek Folsom on June 11, 2015

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be showing you some of the tools that are particular to the timber framing industry.  One of the Vermont Timber Works pillars is that we hand cut all of our timber frames. This certainly isn’t the easiest way to fabricate, but it is […]

Timber Frame Project Start to Finish: Reclaimed Oak Timbers

Timber Frame Project Start to Finish: Reclaimed Oak Timbers

By Derek Folsom on May 07, 2015

As we continue our journey through the timber frame process, we will touch on several different projects, designs, specifications and materials.  This time we will be focusing on the essence of timber framing, the timber.  There are so many different qualifications of the timbers we use, the species: Douglas Fir, […]

What's a tree doing up there?

What’s a tree doing up there?

By Derek Folsom on February 09, 2015

Have you ever been driving by a construction site and thought to yourself, “Why is there a tree on top of that building? It seems like a very odd time to be celebrating Christmas? Furthermore, why would they go through the trouble to get it up there, they’re just going […]

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