Reflecting on the 2019 Timber Framing Class
Reflecting on the 2019 Timber Framing Class
Timber Framing Sabbatical 2019
By Nathan Gruenwald
Spending the summer participating in the 2019 Timber Framing Intensive proved to be an essential experience in my personal and professional study of carpentry. I chose to attend the Port Townsend School of Woodworking as a short sabbatical from my full-time work as a high end remodeler in San Francisco. The universe seemed to agree, supporting the journey to such a degree it felt as magical as Port Townsend itself. Although it was difficult to tear loose from my fast-paced, demanding work in SF, I received the generous support of the Woodworking School, a perfect garden apartment to live in that was more than I could ask for, and wonderful friends and teachers to share the experience. Even the deer greeted me everywhere I went, although they are no doubt friendly to out-of-towners and locals alike.
Despite my twenty-six years working as a carpenter, I have had little experience with timber framing. A couple years ago, I started studying traditional French carpentry layout, known as L’Art du Trait, taught by Compagnon carpenter Patrick Moore. The French carpentry guilds have used these techniques to build fantastic historic structures like Notre Dame and continue to teach the same knowledge of applied geometry and stereotomical drawing for more than eight centuries to present. The traditional study involves building models out of wood or paper that solve unique building geometry problems, using two-dimensional perspectives to dissect complex three-dimensional shapes. Most of these models are based on roof framing because of the many challenging shapes and angles involved. Still, the techniques and spatial exercises are universally relevant, whether one is a framer, furniture maker, stair builder, boat-builder, mason, or sculptor. Despite my growing menagerie of models and paper raccords, I still had very little experience cutting and raising a real timber frame structure.
I was in luck, because the 2019 Timber Framing Intensive was centered around building a uniquely challenging structure— an octagonal pavilion that included a portion of curved roof and natural log pillars. My initial pursuit of L’Art du Trait started after a building a cabin with a recurve shaped roof, formed from site laminated beams, so curves and roof framing are at the heart of my interest. That is not to say that I would not have gained invaluable experience simply framing a basic New England style salt-box house, but working on the Schulte Reflection Pavilion for the Seattle Children’s Hospital was a rare opportunity. Our class, taught under the patient and experienced Abel Dance, was joined by guest teacher and Timber Framing Guild member, John Buday, who was kind enough to help mentor our class.
The class taught me so much— far more than I even realized at the time. Little lessons keep revealing themselves, and I suffer a fond nostalgia when I find myself doing something a particular way and I then realize where I learned to do such a thing. I have a feeling this is something all of the school’s alumni experience. I certainly have gained a deeper appreciation for the accuracy and satisfaction of hand tools, which in the world of modern production, are mostly eschewed. Power tools really don’t beat hand tools in accuracy, and although they may save a small amount of time, mostly they just save sweat. I have spent so many years working under the paradigm of production, I deeply enjoyed the opportunity to focus instead on craft, which became a strong theme of my sabbatical. In particular, I kept fellow timber framer, Adam Miller’s words in mind, which really clarify how important it is to take time to away from the production environment to be able to transform experience into real growth. This is precisely what my time at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking was. Adam Miller writes:
“Working just beyond what is comfortable and familiar is how we improve our craft. By purposely putting ourselves in this situation, through practice toward a higher goal, we gain the confidence necessary to pursue ever higher levels of competence. The production environment takes a necessarily dim view of risk, embodying what it can of David Pye’s concept, in The Nature and Art of Workmanship, of the workmanship of uncertainty. To grow our craft through the workmanship of risk (another of Pye’s telling categories), we need to spend educational time off the production floor, where we are free to stop and ponder, stretching our mental and manual acuity. Success here means that it has to be okay to spend ten hours crafting what turns out to be a beautiful piece of firewood. Without the room to “fail,” we miss some of the greatest opportunities to learn. And without that learning and confidence in our capacities as craftspeople, what happens on the production floor will never be able to reflect what we are truly capable of as passionate and skilled craftspeople.”
- Miller, Adam. “Pursuing the Guitarde.” Timber Framing Magazine #121, September 2016: 22-27.
While personal development as a craftsperson is more than enough to justify attending courses at the school, I believe that many fellow alumni still feel that they must explain how this will further their careers or benefit their future. I think that just being passionate about woodworking is really enough, and I don’t think that a furniture maker needs to draft a practical business plan and mission statement to make art. I can’t guarantee that I will be able to make a living as a full-time timber framer, after all, I wouldn’t be interested in timber framing if I wasn’t a romantic at heart. Still, I would like those who have invested in me with their time, wisdom, and money to know that the training has practical use in my daily work and I am continuing to build on the foundation that I have gained through my own studies of timber framing and L’Art du Trait.
The pavilion we built during the course is still awaiting permitting and other sitework to be completed before it can be erected in Seattle, so I will have to wait a little longer before I can see the fruit of our labor. To that end, I have included some photos of my most recent timber frame roof model since attending the summer intensive. The model serves as my Stage 2 final exam for my Trait course offered by School of Practical Stereotomy, and unlike previous small- scale models, this model is much larger—approximately 1.3 meters tall. The exam poses certain problem solving including a hip rafter on a corner that that is not square, with one sloping plate, an adjacent roof surface canted at an angle to the king post and principal rafter, and struts that align with each other. The assignment included some basic bridle joints, but I elaborated the model to include joinery I learned from the Timber Framing Intensive for all pieces except for the “Swiss tenons,” i.e. screws, used for the common rafters. The pieces were all laid out beforehand using full scale drawings on MDF sheets and story poles to transfer marks between perspectives, and then the Doug fir pieces were cut on the same saw horses we built during our summer class. Once all the pieces were cut, they were assembled by following a well thought out raising plan as one would for a real timber frame structure.
I would like to thank the Schulte’s for their sponsorship of the project, the Port Townsend School of Woodworking, and the wonderful people who worked together on that project.
Regards, Nathan Gruenwald
