Timber Frame Beam Layout Technique

...and a half hour to come up. If you guys do, what you don't do. If you center your line. I know some of you guys have the laser here. And some of you don't. But when you're milling your log. 100% for sure. I don't care if you're milling for boards. You're milling for 1x1s, 1x2s. If you want to get the most out of the log. You definitely want to center. Your front and your back. And that's just so that when you're cutting. So if you just laid this log right here. It's probably perfect in the long run. I know. That's right. So because I'm using my laser. And yes you can use the level. I mean I kind of consider my eyes good enough. I'm a quarter inch. Wherever I want to be. So I'm right now. I know. Because I don't have to walk back there. There's no way to measure this. Consistently right. Off the bunk. Right here. Not on the bunk. So how does it look level? Right now I'm an inch and a half. I am two inches off. From being perfectly straight. So that the front of my log. And the back of my log. Is straight. Even though I'm going to get tapered boards. Off the first two cuts. If I'm keeping this piece. Right here in the middle. You're going to get more usable lumber. All the way through. If you didn't. Those last four boards. Where this two inches is. I'm going to normally. This is no good for any board. I don't care. You can cut it. But if I cut this flat board. And there's the center of the heart. Running right through the middle of this thing. It's going to split right in half. And that's why almost all premium lumber guys. This is cut out. And you worry about what's going on here. So if this portion here is not level. And it's going up on a plant. You're going to lose. Like two to four boards. Depending on how bad you are. I have some of my logs that are five inches off. And you have to straighten it out. So you don't want your lumber to be cut. Let's say starting from here. Cutting up through the center of the heart. And coming off to the top. You've just created more useless boards. Or let's say. You might be able to get small pieces off the side. But you're not going to get the boards. That you actually really want. So that's simple. So for me. With the laser system here. That's why it's helping me read it. And this is what I'm looking at. When I'm on this side. And then it's easy enough for me to say. Hey Jeff. It's your turn to pump the jack over here. Because what would happen is. You'd have to pump this up. But before we can actually cut this thing. To even get started on anything. And I'm looking at it. There's really not. There's really not stretch cracks in a log. That's laying this long. If I took a chain saw. And cut this right. That's your size. Hey Dan. Did we check the laser? I don't know if we need to. You're right on the line. If you get yourself within a half an inch. Of cutting this. You know what I mean. If you get yourself within a half inch. Of cutting the heart. Even an inch on a big beam. I don't think you're ok. Being off a quarter of an inch. Which this at this point is not. There's going to be. Let's say by the way I did it. Because I just stuck my knife in. Could I be a quarter inch low. Or a quarter inch high. I know that the guy who invented it. For me. I can actually sit here. And if I'm working it down here. I can see off my knife. When the laser gets to the center. I'm over there. I can tell him to stop. Or vice versa. I can do it from the front. And I can see it myself. So that's kind of why I stick the knife in. You don't have to have a second guy sitting there. Holding a level. For me it seems to get close enough. A lot of the times. It's right on the line. So at this point. We're not. It's only late. I've been waiting. What the hell are you doing Jay? That's right. I don't think we're going to. You can see right there. That's what I'm looking at. When I'm not even looking at you guys. Or the camera. I can look down. And you can see it pinching right across that knife. So you can either work alone. Or I don't have to do anything. Sometimes there's a hundred pumps. That Jay has to do. It gives me time to get coffee. And I can still use that. Around the room. Yeah exactly. A lot of walking. As far as this log. For me any log. It's set up to go. So if we want to run one. We're going to set. How high do you want to look at it? I'm going to be somewhat in that area. You can see that this is taking. A pretty good slice off the back of it. Now you could double check. If you want it again. To make sure that you're doing it alright. You could double check. I'm measuring this piece of the heart here. And I want to get the most wood. Off of this log. That I can. Before I get to that cant. Where maybe I have to cut instead of a one inch piece. I have to cut a half inch piece. I'm going to measure off. My center of my log. For my first cut. Where do I really want to be. So for us to make it. If we were doing just an eight by eight. This is actually perfect. Because I'm on a solid number. Right here for my center. I'm like nine and a quarter. So I would drop my saw. Down to either nine. Or I would bring it up and cut a tenth. Meaning that I'm going to cut. The perfect number off here. So when I start peeling off. My wood. I'm going to end up with exactly. What I'm looking for. I don't have to have a wasted piece. I'm going to get some of the prime. A lot of people are going to wait until they get there. And then you're going to lose the prime pieces. Which are right here. If you're flat sawing the wood. You want to get the sap wood off first. I always want to get the sap wood off. You want to have the heart. If you're trying to. One. You want to do it faster. Or you want to eliminate cuts. If you measure off of this center. Of where you want to be. You don't have to make a wasted cut. Or make another cut to get where you want. And you'll get more wood out of that. Now with us making a nine by nine. Unfortunately. I'm going to have to be. It's a non even number. Because I need four and a half. I need four and a half on each side. Of this pit. To get me the nine by nine that I want. I still want to have that piece. Centered where I want. So instead of it being. A solid number. You have to start off with. What is my final piece that I want. Being a nine by nine. That we're going to have to use this as a half inch. So actually the nine and a half. Where that is right now. Would be perfect for me. To end up exactly in the center. Of what I wanted to do. So you're not going to pull one by one off the top. I am. Then you're going to lose the center. Yeah. Well really first what we're going to do. Is we're going to cut it. We're going to roll it. I'm going to do the same. All the way around. I'm going to level my heart again. On the second cut. I'm going to square off my cut. To be my nine and a half. Or ten and a half. Or eight and a half. Depending on what size log I have. I don't know at that certain point. Until I get to that point. I try not to overthink. Let's get that one thing done. And we're just going to duplicate it. All the way around. Now once I get my first two cuts. Which is leveling. Like we just did. Squaring with our number. Of exactly how much I want. Or what's the P. What am I looking to get out of this. I mean everybody's got a different theory. Of what they need. But if you can get these cuts to line up first. So on one and two. That's the only time I'm going to need to use the laser. To level everything. To square everything. If you make this first cut. And this second cut. Perfect. Perfectly square. Perfectly hearted. That's it. Everything's turned off. You can now just flip the log. And then start running back to normal inches. Not using your half inch. Because that will give me. It will bring me back. To even numbers. Normally when Jay and I are cutting. For our cans. Unless I have a specific project. Like making deck material. Or making inch and a half material. Normally we're taking. One inch pieces. Off of each one of the cuts. And that's where all the cut offs are from. Are from the beams. Now while we were building our buildings. I had a whole. This stuff has been dry. For probably eight months. Since we cut the actual beams. All this lumber is ready to go. And I'm actually at the point that I need it. So we're not. We might be thinking about cutting a project. That I might not do for seven months. Getting this stuff all prepared. For what you want to do. Or use your wood for. None of that stuff can be used. Unless it's completely dry. You want to knock some off. And put some siding. There's some techniques that you can use. Green wood. And put your siding up. Just like I did. And you can see. It's kind of why I left some of the trim off. But it's a beautiful explanation. Of how much that shrinks. Because those boards were all pushed together. When I started. So cutting in the sun. That's what's going to happen. You can't glue boards together. That are going to shrink like that. You can't make tongue and groove. If the board shrinks like that. You make tongue and groove. Your wife is not going to be happy. At the project when you're done. Which is the most important part. Or the most important part of my house. If I don't get a thumbs up from the wife. We've got an issue. I might get the thumbs up that first day. And then a year later. We're running a little holes in stuff. Because everything shrunk up. Even that pine. Has been cut for four months. By the time I get back here. At the end of the summer. All of that stuff will be ready. Since we're acclimating it outside. I probably won't even kill and dry any of that. One because they're 18 foot long boards. It's a little tight to get in my place. But it's going to be outdoor siding. So now that I've air dried it for so much. I can go back to any one of my boards. Ever. Whether I'm in my kiln. Or whether I'm dry stacking. I know the boards that I make. They're going to be 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. They're not going to be 7 and a half, 5 and a half. Everyone is cut the same. So I can go back. And a lot of times I'll go into my kiln. And I'll just start measuring my boards. My 10 inch boards are all 9 and a half now. Now I'll start looking. Am I consistently 9 and a half. Because my whole stack has 9 and a half. So now you can kind of tell. Whether your boards are drying. Or together. Or once you know your wood. Um. Or once you know the wood off your property. And the process and how it goes. I can tell by the size of my board. By how much humidity is in my thing. That my board is done. Without me putting a. A moisture meter test on it. If I got inconsistencies. Just throughout the stack. Because certain parts of the stack. Dry a little faster than other parts. Because you can get the same consistency. PH that's in the. Or the R value that's in your building. But the shrinkage. Or the shrinkage. Twisting portion of your wood. Is done. So now we can check this blade. What's that? We actually haven't used him in a while. Am I wrong? Did it sound? Yeah it did a little bit. Yeah. Watch your feet. Ha ha ha. You see how wet this is? This is a 2 year old log. This thing is super wet. When I was telling you. About the blades. Right here. You see the inconsistency of the pattern. That I have right here. Is that carbide? It is carbide. Again I don't really remember Jay. I haven't been monitoring the hours on those. Since we've been on for a while. It's still wet. You can actually see. Now it's not perfect. You see right here. There's a slight dip. Now a lot of guys are always going to get a dip. Right here in the beginning. This is where the blade started dogging. When I felt it. You see a black spot right here. It is not a perfectly flat cut. Right here. At this point. I'm like this is time to change this blade. This is what you should get. When you are using a regular carbon blade. Right here. I think before we turn on. Let's throw the blade on. Still pretty nice though. Not bad. It's not bad. We don't want to get into that argument. I think we got in trouble with that argument. I would not do the dog clamp yet. But I would normally do it. Jay just like you did with me. He's going to hand it. And then we actually got it. So we don't kill him. Now you can pull that off. Oh I got you. The dog clamp was in the way. I would not take the dog clamp off. On a log like this. Without being strapped. Or a friend of yours. Or a buddy or somebody. Something. It did roll back out. I would normally try to get this. Strapped closer to. This bunk here in the middle. Just because one this log. The closer you are to the middle. The easier this is going to work. Good job Jay. So with a big log like this. Your post. You are not going to be able to deal with it. It's going to really dig in. Even if you got the rollers. The rollers help. Don't get me wrong. These little pipes actually help. Better. Because you can get your log. Stuck on the top of the roller. You know what I mean. You have the pro posts. You have the pro rollers. And the pro posts. So your posts have the rollers on top of it. Am I wrong? Not mine. You do. There you go. Sorry Brad. You have the pro bunks. Pro posts. Pro turning thing. Your posts are longer. Than the posts that come. On these 130's. So that helps. I know that it came with the 136. We are all unhooked. Right? I have to take you guys. What's it sound like? You don't hear the bell. Oh. This is a heavy log. My friend. You see how effortlessly. We just rolled that log. By doing this. If you leave these pipes in. When I am doing this. I never want this log. Here. To roll where I am past the point of square. If you see I am going to stop. Before I get here. Now you have this thing completely strapped up. I can leave it. I have got control. Of anything that I need to do. I take my little posts out. And then I am going to try to. And me. All of mine are not square. I don't want to say. I only keep this guy square. So when I am actually. Working this end here. I am just looking. How close that I can get that. Right into place. Now you saw how little I was able to move that. I mean that was an eighth of an inch. I could easily back off if I need to. But what you don't want. You want to ease in this way. If you go past it. And you need to pull the bottom. Half back in. Much harder. Much much harder. Now we are probably. Not square. Yet I can still see a dollar bill. In there. So the two ways that I do it. I don't just go in and say. Hey we made the cut. We are good to go. We are going to first get our. Let's get our heart in place. Yeah. We are going to get our level first. I have done this before. So if you go to the point. Of getting yourself perfectly square here. And then I have got to use my toe board. There is a good chance. It is going to roll back out. So before I actually get into. The final piece of the square. We are just going to check. Not too awful bad. Where is Jay? Where is the other Jay? Yeah. So you have got. Yeah. You have 32 pumps. So this is when you get yourself. A cake, coffee. Take a pee for a minute. And wait for that knife to hit the blade. That is the only problem. That we have with this giant jack. Other than it being ridiculously heavy. And it was ridiculously expensive. I didn't want to buy two. So if I don't load my logs right. You have got to move that thing. And believe it or not. It is not as easy as you think. Yeah. It is in there. Good testament to it. It doesn't even. And seriously. I don't know when we made that video. What is that? We beat a giant building. See how easy that is to read. I mean. That portion alone. Makes the 200 bucks. That the laser is worth. If it didn't do. All the other things. That you wanted to do. Just that portion alone. By the time you milled. Over a year period of time. You doubled your money. In trying to figure out one. With your lumber. Do you need these dogs loosened? The dogs are thick. Is it? Who dogged me? Probably Jay. God damn it Jay. I like this. This is fun. We should be hard. You see how much. It did roll back. You just want to get. Where that blade. Exactly square. I'm going to let you do this. Because I don't want to make the error. This is a test piece. You're taking this log home with you. What are you talking about? That's pretty damn square to me. It looks pretty good. That's pretty damn square for me. At this point right now. I would just either ask Jay. Or Jay Jay. Or whoever is being my Jay today. Would log the dogs in place. Now you know. If we're square. At this point right here. We make our cut. This is going to be playing with this. This is going to be playing with that. Everything is going to be square. I do a lot of times. As he's cutting. As he's halfway down. I'll check. If you make a mistake. You can finish the cut. Make the adjustment. And get yourself cut straight out. Now if you're just cutting lumber. One by material. Or either two by fours. You might not need it to be. Dead accurate. But at the end of the day. I'm looking to get the accuracy of that. If you wanted to even check it any further. If someone wants to hit the. Crank the mill up. A lot of times at the log. You can't get your square. I use a lot of times. I'll use that little six inch square. This one is better to use. This is going to give you more accurate. Longer way out of the blade. I would ask him. You could actually run. In any directions. Put your square. You'd have to go up just a little bit. Okay a little more. A little more. Boom. So I am. Running. The running square. I can't see any difference. No there's not. So you could either do it this way. You could do it by yourself. It's a little bit funky. But you could just lay it there. You can actually get yourself guided up. See where your square needs to be. I know a lot of guys. Don't spend as much time. As we do. Doing this. At the end of the day. I'm not selling the wood to some guy. That has to deal with the crappy wood. That I put together. I have to do it. So it makes it harder. I might save myself two minutes here. I could kill myself two hours. Somewhere else. And end up with not. You know good. Are we all locked down? Three? You sure? Sign that log. So we kind of have to do the same. What would we do? What would be the next step? You know what? The other Jay was listening. He retained too my friend. There was some retention in there. That's unlike me. I have no retention. What were we talking about? I wasn't counting on that. See if I go up. So let's just put it up. Or do you want to come down? Well that's what I was trying to say. So now you're at your ten and a half. You can look. Your laser is up here. It's way up here. So it's like. Is that the cut? Do I really want to make that cut? So you could either do. Measure down to your nine and a half. Or you could take a note. Of what you have up here. Like right now we're at seventeen and seven eighths. I would just drop it to sixteen and seven eighths. And I would know I have my number. I'm not really using it. I'm only using this to scale. But I don't care how tall this is. On this first cut. Because it doesn't have to be even numbers. So we should be. Right now. We should be at that nine and a half. Looks low to me. Well if I wanted it at nine and a half. I'd probably use the tape. But what you just did. And like what I just did here. That's. I wouldn't. What just happens. Now we're at like seventeen. We're not sixteen and seven eighths. I would double check everything. So I would move it from here. I'd go back over there. And make sure that's what we wanted to do. I think we did double check. I'm happy with it. If I'm within that. Yup. You want a cut with a wooden mills? At the end I heard him. Rolling against it. I think it's. Tracking on this side over here. Put that on the end there. And a fuel line thing. Or something I guess. No I have not. If you were going to help I did work. Out of the way. At least part of one. I put a regular. Wooden mills blade on this wood. And see if we're doing any difference. Because we normally cut. Not this. Yeah it sounded a little better. It's still chugging in some spots. But it sounded a little better. I can tell. I think we cut that pretty good. As far as the cutting. But as it came to frame being. Like for now. I have to either. You're either going to leave it this rough. Or you're going to have to. Sand and plane all this out. And normally those other blades. I don't have to do any of that. They just come out perfectly smooth.