I have been interested in building a timber frame for about five years. In that time, I have managed to talk my wife into letting me spend lots of money getting several semi loads of beams from all over the area delivered to us. I took an into to timber framing class in the fall of 2008 and have read a bunch of the timber framing books available. I am not sure when we will start building our house, and I am tired of just thinking about doing some timber framing. So, I am going to start on a small frame this summer, may finish, may not, but at least I will be working towards something! I have enjoyed reading many of the great DIY timber frame blogs out there, thanks for the inspiration, sharing the wisdom and sharing the pain - it's all good!
After looking through the timber frame books I have and comparing some of the plans to the piles of beams, I decided I really like the 16'x22' saltbox frame from Steve Chappell's book. I realized I would need to buy a few of the beams so I called Mike Yaker from Wood Joiners in DeForest, WI (Mike taught the class in '08) I stopped by on my way to work to let him know what I was up to and ask if he had any suggestions for me.
He recommended a few ways to simplify the frame to save some time. I took his suggestions 'back to the drawing board' and documented the frame in SolidWorks. I have to say it is really nice to be able to design it in a parametric software, because I knew I would be making changes. From the quick trial of SketchUp, it doesn't seem like the best program to use if you are developing a design, but would be fine if you are simply doing the final documentation. If anyone is interested I can try to post the drawings for download...
After tweaking things for a morning to get the right aspect ratio, head room, and roof pitch, I ended up with a 16'x24' frame with a 14'8"x16' sleeping loft. Total area should be about 600 ft^2.
