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Timber Framing

Compound Joinery: Traditional Techniques, Modern Craft

Course Overview

Ever wonder how carpenters in ages past worked out the complex angles for roofs, furniture and boats without the aid of computers and calculators? Trying to visualize - much less lay out and cut these complex intersections - has baffled many a budding artisan. The solution lies in traditional drawing techniques which generate various views of an object. They're called “descriptive geometry” or “developed drawing,” and they were passed down for centuries to produce beautiful timber framed roofs in Europe. Join Timber Frame Guild Director Will Beemer to use these same techniques to develop compound joinery. You will work in pairs to learn traditional developed drawing techniques to simplify complicated carpentry problems. While only basic math will be used in this course (no trig!), students should have a familiarity with either conventional roof framing, mechanical drawing, or timber framing. (Please note: A minimum enrollment for this course is eight students to cover transportation costs for the instructor, we ask interested students to contact North House as soon as possible.)

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