December 4: A Beautiful Week for Joinery

A view of the north porch post through the mortise in the center post.

Joinery layouts are drawn before any cuts are made.

Kaj works on laying out and cutting timbers.

Chiseling away at the Douglas Fir.

The chain mortiser is used for cutting mortises, the void
in the timber which accepts the tenon.

The center porch post features intricate cuts and a keystone.

Rex takes in the view from the front porch and entranceway.

Favorable weather this week permitted much work to be completed on joinery for the front porch and entrance. Before any cuts are made, Erik draws the joinery details in CAD, and then the mortise, tenon and housing areas are measured and marked on the timbers. During timber frame assembly. the tenon is inserted into the mortise, and then the hole in the beam or post is used to guide the drill bit through the tenon so a peg can be inserted. Needless to say, the cuts are made oh, so carefully, so everything fits perfectly.