Timber Framers Guild


	About the Guild We are a non-profit educational membership association dedicated to the craft of timber framing. We serve as a center of timber frame information and design for the professional and the general public. Learn more.

	Related Organizations TF Business Council UK Carpenters Fellowship PTN ILBA

	Be a TFG Member We offer learning and fellowship through workshops, publications and conferences. There are also opportunities for adventure, education and camaraderie through community service building projects in many lands. Join us.

	Lifetime Membership No more renewal notices about dues being raised if you join or renew once with a Lifetime individual membership. Take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity!

	In the store are tools, books, videos and other resources. Timber Framing Journal on DVD Timber Framing as a fully searchable archive packaged on two DVDs. Buy yours today!




	The Timber Framers Guild is a registered provider with the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System (AIA/CES). Continuing Education Units for architects and engineers are available for many TFG conferences and events.


2009 Events

	The election for the Guild Board of Directors is over, and we're pleased to express our gratitude to all of the candidates. New Board members for 2010 are Collin Beggs, Randy Churchill and Lisa Sasser. Congratulations!
	Call for Presenters Become a presenter of a seminar or workshop at the 2010 Western Conference, April 22-25 at the Coeur d'Alene resort in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Click here for a proposal form or e-mail will@tfguild.org.
	Framespotting Tour of People's Republic of China -- SOLD OUT! Our next international tour is sold out, but if you want to be added to the waiting list, please contact the Guild Office. The tour will be led by Guild member Richard Wiborg. Dates are tentatively scheduled for April 5-17, 2010. The tour will start in Beijing and include the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. See details
Join the Conversation: the TF Forums are the most active part of our web presence.
Details are here.	Blacksmith Annex Project: Read Reports from the Field Participants in the Blacksmith Annex Project, in partnership with the John C. Campbell Folk School, helped build a 50' x 50' timber frame addition to the existing blacksmith shop. Click here for Reports from the Field.
	New Manual on Google SketchUp Sketchup is a 3D drawing program available free from Google. It's a great tool for modeling timber frame designs in 3D. Now Clark Bremer offers a 15-page manual that documents the procedures he has demonstrated at recent Guild conferences to customize SketchUp for timber framing. All proceeds from the sale of this manual are generously donated to the Guild by Clark Bremer and Northern Lights Timber Framing. Buy it here.
Silver Park Workshops
	Silver Park Small Shelter Project, Missoula The three winning timber and log shelters are built and raised in place in Silver Park. Thanks to all our sponsors and volunteers for a successful project. Just released: an excellent 11 minute retelling of the Silver Park story by photojournalist Krista Miller Larson. View a slideshow of the entries.

	Watch Videos of the Gindler Barn Workshop July 7-19 We recently completed a project to repair and re-assemble the historic 36' x 85' Gindler Barn at a TFG workshop at Willoughby Farm, Collinsville, Illinois. Daily Video Reports.

Publications & Invaluable Resources
	Fourteen Small Timber Frames: A collection of 14 timber frame plans with designs ranging from simple garden sheds and pergolas to barns. Standard for Design of Timber Frame Structures: Defines the engineering and design requirements for timber frame construction. Free to download or buy a printed copy. Timber Frame Joinery and Design, Vol. 2: More than 50 articles on design, engineering, layout and joinery, enclosures and vernacular timber framing. A must-have for everyone's library. Timber Truss Book: A compilation of six articles that originally appeared in Timber Framing, plus new material. Another invaluable reference. Historic Steeples Series: Articles discussing the form, function and joinery of historic American timber-framed steeples. Historic Trusses Series: Articles discussing the form, function and joinery of American timber-framed roof trusses of the past with examples. The Forest Service's Wood Handbook: Wood As an Engineering Material: Download it free or order a copy from the Forest Products Society. TFG Apprenticeship Curriculum: Download and print all 16 sections.

During the VMI Fall FTX project, cadets built a 12' x 16' frame as a thesis project of cadet Rob Baker. Under the direction of Grigg Mullen, the frame was cut at the Mullen shop, and raised by volunteers in Virginia Beach, where it will be used by the high school's Drama Dept. For more info, contact Grigg.

UK Carpenters Fellowship held their annual conference Sept. 4-6 at the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Bromsgrove. TFG President Rick Collins was there, as well as other notable Guild members. You can check out other news about Frame 2009 at carpentersfellowship.co.uk.

Safe Work Practices, just published by the Timber Framers Guild, explains Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards specific to timber framing, including the relatively ambiguous ones related to height safety and fall protection. This 100-page manual has undergone a peer review by 30 professional timber framers. Order your copy today!

Upcoming Projects
We need project managers, instructors and rookie instructors for 2010 events, as well as volunteers to participate. If interested, click here for details.

Free Poster

Sign up for our e-newsletter. If you include your mailing address, we will send you a FREE 11" x 21" poster great for display in your shop of the Malabar Farm (Ohio) barn raising, depicting pike poles, hand-raising a bent and a cast of thousands. You will also receive occasional updates on special Guild events, such as conferences, projects and rendezvous. Rest assured: We won't give out your mailing address to anyone else. Just sign up here.

New Membership Discounts Available We are offering some attractive new member, group and student discounts. Check them out here.

Tedd Benson, dean of the timber framing industry, gave this year's commencement address at Maine's Unity College. His topic: "Tedd's Rules," which include "Be happy. Buck convention. Save your world." Read his address here. PBS's "This Old House" will partner with Tedd's timber framing company, Bensonwood, to build a new timberframe home that will reflect old New England barns built centuries ago. Thisoldhouse.com will feature progress of the Weston project 24/7 through four Webcams powered by EarthCam. Read more.

Read Jim DeStefano's article in Structure magazine; Jim is a founder of the Timber Frame Engineering Council (TFEC) The Standard for Design of Timber Frame Structures is free to download.

Sustainable Forestry in Cameroon: A 60-minute DVD by Mbah Salle. Now in the store.

Radio Interview with Joel McCarty on NH Public Radio: "The Revival of Timber Framing."

"Raising a 12x16 Timber Frame" in Taunton's Fine Homebuilding.

Ed Levin's updated Hawkindale worksheet.

Other free software downloads.


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