This gazebo built in Bali has some very interesting joints that tie one piece to another. I enjoyed watching the thing be assembled.
It impresses me the way timber frame construction has developed around the world and some of the methods of joinery are so different from one region to the next.
Balinese Gazebo
Previously
- Roof Decking and Siding Preparation
The roof decking and siding on the gazebo will be made from rough cut 1″x8″. Ideally it should have been tongue and grooved, but I couldn’t find a router bit set locally that would tongue and groove lumber that was over 1″ thick (remember the rough cut lumber is over-sized) In hind-sight I should have […]
- Raising the Rafters
The rafter seats have been cut in the top plate. The top plates are in place on the gazebo, and the rafters have been cut and pegged together at the joint. Now it is time to raise the rafters. This is the first rafter raised into position and temporarily held in place with a brace […]
- Top Plates – Tying it all together
With the bents raised, it is time to put the “plates” into place. They will tie the two bents together. Now the top plates that join the South bent to the North bent are brought into place. They are a little over 16 feet long and true+ 6″x6″. With one raised up but not put […]
- Rafter Creation
This roof will have a 12″ in 12″ pitch and will use bird mouth joints to attach to the top plates. The rafters are made of 4″x6″ that are tenoned and open mortised at the ends. Each rafter will join to its mate at a 90 degree angle. Here are the mortises and tenons. They […]
- Time Lapse Timber Frame Erection
This video is pretty funny. It shows a time lapse of a timber frame gazebo being erected at what looks to be a trade show. Don’t be fooled…it didn’t take them 15 seconds to put this up 😉This particular design did not use the bent method of building two bents then connecting them. Notice they […]
- Bent Raising: Post and Beams (part 4)
So now the bents are assembled and we are ready to raise them. For brawn their was just my FIL and I. Here is the South bent ready to raise with lumber temporarily nailed to the post to act as support once we stand this up. The supports will need to stay on until the […]
- Bent Assembly : Posts and Beams (part 3)
Finally we can start assembling the bents. This day made me feel like real progress was being made. Before the parts can be raised, the mortises for the bottoms of the door frame studs have to be chiseled into the floor. Holes…its all about making rectangular holes and things to put in them. Calling them […]
- Braces – Posts and Beams (part 2)
Braces are put in the corners of the bent to keep the wind and clumsy winos from knocking the building over. In this gazebo there are 4 corner posts. Each post will have two braces. Each brace has two ends. That means there will be 16 tenons to cut and 16 mortises to create. 16 […]
- Posts and Beams (part 1)
With the floor complete, it is time to build the framework that supports the roof, and the walls. This is where the “post and beam” of post and beam construction comes in. The two posts at the north end of the building will be joined together by a beam to form one “bent”. The bent […]
- Windows Resurected
The 13 windows that will go into the solarium came from an architectural salvage place in Ithaca. Similar architectural salvage places are becoming quite popular around the country and they can be a great source for some old and unique items to incorporate into construction projects. In addition to the windows I also picked up […]
- Flooring (half-lap)
The flooring is a bit on the strong side. It is made of 2″ x 8″ red pine. Now keep in mind then when you go to the store and buy a 2×8, it is really something like 1 and 5/8″ x 7 and 1/2″. This wood, since it is rough sawn and still green, […]
- The Corner Chisel
The Corner Chisel for timber framing is a much larger version of a corner chisel used for smaller woodworking. I found this tool to be invaluable during the project. It is perfect for squaring up the corners of a mortise. This was especially true when much of the mortise had been hogged out with a […]
- The Foundation (sill plates and joists)
The foundation is pressure treated to withstand the moisture from being close to the ground. It is created by tying the joists to the sill plates (beams sitting on blocks) with a dovetail joint. As the wood dries, the joint actually gets tighter. This is the most difficult joint to create in the entire project […]
- Peg Making (It’s a hard knot life for us…)
Dowel can’t be used for the larger pegs because it is dried, so it won’t shrink, so as the surrounding wood shrinks (the rough sawn lumber is pretty green), it would split the timbers. As such, we have to carve our own pegs out of oak firewood. This is done with a hatchet, and sore […]
- Rough Sawn Lumber Delivery
I contacted many local lumber yards and either they didn’t sell rough sawn pine or their time to get it delivered was beyond when I needed it (had to coincide with my vacation). I also contacted a local Amish sawyer and that would have been the most affordable method but they couldn’t have the wood […]
- Planning the Timber Frame Gazebo
I began my planning by reading through the two books listed in the previous post and started collecting in my head the types of joints I wanted to use in the design. I tried to choose joints that were interesting and that were not beyond my skills. It may sound odd, but some joints just […]
- Starting Up
Background: Timber frame construction (often called post and beam) uses a method of large posts secured only with joints (wood puzzle pieces) and wooden pegs. After reading a great little book called Diary of an Early American Boy (a gift from my nephew) I got the idea to start designing a building that used no […]