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Slideshow (164 photos)

Jim holds the temporary brace as the others lower the ridge pole into position

Steve's timber framing shop

Closeup of timbers on the back porch

Bag of webbing uses by the Amstutz crew in assembling the frame

The bottom of the posts are sealed before placing them on the metal brackets

Up close and personal with the braces

Bucket of dowels used hold the joints together

Calvin prepares a mortise in the shop

Calvin drills a hole for a dowel

Calvin uses giant orange hammer to wack something into place

Calvin working in the shop on the timbers

Carpenter butt

Clamping the floor section to the door section

Mike climbs the door section

Colin pushes scaffolding onto the second floor

Colin messing around with the giant hammer, Kevin in the background

Comealongs used to hold up sections of the frame during the raising

Another comealong

Nifty joinery in the timber frame

More cool joinery in the timber frame

Cool spline holds together a complex joint in the timber frame

Boom of the crane during the raising

Crane hook flies through the air

Hook of the crane

Crane moves a load of timbers off the delivery truck

Calvin cuts a dowel to make room for the ridge pole

Dennis can't resist climbing onto the ridge pole after the raising

Skethcy traversing on the ridge pole

Doug and Nancy locate the metal brackets on which the posts rest

Doug and Nancy locate the metal brackets on which the posts rest

Doug and Nancy prep the floor section before it is raised into position

Doug working with a clamp during the raising

Doug cuts a dowel to length

The crane operator directing traffic

Doug preps beams for the crane

Practiced hands perform the delicate work of moving timbers into place

Practiced hands perform the delicate work of moving timbers into place

Cutting dowels to length

More trimming of dowels

Drills sit idle

Preparing a large section of the timber frame for lifting by the crane

The timber frame without the rafters and ridge pole

Framing on the mezzanine floor

Section of the mezzanine floor before it was moved into place with the crane

The crew prepares to receive the ridge pole

Various bents ready to be raised

The timber frame, about 1/3 completed

The first large bents has just been moved into position

The completed timber frame is surrounded by stick-built 2x6 walls

Steve and Doug preparing for the first large bent

Porch posts partially completed

Front porch framing as seen from the front door

The completed front porch -- 2x4 T&G white cedar floor, 2x6 T&G white cedar ceiling, cedar posts, and pine timber framing

Completed front porch, seen from the west

Completed front porch; the yellow wire is for a hanging lantern

Completed front porch, seen from the east

Front porch posts temporarily held in place

Front porch, incomplete, left side

Completed front porch seen from the north with the large columns resting on boulders moved from elsewhere on the property

Front porch seen from the front (north)

Front porch seen from the west; there is a hole where the chinney will soon appear through the roof

Another view of the front porch from the west

View showing the ceiling of the front porch

Front porch posts demonstrating the careful scribing where the posts meet the rock

Crew members prepare the floor section to be raised into position

Amstutz's shop with Jack making a phone call while Calvin works

Jim and Lucie during the raising

Jim and Tommy watch the frame raising

Jim holds up a brace -- one of the few jobs I could do

Jim does nothing, waiting orders

Jim connects the strapping to the crane

Jim spots the post as it's moved across the site

Jim positions a post onto a metal plate on the foundation

A post is positioned, making sure that the brace and horizontal member are fit at the same time

Jim prepares the straps for lifting a member

Jim helping out from the heights

Moving about the timber frame is easy for climbers

Jim tries to be helpful, but probably is getting in the way

Trimming a dowel to the correct length

Pounding a dowel into place to hold a joint together

Joe and Tommy climb around on the completed frame

The "climbers" help position the scaffolding

Kevin holds a brace in position while a post is slid into position

Kevin clamps a strongback onto a joint to provide lateral strength during lifting

The crew getting started with the raising; Steve is dealing with an issue where the iron rods in the foundation are mispositioned

Carpenter's level

Four strong backs are required to move a rafter subsection

Continuing to move the rafter subsection, Doug comes to help

Continuing to move the rafter subsection, Doug helps, Jou and Doug watch

The very first frame subsection raised into postion -- the king posts around the front door

A bucket of comealongs

A bucket of tension straps

Lucie and Jim on raising day -- all done

Lunch on raising day

A mallet

A mallet and chisel

Tools lay about on the site

Killer drills

Mike positions a post with a spline

Mike measures something

Mike installs a temporary shim

A minor ridge pole is lowers into position

Mike gets aggressive with the orange mallet

The tenon slides into position in its mortise

Steve and Jim move rafters around

Nancy planes the end of a post

Doug guides a horizontal member into place onto a spline

A large subsection of rafters is lifted by crane and positioned around the chimney opening

Richard and Tom guide the rafters into position

The first ridge pole is moved into position

The first bent is moved into position

A post flies through space

Bits of the timber frame are assembled on the ground before being raised

Setting up the straps and comealong in order to pull together the two bents

Doug coats the end grain of a post with preservative

Raising the final bent

The final bent, a little higher

The final bent now flies through the air

The final bent is lowered into position

The finished frame

A closeup of the raising crew

Another view of the finished frame and crew

The red oak used in our timber frame, just after delivery from Rhode Island

Raw material in the Amstutz shop

Richard attaches a comealong to pull sections of the frame together

Pile of sawdust generated during the raising

Amstutz's heavy-duty sawhorses

Closeup of the scribe work of the left porch post

Scribe work of the left porch post

The front ridge pole is positioned in place

Another view of the front ridge pole being installed

All hands on deck for the second ridge pole

Securing the second bent

The stairwell; no stairs yet, as this is one of the last things to be installed

Steve cleans the debris from a mortise

Monir adjustments are made to a tenon to ensure a proper fit

Steve uses a small tractor to move timbers around his yard and shop

Joe and Steve prepare the rafter subsections that surround the chimney

Steve and Mike oversee the movement of member

Steve and Mike slide the roof truss together

Steve inspects a mortise before fitting together the mating members

The crane ball is moved into position by Steve

Steve uses superhuman strength to casually move a 300 pound post; Kevin looks on in awe

Steve does his thing

Steve positions a brace as a complicated joint comes together

Just before the joint comes together

Steve hands something up to Jim

Steve straps and Kevin clamps -- preparing to move a section of timber frame with the crane

Steve applies straps to a frame section to move with the crane

Straps on frame bits

Timber frame bits in Steve's shop

Braces in Amstutz's shop

Lots of timber frame bits await installation

More timber frame bits

More timber frame bits

The entire Hut frame, sitting in storage awaiting installation

The timber frame is partially built on the ground prior to the raising

The timber frame is partially built on the ground prior to the raising; Lucie sits in the middle

Tommy working during the raising

Taking a break from the action

Working during the raising

A small hand-made toolbox

Signaling the crane operator to lift using non-standard signals

Giant mallets