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lou sansone
03-26-2005, 8:00 AM
Good morning fellow wood workers

This shop tour is going to take a look at some of the construction of the shop. Some of you are in the process of doing timber framing and I hope that you can use some of this information to your benefit.


1. The shop is about 38 x 28 with 10 foot walls. I designed the post and beam frame myself using examples of old barn and building framing that can be found in a few books that I have.

2. The frame was constructed out of red and white oak trees that I cut down on my brother's property ( with his permission of course ) and that we saw up
for the shop. I did have to buy a few timbers as well.

3. After bandmilling all of the timbers they were then all hand planed using a little makita power planer. If you don't do that the wood really has a very rough feeling to it.

4. All of the timber edges have been "beveled" with a "stop" at each joint. That beveling is also something that all the timbers in old mills had done to them. The idea is that the sharp corner of the timber was much more suceptable to catching on fire then the beveled edge would be.

5. All of the joints were cut using a combination of hand saws, power saws and chain saws ... and then cleaned up with a slick. Mortices were started with a big drill and then finished up with hammer and chisel. Most of the mortice and tennon joints are "haunched" so that the timber rests on the full width of the joist and the tennon is really there to prevent pulling the joint apart.

6. All joints were pegged, although I did cheat on this and did not using draw-boring ( intentional misalignment of the holes to force a tighter fit ). All pegs were rived with a froe.

7. The building is insulated by first covereing entire structure with ship lap random width hemlock that was planed and ship laped. I actually shiplapped every board with a router ( I think it took about 3000 - 4000 bd feet, of wood to side and roof the building, might be wrong on the exact number ... that was one of the most stupid things I did my hand... never again!! ). After the first layer of hemlock, the entire building is covered with black tar paper to seal it and help hide any gaps that develope in the interior siding. Insulation and then the final siding

8. The floor was a 6" concrete slab ( building has real 4 foot frost walls and a footing under the chimeny ) that had 10 mill poly under the slab. On top of the slab is another 10 mill poly. On top of that were 2x4 pt sleepers nailed to the cement. Much of my electrical conduit ( 1" emt ) runs throughout the floor sleeper grid so I do not have and wires on the floor. They pop up at predetermined intervals and become a floor junction box.

9. On top of the PT sleepers 3/4 " t/g plywood is screwed and nailed.

10. On top of that is another 3/4" t/g Hickory floor that is face nailed with cut nails into all the PT sleepers. Hickory is the hardest north american hardwood for flooring and is very durable. Makes a nice looking floor as well.

11. The shop has a 85000 btu hot air oil furnace specifically made for shops. works great, except that with woodworking dust I have to put filters on the inlet of the burner to prevent excessive carborization of wood dust around the nozzel.

thanks for taking time to look
lou

lou sansone
03-26-2005, 8:02 AM
few more pics

Richard Wolf
03-26-2005, 8:06 AM
Beautiful building!!

Richard

Ken Fitzgerald
03-26-2005, 8:14 AM
Lou...Lou....Lou.....how you've dragged this shop tour out! :eek: Some of us don't get any sleep waiting and wondering about the next installment. :eek: Probably just as well though....the drool on the computer keyboard has time to dry before the next installment. :eek: ;) :D Seriously though.....You have a beautiful shop! The craftsmanship in the building is great! How long did it actually take you to construct it from start to end?

John Hart
03-26-2005, 8:44 AM
"The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents." - Salvador Daly


So based on what I'm feeling Lou....You are highly successful

Very very nice

Gale Castner
03-26-2005, 8:50 AM
Your shop is awesome. Looks like Norm's place on steroids. What a great place to enjoy your woodworking. Like Ken, I'm curious about how long it took you to build. I'm not very familiar with timber frame construction, asume you put frame components together green? If you don't mind saying, what size are timbers?

Silas Smith
03-26-2005, 9:06 AM
Why don't you go ahead and post pictures of your supermodel wife and your private jet on the next post. I'm not envious, just bitter :)

Corey Hallagan
03-26-2005, 9:06 AM
Awesome Shop Building. Man who wouldn't love that. Thanks for the look see!!

Corey

Darren Ford
03-26-2005, 9:20 AM
You are a master Lou. The building is just incredible.

I also like your clamp rack -- it looks like you left plenty of room for new clamps

John Renzetti
03-26-2005, 9:32 AM
hi Lou, Really great shop. I enjoyed looking at the pictures. The high ceilings are great.
You missed a great opportunity to get a shaper with a powerfeeder when you did all that shiplap with a hand held router. I'm sure that exercise built a lot of character. :)
take care,
John

Mark Singer
03-26-2005, 9:39 AM
The slow torture continues.....
Beautiful building! The kind that only gets biilt that way when someone cares.
Wonderful details and thoughtful construction! You have to have feel very special each time you enter the shop.....

Tyler Howell
03-26-2005, 9:43 AM
Why don't you go ahead and post pictures of your supermodel wife and your private jet on the next post. I'm not envious, just bitter :)

LOL! Silas said it all!:D :D

lou sansone
03-26-2005, 10:58 AM
Lou...Lou....Lou.....how you've dragged this shop tour out! :eek: Some of us don't get any sleep waiting and wondering about the next installment. :eek: Probably just as well though....the drool on the computer keyboard has time to dry before the next installment. :eek: ;) :D Seriously though.....You have a beautiful shop! The craftsmanship in the building is great! How long did it actually take you to construct it from start to end?

hi ken and others
thanks for the comments... glad to see you all have a sense of humor.

I started cutting the trees for the building in the summer ( can't remember what year ). It was a real hot and stickey one in New England. Picture this :

My brothers property has a very dense forest of oak trees and other hardwoods. He has about 100 acers of forest. He has cut access roads into it where he can drive his bulldozer into. He has a D-8 size ( 34 ton ) allis chalmers with a bucket on the front, rather than a flat blade. The machine is a monster, just gigantic. The bottom of the bucket can be lifted to about 12 feet high. The Allis chalmers has a exhaust pipe that is about 5" in diameter and it belches the blackest smoke you have ever seen when it is really running ( motor pretty wooped but still can pull ). Here we are in the deep forest cutting down oak trees that are in full leaf, choker chains wrapped around 4 or 5 of them at a time. The bucket is raised sky high so we do not drag the trunks through the much and mud, It is about 90 in the shade with 90% RH .. the sweat is dripping down us and the dozer is belching out so much smoke that might alert the fire department. It was one of those sites that you never forget!!!

We cut for the summer and then around thanksgiving started sawing them on the mill. I started putting them together in the winter, man it was cold. By the fall I was done. So, I guess it was about 12 months of work.

David Fried
03-26-2005, 11:50 AM
Why do I expect you to tell us the floor is flat within .003"? I know, it's a seasonal thing. I like the clamp warmer!! Looking at the previous interior and exterior shots I was wondering about insulation - now I know!

I take it your building inspector knows more about post and beam and timber frame contruction than mine. Mine can't comprehend what is load bearing and what isn't! None the less, always nice to see a little steel in there.

Quick question on the floor outlets. Are they flush on the floor or sticking up? Do they require covers to keep them clean? Let me know so I can do it right.
Thanks.

Mike Tempel
03-26-2005, 1:08 PM
Lou, all I can say is that I am speechless with envy. Yours is truly a treasure to behold.

You wouldn't have a need to adopt a 37 year old son would you?? I don't have your skills but would like to learn.

lou sansone
03-26-2005, 1:27 PM
Why do I expect you to tell us the floor is flat within .003"? I know, it's a seasonal thing. I like the clamp warmer!! Looking at the previous interior and exterior shots I was wondering about insulation - now I know!

I take it your building inspector knows more about post and beam and timber frame contruction than mine. Mine can't comprehend what is load bearing and what isn't! None the less, always nice to see a little steel in there.

Quick question on the floor outlets. Are they flush on the floor or sticking up? Do they require covers to keep them clean? Let me know so I can do it right.
Thanks.

Hi david

The floor outlets have changed as the shop has evolved. At first they were above grade and turned on their sides so they would not fill up with sawdust. After a while and a few machine swaps, I have removed the above grade ones and now they are flush with the machine hard wired to them via a heavy duty rubber cord.

The steel beam was needed because I wanted to have a 28 ( or 26' can't remember ) clear span in which a loft tied into it. I haven't shown the loft yet, but I have over 10000 lbs of lumber stored up there and it neede to be very well supported. I designed the beam and had it built at the local welding shop. It was not that expensive in reality.

lou

Bruce Page
03-26-2005, 1:51 PM
Lou, under the U.S. Constitution, Eighth Amendment, it reads; "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted"

'nuff said.

Seriously, you have a beautiful shop and I have enjoyed your tours a great deal!

James Mahoney
03-26-2005, 2:37 PM
Lou.......Sure talent,last post pictures I loved the floors. But now the high ceilings tops them all. (Simply Marvels). Aloha No ....

Jerry Olexa
03-26-2005, 3:40 PM
What an interesting space! Great Job. Enviously, Jerry

Rich Konopka
03-27-2005, 8:21 AM
Wow !!!

That is one well thought out shop. You mentined the real hot and stickey summer in New England. No A/C??

How big is that main beam supporting your lumber loft? It looks huge !!


Very Nice shop and one that is placed in the top 10 of all time shop tours.

Darren Ford
03-27-2005, 9:05 AM
Hi david
but I have over 10000 lbs of lumber stored up there and it neede to be very well supported.

Somehow I figured there was probably more to show. I bet that lumber is all chestnut and quilted mohagany also.

Very nice Lou, can you tell we like it ?

scott spencer
03-27-2005, 11:03 AM
(...on knees w/arms flailing) ..."I'm not worthy! "

That's an incredible shop dwelling!

Jim Becker
03-27-2005, 10:01 PM
Very nice new installment on the tour, Lou! Impressive structure. Do you have any pictures from during the time you were building the timberframe, etc.? That would really be interesting to see.

Dan Forman
03-28-2005, 3:39 AM
This is amazing!!!

Dan

lou sansone
03-28-2005, 9:23 AM
Very nice new installment on the tour, Lou! Impressive structure. Do you have any pictures from during the time you were building the timberframe, etc.? That would really be interesting to see.

Hi jim and others..
thanks for the many nice comments. I wish I had pictures of the building process. I only took a few with an instamatic camera and the quality is not very good. I tried to scan them, no good...


The Steel beam is 6" wide by 18" tall. It is way oversized, but I wanted to make sure I did not have a problem. I can't emphasize enough for those who are planning on building their dream shop, that a wooden floor over concrete is well worth the trouble. It does add expense, but it is not that bad if you look around. The floor that I installed is hickory. Normally it is sort of pricey for flooring, but it also has a bad tendency to "sticker stain". This lot did and I was able to pick up the entire 1200 bd feet for about 1/5 the normal cost. If folks are interested in the souce for that lumber in CT. PM me with your request and I will provide it.

Again thanks for looking and keep asking questions. I have made my share of mistakes along the way as well. One of them was not insulating the main floor and the other was not installing radient floor heat.

lou