English tying joints are a hallmark of historic British timber framing, serving as crucial connections that bind a building’s primary structural members. Found in medieval barns, churches, and manor houses, the joints use carefully fitted mortise-and-tenon (and occasionally dovetail) connections […]
Modified English Tying Joint Read More »
When two plates or beams come together into the same plane on a post, there is often not enough thickness in the post for each plate to connect to it with a tenon. If you put a tenon on
In a hexagonal timber frame where the plates around the perimeter join with the principal rafter, it is a bit tricky from an engineering standpoint. This is just one solution, and in this case, a steel post was used instead
Hexagonal Frame Plate to Rafter Connection Read More »
Here is an exploded view of a bird’s mouth rafter foot where it meets the plate. A typical timber frame joint where a rafter meets a plate is called a bird’s mouth, and this is a tremendous isometric rendering of
Birds Mouth at Timber Frame Rafter Foot Read More »
This joint is known as a “step lap rafter tail,” and the joint in the plate is known as a step lap rafter seat. I believe it gets its name as the tail laps over the plate, which creates an
Step Lap Rafter Tail and Plate Read More »
This is an exploded view of a rafter foot and seat on a plate – a rafter seat housing. Here, you can see the plate with the post below. The rafter with a notch cut into the back side
Timber Frame Rafter Seat Housing Joinery Read More »
This is a view of a step lap rafter seat on an 8×8 plate. The joint gets its name as the rafter laps over the plate to create an overhang for shedding rain water off the roof away from the
Step Lap Rafter Seat on Timber Frame Plate Read More »
This is an exploded view of a post top tenon when the post is at the end of the plate. The tenon is 2″ off the side of the post and 2″ thick. The tenon is cut back 2″ from
Post Top Tenon at End of Plate Read More »
Post Top Tenon in Middle of the Plate – This is an exploded view of the post’s top tenon where it meets the middle of the plate. As you can see, the tenon is only reduced to 1/2″ under the
Post Top Tenon in Middle of the Plate Read More »
Often, a spline is used in a timber frame to reduce the amount of wood that is taken from a post or beam; this particular connection detail has two knee braces flanking the spline.
Timber Frame Spline Connection Detail with Two Knee Braces Read More »
