The New Porch

Not too long ago, just moving out of my basement workshop was a fantasy. Well, now that I've been in my shop a few years, the finishing touch was obvious, the porch. Luckily for me, my brother Andrew and our friend Keith were looking for a summer getaway, and I had the perfect use for their carpentry skills.

We had some fun with the timber framing portion of the structure. Every time that I get to layout the cross supports, I get a charge knowing that if the math is right, everything fits just so. It's different than the "eyeball" work that I'm used to in chair work, and if the pieces weren't so heavy, I might just be lured into the trade.

After the tough work digging piers in Sullivan county soil ( 4 rocks for every dirt) and moving green timbers, the boys got their reward, christening the porch while shaving some spindles for a couple of balloon backs. Besides cooking them dinner every night, I had to throw something into the deal!

I've got some fun stuff in the works that I want to share, but my computer decided to die (I actually think that it heard Sue ordering the new one) and took my photos along with it. I'll get the photos reshot and start talking curved stretchers soon.