ATTENTION: Due to inclement weather, the date of this has been changed from Mar. 11 to 26.
This year we’re building a timber-frame workshop and we’ll have classes almost every weekend, covering this build from start to finish. See our Events page for the complete schedule, which is being finalized at this time. Classes typically run $50 with a cap of $500 for ten or more.
This workshop will cover felling, limbing, bucking, and preparing timber for milling and building. We will focus on safety, planning, and logistics with both hand tools and power tools.
In the above video, we harvested a spruce for a previous timber frame.
Workshop Details
In this workshop, we’ll spend the time harvesting white pine and spruce. You’ll each get to try felling with an axe, saw, and chainsaw. If you have tools you’d like to use, feel fee to bring it, but understand that instructors must inspect and approve each tool before use (i.e., tools must be in safe working condition).
We’ll enjoy a brown-bag lunch (please bring your own) in the field. Please wear clothing appropriate for the weather and activity: close-toed shoes, gloves, ear and eye protection, long shirt and pants, hat for the sun, etc (see safety considerations below). We’ll have drinking water and snacks available, but please bring your own additional beverages and lunch. If the weather is too wet that day or the day before, our rain day will be Sunday, March 12. Anticipate having no indoor restroom and pack accordingly (I may have a mobile composting toilet available.
∇ SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS ∇
Felling trees is inherently dangerous. Safety equipment must be worn and instructions must be followed at all times. Please bring work gloves, safety glasses, and a hard hat, if you have them. A limited number will be available for use.
The workshop will meet up south of the Low Technology Institute, at a private residence at 10706 N. Tolles Road, Evansville, WI 53536 (located just south of historic Cooksville: take 14 south out of Madison; left on 59; left on Tolles Road, just as you enter Cooksville; and proceed a half mile). It will take place on March 11 26, at 9 a.m.
Please RSVP by purchasing a ticket through our online store. Price is $50 (or $40 for members). Space is limited and we will keep a waiting list. Get on the list by “purchasing” a waitlist ticket at no cost, also in our online store. Also, participants must fill out this liability waiver. Your RSVP is only complete when the waiver is filled out.
Donations are always welcome to help defray the cost of our workshops and programming. We are a member-supported organization.
Instructors
Todd Fleming is a professional remodeling carpenter, experienced in both framing and finish carpentry. He focuses on bringing traditional craft and knowledge back into house carpentry. He got started with hand tools in knifemaking but found a passion for traditional woodworking, he has a wide experience across many areas of working with wood and a love of axes and hatchets.
Scott Johnson is the director of the Low Technology Institute. This will be his third and largest timber frame build. He has been felling trees since he was caught doing so by his father at less than 10 years old, and comes from a long line of lumber folk. Pictured at left are his great grandfather (white shirt) and grandfather (child) in 1941.
And joining us will be Chuck, friend of the institute and owner, operator of Pioneer Tree Farm, in McHenry, IL. He is a historic reenactor and technology enthusiast with arboriculture experience.
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