If you have been to a home construction site over the past few decades, you have seen a forest of standard dimensional lumber being assembled with pneumatic nail guns.  The predominant building practice today is to build these homes with platform framing using standard sizes of lumber.

But, then you may come across an exception to the rule.  There are homes out there being assembled out of large timbers.  These buildings have soaring, graceful hand-carved timbers from the floor to the roof line defining an open, comfortable living area.  Traditional timber framing, while not the most common construction method, is alive and well and being taught to a new generation of woodworkers.

Clark Bremer, the owner of Northern Lights Timber Framing and a timber frame instructor, fell in love with the craft quite by accident.  “I’m a timber framer because I’m not a very good painter!  Seriously, my wife wanted to paint the window trim of our lake cabin, and to keep me out of her hair, she enrolled me in a woodworking class at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota.  The only woodworking class that was offered that weekend was an introduction to Timber Framing.  That was 12 years ago.  I then built several small frames for myself, took more classes, joined the Timber Framers Guild of North America and left my job as a researcher for Bell Labs, and started timber framing full time.  So far, no regrets!”

But, what is the attraction of building with this time-honored yet labor intensive method?  “Generally, a timber frame home will be more expensive than a stick framed home.  But a timber frame home always has an open floor plan with no need for load bearing walls vaulted ceilings because the trusses are too pretty to hide, and lots of beautiful woodwork.  If you ask a conventional builder for those things, you’ve now moved up to a higher price point, and timber framing becomes very competitive.”

Not only competitive, but green as well.  “Modern timber frames are often enclosed with structural insulated panels, which are applied to the outside of the frame.  This creates an unbroken blanket of insulation around the house, which is extremely energy efficient.  And like the timber frame itself, the panels are pre-cut in the shop before being brought to the site, making installation very easy for a trained timber framer to install.  In a moderate sized home, the frame can be erected and enclosed in panels in 1-2 weeks, minimizing the risk of a weather delay.”

When he’s not building timber framed homes, Clark is busy instructing students in the craft and the newest techniques which make this venerable construction method even more enjoyable.  “We hold workshops here in our Minneapolis shop, and I also teach at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota.  I’m also a proud member of the Timber Framer’s Guild of North America, where I teach 3D CAD software to professional timber framers.”

It’s true that timber framing looks complex and on a massive scale, but once the individual elements are broken down, it’s not that difficult for any woodworker to master. “This is mortise and tenon joinery, after all, and woodworkers all know the precision required to make that look good.”

Wood selection is another area of emphasis in these classes.  Clark likes to work with eastern white pine and Douglas fir, but he’s also worked in white oak and white cedar.  These woods are very well behaved, but they do have their moments. “One of the biggest challenges is coping with the imperfect nature of the timbers.  Often the timbers are not very dry and are susceptible to movement.  Sometimes we reclaim timbers from a previous structure, and there can be lots of issues with those.  It’s a lot more difficult to lay out and execute the joinery on imperfect material that’s often twisted and bowed.”

And then there are the tools.  At Clark’s shop, he and his crew work extensively with hand tools.  This carries through to his teaching methods as well.  “Sure, there are CNC machines that can cut entire timbers, but these machines are very expensive, and they do not have the hands and eyes of a craftsman, who can read the grain, avoid tear out, and feel pride in the quality of their work.  That’s why we love antique tools, and take the time to send them through “rehab” and get them back into a productive life. We use chisels, hand planes, slicks and draw knives every day.  I also have an old hand-crank boring machine that we bring out for classes and demonstrations.”

While working with the wood is a pleasure, it’s the people he meets that provide Clark most of his enjoyable surprises. “I do enjoy teaching, and it’s also a way of giving back.  Many of my students are amateur woodworkers who have a particular project they want to tackle.  I also get professional carpenters looking to expand their skills.  And sometimes just folks who are curious and looking to try something completely different, just like I did.”

For people who are interested in learning more about this venerable craft, Clark strongly recommends checking out the Timber Framer’s Guild.  There, you can be linked to timber framers around the country and learn who is offering classes and demonstrations.  “Who knows,” mused Clark, “You just might find yourself building something that can be passed down for generations.”

Not every advance in woodworking is tied to a new, groundbreaking development.  Sometimes, a blend of ancient techniques and modern, cutting edge materials is all it takes to revolutionize the craft.

There are few examples as clear-cut as pocket hole technology.  While boring holes at an angle and screwing pieces together isn’t the newest idea in the world (ancient Egyptians actually developed a method of boring angled holes into wood, inserting glued dowels and cutting them flush), figuring a way to bring an easy, repeatable method of doing so for the average woodworker was the obstacle that needed to be overcome.

And, that’s just what Craig Sommerfield struck on while renovating his kitchen back in 1986.  Looking for a hidden way to attach face frames to the cabinets.  Having one of those monkey-and-the-monolith moments as seen in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Craig fashioned the first Craig’s Jig from aluminum and steel.  The follow-on development of the self-tapping screw really allowed pocket-hole joinery to hit the mainstream and become one of the most popular methods of joinery today.

I had a chance to speak with Derek Balsley, a marketing and communications specialist with Kreg Tool, who spelled out the advantages of pocket hole joinery in great detail.

• Math is easier: Instead of remembering to add the length of tenons for a project piece, pocket hole joinery requires no additional measurement – cut the piece to size and join.
• Speed is increased:  Because the screws act like miniature clamps, there is no need to clamp a piece up and wait for glue to dry.  Once an assembly is put together, you can move right to the next step without the lag time.
• It’s half the work:  Mortise and tenon.  Dovetail pins and tails.  Matching half laps. Dowels and biscuits. Most joinery methods require that mating joints be cut in both work pieces which are being assembled. This may require moving a jig or doing a completely new machine set up.  With pocket screws, the angled holes are drilled into only one member, eliminating the chances for inaccuracy.
• Fewer commitments:  Many woodworkers are hesitant to cut particular types of joints for their projects due to the economic realities of tooling up for certain tasks.  Special router bits, hollow chisel mortisers and dovetail jigs all have considerable costs.  With a pocket screw jig, woodworkers can build quickly without needing an arsenal of specialized tools and a large supply of clamps.

According to Derek, “The tool has made woodworking a whole lot easier for beginning and advanced woodworkers alike.  Sure, there may be some who prefer more traditional joints, but for building fast,strong, and easy, pocket screws are a great choice.”

While pocket hole joinery is a very popular method of joining wood, some questions still linger in woodworkers’ minds.  For instance, just how strong are the joints?  According to Kreg’s tests, a properly assembled pocket screw joint has the potential for more shear strength than even a mortise and tenon.  “Unlike other joinery methods, pocket screw joinery utilizes the mechanical advantage of self-tapping steel screws to maximize your joint-strength over the long haul. You get a fast, strong joint that works very well in lots of different applications.”

The other question is heard as frequently as the well-worn debate of boxers vs. briefs.  Should you use glue for your pocket screw joints or not?  “Well, let’s just say both methods are ‘right.’  If you plan on building furniture that you will have to knock down for shipping or storage, without glue is the way to go.  Just unscrew and pack away.  This is something most other joinery techniques can’t match.  However, for the strongest joint possible, add some glue. Since the pocket screws provide tremendous clamping pressure inside of the joint, there’s no need to clamp your joints after connecting. Just drill the screws and move on… start sanding or whatever the next step may be.”

The variety of pocket hole cutting jigs offered by Kreg is pretty staggering.  There are pneumatic, high-volume set ups for furniture factories all the way to the simplest single hole jigs offered for the handy DIYer.  By far, their most popular model is the Kreg Jig Master System (model K3), the system favored by most woodworkers.  Complete with set ups for semi-production and portable bases, the Master System is an improvement over the K2000, the former sales leader.  “Even something as simple and elementary as moving the clamp handle to the front of the jig was a huge convenience for woodworkers.  Now, instead of having to reach around the back of a large panel to secure the work piece, they can do it all from the front.”

Understanding that some specialized tools are also required to make pocket hole assembly easier, Kreg also offers an array of face frame clamps, corner clamps and quick action clamps that attach to workbenches, making holding the pieces that much easier.  “Our in-house engineers are really a clever and creative bunch.  We have a dedicated new-product team who pours over various opportunities and various customer feedback to try and figure out which products and services would help our customers the most.”

And it’s not only pocket screws when it comes to Kreg.  In 2003, the company started building a line of highly accurate (and well reviewed) fences and guides for band saws, router tables, miter saws, table saws and other shop tools.  “So far, all of our precision guides, fences and jigs have all been met with broad support, and our customers have been very happy with what we’ve come up with.”  Even more recently, Kreg has announced an entire line of Klamp System™ components designed to improve clamping around anyone’s shop and a family of Precision Routing products including the new Precision Router Table which includes a table saw style fence which self squares with the table’s miter slot.

Knowing that the Kreg folks are convinced of the value of the pocket hole joinery, many woodworkers wonder if the company’s employees put any value on more traditional joinery methods.  “We absolutely do value the traditional methods.  We love them as much as all woodworkers do, and there’s a time and place for everything, especially when considering the needs of hobby woodworkers who have a natural curiosity for all things woodworking.  That being said, it’s always been our goal at Kreg to reduce or even eliminate the frustration felt by woodworkers of all levels.  What we’ve discovered is that the Kreg Jig and pocket hole joinery removes a lot of fears and gives people the confidence to build things they never would have attempted before.  And best of all… it’s a lot of fun!”

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