Lancaster County Timber Frames’ head designer, Joshua Coleman, recently had the opportunity to lead a timber frame workshop in Mount Morris, NY.  The Lamplighter Summer Guild provides a one-week hands-on workshop, with a biblical Christian perspective in the visual and performing arts, story creation, and horticulture. This year, the Guild expanded their offerings to include a course in Timber Framing. The project was an ambitious 24’x36′ lakeside pavilion carved from locally harvested Ash and Beech timbers.

The class of six students learned both the design, vocabulary, and anatomy of a timber frame. Using the “Square Rule” method, students marked out all the necessary joinery with pencils and framing squares. Once the timbers were marked and checked, they cut the rough joinery using power tools and finished up the mortises, tenons, and scarf joints with chisels and mallets. During the last few days, all of the students were able to take part in raising the assembled frame. They had the satisfaction of seeing the fruit of their labor come together, as a welcoming, hand-crafted space to host gatherings and classes for many years to come.

Click on the links for more information about Lamplighter Ministries and the Masters Guild