Sawmills and Chisels

16 braces done, 23 to go.  Not too bad for one week of work, and I can't believe my learning curve with the chisel.  I think Jason is even satisfied with my work now, and that is saying something!  How many hundreds of pieces do we have left to cut?  Don't ask!  But we're on our way now, and we're both feeling confident that we really can do this!  

At the beginning of our relationship, and really right up until we got engaged,  Jason  could not tolerate talking about the future.  So, you can imagine how surprised I was when he proposed, I said yes, and right then out of his bag he pulled out house plan books.  I sat there with my mouth agape, in utter shock.  It was then, right after deciding to get married, that we began to think about our future house.  

At first we planned on building the typical way--stick frame, foam or fiberglass insulation, drywall and mud.  But then one idea led to another and somehow here we are, very far from our original idea of simply building a house.  So, how did we get here?  I think it began with the sawmill Jason really wanted and the framing chisels he received for a wedding present.  I am happy to say that the sawmill is up and running, and the chisels are getting a workout! 

The sawmill.   I hope that this piece of equipment if the most frustrating part of our 

project, because,my goodness, it has been a process!   The good news is, the sawmill is cutting beautifully now, and we are now using the lumber to cut our frame.    

Last weekend Jason and I began to cut the first pieces of our frame from our very own lumber. Jason started each brace by making the major cuts with his power tools (the ones I'm kind of afraid to use).  Then he handed over the pieces to me, and I learned how to use the timber-framing chisel to make the finer cuts to each brace.  The first weekend I finished five braces, during the weekday evenings I chiseled 7 more, and today I finished off the last of the 16 that Jason had prepared for me.  Tomorrow we need to cut more lumber and then we can get to work on more braces.  Or maybe we'll work on a different piece of the house?