Today, I took a break from doing layout to make the knee-braces for our house. The tenons were quick and easy, just a few 45° cuts on the chop saw. Shaping the curves that Tyler and Peter had drawn on them was serious business, though. One false move, and I'd make them useless or ugly. Happily, I got through all 16 successfully, and apparently, I looked like I knew what I was doing, because Beth (one of the North House interns) remarked to me later, "man, you were ballin' on that bandsaw!"
I'm not sure if I've ever been a baller at anything in my life, so I was pretty pleased with myself! While I was busy with our braces, Tyler worked with Peter to cut the "bird's mouth" notch on our rafters—the V shaped cutout where the rafters will rest on our wall plates. Instead of cutting each of them individually, they strapped the rafter boards together for a "gang cut", sawing all of the notches at once.
It's hard to believe, but we're almost done with our frame-building workshop. I'm already beginning to feel sad about returning to central Minnesota and the mosquito-and-heat onslaught that is sure to greet us. I'm going to miss this inspiring place, with its beautiful water, pretty boats, and friendly, like-minded folk.
