Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Romig
You said that doing your own mortices and joints wrecked your shoulder... did you order the posts and beams pre-mortised? And how did you "cheat" by using oak dowels? Most morticed post & beam structures used oak dowels didn't they?
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No pre-cut stuff here. I cut the hemlock and pine on my land, took it to the sawmill at the end of the road and picked it up when he finally got to sawing them for me. The storm braces and rafters are hemlock, and the posts and beams are white pine. The design and measurements were all in my head. The mortises are 2 1/2" So all the pockets were roughed first with a 2" Forstner bit, then 2" slick and 1x1" corner chisel. Pegs are supposed to be tapered, so that they can be driven as they shrink, Pins through the mortises are supposed to be about 1/4" in of the holes through the tenons so the joints are pulled tight as they pegs are driven in. I cheated there too; boring straight thru and pegging. Nothing has moved a fraction, as the linear shrinkages keeps it all tight.