Wood is the heart and soul
of the work we do. Therefore we have found it beneficial to control, as
much as possible, the entire process of acquiring it. We involve ourselves
in every aspect of that process from the forest to your home. We often
literally go out into the woods with consulting foresters and loggers
and pick the trees that will later become the timbers in our projects.
Quite simply, good timber can only come from good trees. By walking the
land we can not only select the best trees for our use but we can also
gauge whether or not the timber is being harvested in a sustainable and
environmentally sensitive manner.
We
mill our own timbers so that we can completely control their production
quality and minimize waste. Each timber is sawn in such a way that defects
are minimized and the yield is maximized. The band saw mill we use creates
a very thin kerf (wood removed by the saw blade) and hence very little
useful wood ends up as saw dust. We also have the flexibility to mill
timbers to the exact sizes we need. We are not limited by the standard
industry increments of two inches in thickness and two feet in length.
If we need a 31 foot-long timber 9" x 14" in section, we make
it. It's that simple.
We
use many different species of wood in our frames. One of the reasons we
are located in East Texas is the access we have to high-quality timber.
Southern Yellow Pine, Oak, Cypress and numerous other species are locally
available. There is no "perfect" wood for all projects. Strength,
color, grain pattern, size availability, moisture content, grade and cost
all need to be considered before deciding which wood is best for a specific
use.
click to enlarge
Sawmill in Action
John Box sawing
logs
Long Timber
Types of Wood
Red
or White Oak
Oak is a relatively strong wood (not the strongest by any means), has
a pleasing grain pattern, takes a finish well and is easily worked when
green and is moderately priced. We have used it often. Both our Timber
Shop and Planer Barn are Red Oak. Most often Oak is used green, or freshly
cut, which means it has a high moisture content. As the wood dries, it
checks and shrinks a great deal. This is unfortunate in that both the
joinery and timber faces distort after a frame is raised. Please visit
the Dry Kilns section of our tour for a complete
discussion of moisture in timbers. Red Oak can be dried in a radio frequency
(microwave) kiln, but this is both very expensive and often degrades the
wood fibers. We do not recommend the process.
Since we are committed to using local materials, when Oak is a clients wood of choice, we most often use the southern species of both Red and White Oak. Northern species are available, but are in no way superior and we see no point in spending the money and energy to ship it halfway across the country. Due to Red Oak's pleasing color, we most often select Red Oak, although White Oak does offer better resistance to rot and insect damage. This is only important if a frame will be subject to the elements, as would a pavilion or possibly a barn.
If you
like the look and feel of Red Oak, and see the checks and shrinkage that
will appear over time as evidence of a natural material, then it might
be the right choice for you.
Red Oak
Southern Yellow Pine is one of the premier structural woods in the world and it is our most popular timber product. It is very stiff and, when dry, quite hard. One of the colloquial names for SYP is "Hard Pine." It is available in large sizes, long lengths and is of consistently high quality. It is also very amenable to kiln drying so it need not be used green. When dried properly, it distorts very little and checks are small and scattered. It has a bold grain pattern and a color range from golden brown to reddish brown as it ages. It finishes and stains very well. Southern Yellow Pine is a commercial classification for four related species naturally occurring in the southeastern United States. The species are Longleaf, Shortleaf, Loblolly and Slash pines. The mix of species changes as you move from the Atlantic seaboard to East Texas. In our area Shortleaf and Loblolly are predominant with a fairly substantial quantity of Longleaf in areas with sandy soils. The majority of logs that we buy are Shortleaf Pine.
We use Southern
Yellow Pine in our own frames because of its strength and quality. Should
these attributes appeal to you, Southern Yellow Pine would be an excellent
choice for your frame. We used SYP for both our Layout Barn and Board Barn
and plan to use it for a future shop addition. 
Southern Yellow Pine
Douglas Fir, like Southern Yellow Pine, is one of the most sought after structural woods in the world. It is available in virtually any grade and size. It has a very pleasing dark reddish brown color as it ages. It is very sensitive to ultra violet radiation and darkens very quickly when exposed to light. The grain pattern of high quality Douglas Fir is often even in both color and pattern. Planed Douglas Fir seems to glow when a clear oil finish is applied.
Douglas
Fir, although very strong, has an Achilles Heel. It splits very easily along
the grain. It is therefore necessary to design joinery in such a way to
avoid this characteristic. This is seldom a problem for experienced timber
framers. We kiln dry new Douglas Fir before using it in a timber frame.
Kiln drying stabilizes the wood and reduces movement in the timbers and
checking.Although we use both new kiln dried and recycled Douglas Fir, recycled material has its own special characteristics and beauty. In addition to the environmental benefit of using recycle wood, the material is often very dry and stable.
The nail
and bolt holes present often leave character marks that are pleasing evidence
of its previous use. As either new kiln dried or recycled material, Douglas
Fir is one of the more expensive woods on the market. So, if a darker color
and even grain pattern are what you want in a frame, and the budget can
support the added cost, we certainly would encourage the use of recycled
Douglas Fir for your frame. The homes in Argyle
Texas and Nacogdoches were built with recycled
Douglas Fir and each has its own particular character. 
Douglas Fir
Over the years we have used a limited amount of Cypress, mostly for pavilions and porches. High quality Cypress is rot resistant, has a very pleasing color much like Southern Pine but with a more subtle grain pattern. It often has very high moisture content when green. In our experience it shrinks and checks relatively little as it dries. On the down side, high quality Cypress logs are hard to find and are usually quite expensive. They also tend to come from environmentally sensitive areas. Cypress is not a particularly strong wood and prone, more than most woods, to ring shakes (separation of the wood along the annual rings).
If you have a situation that requires a high degree of rot resistance and the structural requirements of the frame are not extreme, you might consider Cypress as a wood for your frame.
Cypress
Yes, we do have access to all these woods and we use them from time to time for accents in a frame. All of these woods check and distort significantly (much like Oak) as they dry and are not available in quantity and quality enough to warrant their use for a complete timber frame. However, each wood has its own beautiful and may be used for splines, wedges and other frame parts that are relatively small but visually interesting.
Recycled Timber
In addition to new material, we also use recycled or salvaged timber. By recycled timber we mean material that has been used at least once in a structure that is now being dismantled. When possible, we will visit the demolition site to select our materials from this "harvest" from the industrial forest. The raw materials come to us for remanufacturing.
Other Choices
Occasionally we have a client who wants something just a bit out of the ordinary. For these people we have access to numerous other species of timber such as Eastern White Pine, Hemlock, Sitka Spruce, Port Orford Cedar and Western Red Cedar. We have even used the local aromatic cedar (actually a Juniper) in a frame. Options are limited only by your imagination.
Recycled Timbers