Shed Workshop Part 2

So with the distraction of the wall gap taken care of it was time to get back to the 6x6 post and beam construction. There will be four panels in this wall section. The two end ones will be 10 foot wide openings where the sliding doors will go. The two center sections will be studded in, insulated and sheathed over. There will be a diagonal brace on two of the posts in the center section. My first thought was to just saw the brace pieces to a 45 and screw it in place with good ol' GRK's. But then what fun would that be? So I decided to mortise and tenon the joint and house them it to boot!


The first step in the process is to layout the tenon. This requires some careful attention to detail and direction. The housing depth will be 1/2". It might be hard to see but the small notch at the bottom right of the layout shows it. There is also a light pencil line just above the bottom cut. This will be the drop down of the tenon and cut later in the process.


Now after making several cuts with the skill saw and (because of its limited depth) finishing the cut to depth with the hand saw it was time to chisel the cheeks of the tenon to a 2" thickness. A width gauge comes in handy for checking the thickness. This allows you to insure the tenon will fit the mortise without having to lift and handle the brace piece. One down 3 to go.


With the tenons cut it was time to move on to the mortises. Lots of chisel work and a new way of thinking. Step one here is to cut the depth of the housing and then layout the location of the tenon, keeping in mind the side of the timber that I wanted the surfaces to match up and be in the same smooth plane for sheathing. This is rough sawn timber and the thickness of the pieces vary a bit. Two inch diameter holes were drilled 4 - 1/4" deep and then squared up with the corner chisel. Then the 45 degree ramp was cut to the bottom. When it is all done it looks like this and you have a new respect for the barn builders that did this many times in the process of building a big barn 100 years ago.


Four hours later, a test fit and some fine tuning and we are good to go. One brace done and one to go. I will be keeping the inside of this wall in the shop exposed as a reminder to the work of the barn builders and their skills. Notice how the housing of the end of the brace provides a positive stop and would multiply the strength of the brace. Although unnecessary for this project I just wanted to try it.


Here you can see one of the 4 panels. The post with its mortise and 15'  2x8 ceiling joists sitting on the wall ledger and top beam.


There was just one more thing to do.  Before assembly I would place a dollar bill and business card in the mortise as a time capsule.  Some day when they tear down this shop to open up the space in the shed for more parking they might find it. Ike, my Amish neighbor would say, "now that the fancy work is done it's time to get back to work Dick"


And that work would be to get the 80 pound 3/4" 4x8 OSB sheets of flooring up onto the ceiling joists. This would require a two step ramping, C-clamp and the scaffolding. This better work because 25 sheets will have to make this trip. Over the next few days as I make my way to the other end of the  shop.


Whala! This sheet clamped in place awaiting a final push to send it over center and laying on the ceiling joists ready to position and nail down. One UP and 24 to go!

Next up? Building and hanging the sliding doors.