Time flies

Wow!

where has this week gone? We've been busy. Both on the site and off. I do encourage you to check out the blog on the Timber Framers Guild website tfguild.org, since we do have a dedicated blogger here.

The crew is split between two lodging locations on two sides of a river. The walk between them is about a 25 Minute walk. 20 at a brisk pace. We are certainly not the only ones on the side walks, 'per pedes' being a common mode of transport in Poland. In this very summery weather one can see young and old couples going for walks along the river in what conjures up the the old fashioned term 'to go a courtin'.

So in an effort to foster cohesion in the group there are talks and presentations, even discussions scheduled in the evenings. They take place in a hot and stuffy dining room at the hotel 'Dom Touristy' on the town side of the water. Talks have been from visiting scholars and craftsmen from Prague, representatives of the museum in Warsaw, whom we are building this roof for, but also and most importantly from the members of the crew and student body.

It turns out that we have many young, very talented craftsmen, that have finished top of their class in Denmark, Japan and Germany, so we've discussed the merits of the different training systems, philosophies and attitudes. The TF Guild is working on establishing it's own apprenticeship, so there are several other crew members involved in that. Enough right there to fill several evenings.

The Czech carpenter gave us a very valuable demonstration in how to uses axes to cut joinery, which has led to much more bold attempts by us to do the same. And it works! Axes are amazing tools. Simple yet seemingly infinitely variable and versatile. Subtle changes to shapes and bevels make them ideal for one thing and next to useless for another. In the same measure their use requires a an approach of keen observation and subtle adjustments to make them effective. And then there is repetition to the point of muscle memory, for which we have ample opportunity.

He narrated his demonstration in a challenging mix of English and German that I had to translate for the group. He followed it up with a slide show of earlier projects in the evening. These included a pile driver modeled after Renaissance drawings, and a geometrical study of the tower on the Karls bridge in Prague, revealing that it was about six feet taller originally. He also described in a fascinating forensic and archeological analysis of that same frame, how he thinks the very challenging raising happened. Wonderful eye opening stuff.

But let me add some pictures and I'll write more later.