So, this might turn out to be a long thread... long from a time-period standpoint, and long from a lot of posts. (and maybe long from my windedness too! )

I want to build a timber frame shop and house. I can't afford hiring it out. The house I had quoted was $100K just for the frame and SIPs. No slab, no exterior walls. Ouch.

My wife and I love the look of a timber frame. We've set our sights on doing it.

So, what do I need to do it?

Well, a piece of property would help. We have a piece of property, bought pretty quickly a year ago when we saw it, but the acreage community that it belongs to, unfortunately, has been bestowed with the highest property tax in the county, and, the houses (2 of the 17 lots) that have been built so far, look like typical "subdivision" homes. Not a lot of "country" character. We bought "in the country" for that country "look and feel", but that ain't happening where we bought. The good news is that the property has gone up about 15-20% since we bought it. Just under 3.5 acres in Washington County, Texas.

Next, some way to move and shape logs. No tractor, but I do have a pickup and a 16' trailer. And an electric winch for it. A couple chainsaws. I bought a Prazi beam saw attachment for my Skil Worm saw here a while back too. I've been eyeing a LOGRITE.com forwarding arch. Not ready to bite that bullet yet - or make one myself. Timber framing tools. Gave the wife a hint and a John Neeman price list. Birthday is November. We'll see if it stuck.

Bandsaw mill. I actually had the day off from work today, and drove 370 miles round trip to go see a demo of a Logmaster LM1 mill. Nice folks. Nice mill. The one I spec'ed out would be about $10.5K. Note to self: buy a lotto ticket. I've also been eyeing Danny's mill (Hi Danny) that's for sale in the classifieds. No place to store it now. Looks like a good deal.

Time and help. My dad is retired, 72, and is an ox. He could help. But he's also a freight train when it comes to getting things done. He doesn't stop to necessarily do it right - but that's what I've observed him do on his projects. Love ya dad.

Plans. I've started them, but I've never designed this type of structure before, but I'm willing to learn. Had I to do it over again, I would go to college and get a mechanical engineering degree, and structural, and civil, and electrical, and business finance. But alas, approaching 50, that ain't going to happen. I'm a high school graduate and proud of it.

I'll post some sketchup tinkerings later for my shop plans. I'm planning about 1600 square feet and then a loft for storage and maybe temp living quarters upstairs too.

Here we go.....

Todd