A small hand tool project

[william sympson]

I haven't posted in quite a while since I've been working on this project but have tried to read on occassion. I decided to post it here since it was 99.9% handtool work. It is all M&T construction. An excellent learning experience but I am glad the heavy lifting is done for phase 1. I have only a few things to finish on the railing infill, hanging the curtains. Phase 2 will have a walkway off to a second deck around the corner.

The framing is all treated SYP. The decking is white oak boxing off of an old tobacco barn that was skipped planed and face nailed. I used a water repellent mix recipe from Forest Products Lab as a finish: BLO, mineral spirits, and paraffin wax.




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[Moses Yoder]

I would be very interested in the finish recipe, maybe a link to it if you have it. Nice work.

[Patrick Bernardo]

William, that's awesome! I love the arched supports underneath. When I was in HS and College, I worked construction, and we built a ton of decks. I like the work we did, but your attention to detail here is outstanding. I'd love to see in progress pictures. Also, more information on finishing would be appreciated, and when you're finally done, post it here!

How was it working treated SYP with hand tools? In my very limited experience, the wood has been sopping wet, and splintery. Did you let the lumber dry for a long time?

[Jim Matthews]

Will you install a Pergola over the top for shade?

The bent braces are slick.
Kudos

PS - This is only a "small" project if you're an Egyptian architect.

[george wilson]

I like the way the top beams crisscross with decorative ends.

[william sympson]

Thanks for the compliments. I've been a student of this forum and learning from others for over year now.

For the finish, google: FPLRN 046. I didn't use the stain portion of the recipe or the other additives. The stain, if needed, is recommended to come after a year of weathering to help with uniform penetration.

Working treated SYP wasn't fun but a good experience on using hand tools, reading wood, truing stock, and what areas not to work! A properly set cap iron helped immensely with tearout and buying a PMV11 plane iron to replace a W1 iron greatly reduced trips to the stone. A fellow creeker allowed me to use his bandsaw to cut the brace curves - i didn't have a saw that could it.

I didn't dry it purposely, but i moved slowly (first lumber delivery was mid-june of this year) so it lost some moisture in the garage (i mean shop). I started on the 16' posts first and that took a while. I used the idea of MS & paraffin wax to come up with an end grain sealer to prevent/slow follow on twisting and checking; I heated the BLO & MS in a water bath outside and melted in paraffin until near saturation - such that it turned cloudy once it cooled to ambient temps. Then warm it up and rub it into all end grain/knots after i cut M&T joinery. Once the MS evaporated, the end grain had a wax coating that had soaked in a ways...it seemed to work pretty well.

I have mostly read the book "By hand & eye", so i tried to use proportions - the curved braces, headers, and the decorative ends being an example. No pergola for now - family voted that idea down, a "shade sail" like LV had this year is likely in the future.

I don't have many progress pics of joinery but a few of erection day and after thanks to family.
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[Pat Barry]

I like the design and the details you put in to the beams. Thanks for posting the additional pictures. I'm curious how the finish will hold up over time with sun exposure and also whether it will be slippery after a rain.

[Jim Koepke]

Very nice work.

I am curious about the joinery of the top rails at the corner.

jtk

[william sympson]

Pat, the finish is not slick when wet. As to the sun, I believe that's why FPL's recipe has a stain included - that stain functions like sun screen.

Jim, I found a pictures taken by the family just before assembly that shows what I did for the corner post joints. The beam tenons overlap - one went high and the other low to pass by each other.
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[Tony Shea]

I guess your definition of small and most others definition is slightly different. I expected to open up to a little box sized to fit a wedding ring or something of the like, not a deck that will sit a whole family and their pets.

As others said wonderful design and execution. It is great to see the whole family involved.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Very neat work all around. I really like the curved braces.

[David Weaver]

Nice work, william. I agree with the other comments about the curved braces and the end detail where the timber is tied together at the top. It sets the work apart as not just someone cutting boards on a chop saw and screwing them in place.

[william sympson]

All,
Thanks for the compliments. It was a great project to bring us together to accomplish something usable and enjoyable by all. I definitely didn't want the "typical" deck - hence this design. With the family's help, we were able to get the curtains made and hung, and the railing infill (1/2" black iron pipe) completed...just in time to be almost too late given our weather the last week or so. Hopefully, we'll get some more deck time before old man winter arrives. Next project, is converting that 20' long, 3" thick, 24" wide laminated maple slab (a former shuffleboard table seen in the other photo sitting on sawhorses) into a proper workbench and some counter tops. I have a bench in mind like the Moravian style bench that Will Myers has featured on wkfinetools site, solid and yet easily knocked down to move.

R/
William

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[Bill McDermott]

William, Thanks for sharing this. You have added many small details that combine to create a wonderful totality, without getting busy or distracting at all. Really, the design work is great. I'll pile on with regard to the excellent execution as well. It would be most interesting to see a shot after a few years of weather. I bet that baby is going to age VERY gracefully and ease into latter life with poise and style. Kudos.