This isn't handgun related, but I'm posting anyway!

This is my timber frame home that I have been patiently cutting one piece at a time for the last 18 months. 165 pieces in all and it went together with only one minor hitch that we were able to fix on the fly. I, along with the help of few Amish guys, assembled and raised the frame last week. What a relief to finally get to this point!

That's awesome Stush. Congratulations you should be very proud. I'm sure you can't wait to get it under roof. I went to Home Depot today and bought a few sticks to screw together for a table.

That's some serious lumber, not a 2 x 4 in the bunch. Bet that house will last for several generations. Congratulations, and keep us posted on your progress.

You fellas oughta seel that shack in person!! It's an awesome project!!

Congrats Stush.
It looks like a dream come true thru lots of work & sweat.

Stush,
Good looking stucture. What type of lumber did you use? What's the nearest town. I'm from SW, Pa. also.
Ed

Fine looking work there!! Looks like a good sized house to. Keep us updated as you go.

Which room upstairs is going to be the trophy/reloading/gun room??? If I ever build a house that will be a room that gets careful consideration and planning.

You guys are correct, there is not a 2X4 in the whole project. The smallest pieces, the roof purlins are 6X6s. The largest pieces, the main tie beams, are 8x16s! All of the wood is white pine. It was chosen because of its strength, dimensional stability and relative light weight.

Ed,

My address is Saltsburg, and that is the nearest town that you are likely to find on a map. If you want to take a look at the building first hand, there are driving directions for my business on my website. Feel free to stop by anytime.

My realoading room is currently in the basement furnace room and will probably relocate to the room that I am sitting in now once the upstairs is finished.

Thanks to all for the kind words. This was a major undertaking, and I am thrilled to be at this point!

Stan, Very nice and I'm jealous. That is what my wife and I always wanted to do. Build a loghome. Maybe now that the kids are grown it will be a reality. Again, congratulations.

Tell us about the rest of the construction Stush.
Will you now go to a standard stud system for a frame work to put your sheeting on etc.?

The frame will be enclosed with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). They are two sheet of OSB bonded to a polyurethane core and have integral wiring chases. The panels are interlocking and provide an R value of 26 in a standard 4.5" wall - much better than a standard 2X4 studwall and fibrglass batts. My panels are coming from a company called Murus (www.murus.com) here in PA, but there are many places around the country that manufacture these types of panels. The panels thamselves are structural elements and can be used to build in place of standard "stick built" construction without using a timberframe. Very interesting product.

I do believe I saw them building with those panels on "This Old House" a couple of weeks ago. Looked like an interesting & very "user friendly" concept. They were even using them to put a second story floor in an old barn. how do they compare price wise per sf of wall with standard stick construction?

Price is very competitive when you figure the cost of sheathing and insulating a regular stud wall. There are some drawbacks though. The panel is 4.5" thick. When you add your drywall or blueboard to the interior, you have a 5" wall. That mean that all of your jambs have to be extended if you use a standard door or window.