Yogan’s Gazebo? Arbor? Little Barn? Playground?

So Hello Lloyd. Here is my last creation. A gazebo? An arbor? A little barn? A playground? (I don’t know the name in English for a small timber frame like this!)

It’s a timber frame type king post truss and hammer arch truss — mixed! I made it by cutting the trees, and then using a portable Woodmizer sawmill. I used only chestnut trees because they are so easy to work with — it’s my favorite wood.

For making the curved pieces, I sawed two sides with the sawmill, then the curved faces with a beautiful old 1947 Guillet bandsaw. Next, I drew the axis of my frame with a chalkline and defined the top and the visual sides. Then I traced the axis and levels of my frame on the floor of the workshop with a chalkline, pencil and colored chalk. I placed the pieces on the lines and with a carpenter’s plumb bob (flat and empty in the middle), I drew the assemblages — this is called piquage.

When all the wood was traced, I  machined and cut the pieces — the tenons with circular and hand saws, drill, and chisels, and my mortises with a special mortise-machine. Then I made a mise à blanc (dry run), then the finishing touches, the sculptures. I planed the wood’s edges with a draw knife and used lime and water to create a beautiful brown old-style color.

Now to erect it! For the heaviest beams, we used a long aluminum ladder with a system of four pulleys and rope.

This structure is in “Layotte,” a high-quality restaurant in southwest France, where I made two other structures in the same style. The first one 18 years ago with a twisted roof — 12 meters long, 2.5 meters on one side and 5 meters on the other, so the roof is totally curvy! The table too has a trapezoidal shape, that makes a strange vision! You are welcome to eat in my country!

–Yogan
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