I
'm kind of getting into "unplanned building". I want to just start projects, not knowing where they're going, or how exactly I'm going to do them. I like timber framing (I really dislike metals fasteners), but I don't want to plan out a bunch of joints beforehand, cut them all perfectly in an abstract sense, and then assemble the building like it's a model. The alternate tack I'm taking right now is basically just raising a single starting-post, making sure it's plumb in both directions and then securing it so, and just extending the rest of the structure off of that starting point. I'm doing all my joint-work live, sawing into standing posts, and making all my joints lap-joints to accommodate this. To challenge myself, I'm trying hard not to use a tape measure -- basically everything I've done so far in the chicken coop is with a level, a pencil, and a couple saws and axes. It's extremely invigorating, and it's the sort of thing I could imagine getting very good at. I've already made several mistakes that I've had to go back and fix, and I know I won't make them in the future. Hopefully, when it's done it won't look like a complete mess; or if it does, it will be that sort of visually satisfying mess, rather than a repugnant slapdash affair. I want to enter into the no-mind of building, where I'm just living the process, and responding to new ideas and issues in the moment. With any luck, something beautiful or useful will come out of it, but it might take me some years to really develop that skill. Luckily, years I have.