How to Cut Rafters FAST

If you've never seen production roof cutting (gang cutting) please check out Will Holladay's website theroofcutter.b.... I read Will's book as soon as it came out and was blown away by his techniques for increasing production. With some practice this gets fast and is very accurate.
If you decide to try gang cutting, use a good sharp chisel tooth chain and the Headcutter from Big Foot Tools (www.bigfootsaws....
The 2 most common knee jerk responses to this are:
1) Chainsaws aren't accurate enough. This is totally false. My rebuttal is cut a batch of rafters 1 at a time and then rack them and notice the differences.
2) It takes longer to set up than to just cut 1 at a time. "False"-Dwight Shrute As you can see the rafters only get handled to rack them, and even cutting the tails and stacking them off to the side is faster than handling a pattern and marking that pattern times the number of rafters. The more rafters you need to cut, the more time is saved.
Production comes from economy of movement and sometimes speed of movement.
Thanks for watching.
Please remember, I’m not showing the best way of doing something, just what works well for us.
Oh if you use a drone for commercial work, you need to be part107 certified. Commercial work includes social media like KZbin if you plan to make an income off of that. I watched a video about this last May and then purchased the Part 107 Course sso.teachable.... I studied and learned for 1 month and then took my test. I scored a 95%, which is a testament to how good Greg and the crew over there teach. That link will save you $100 off the course and support this channel.
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#building #construction #framing

[@ralphpomm4943]

I was a framer back in the 90,s. I've never seen such a thing. I would love to shadow this guy for a summer. I could learn so much👍🏼. Great video

[@AwesomeFramers]

You should check out theroofcutter.blogspot.com/ so cool!

[@Okitch]

@@AwesomeFramers 11qà

[@joehalliday4989]

Nice work my friend I used to build them myself there's nothing better than a tight cut on every aspect of a home and not only that the homeowners love it when they come by and look at it great work

[@barnetcoll8]

Love it. I have been a framer for 38 years thinking out of the box is fun. Great way to cut rafters and quick. Great job

[@1diggitech]

"Thinking out the box"👍.When things don't follow "protocol" 💪💪

[@chasjacks9378]

Framed for 38 years retired and at home watching framing videos. Man get a life.

[@TheDadx3]

I agree! A conscientiously well-framed house where everything is cut tight, plumb, and perpindicular is beautiful! Superior work is all the advertisement you need!

[@williamlocke1895]

I wish i could work with a crew like yours would learn so much !! Awsome videos like always.

[@AwesomeFramers]

Thanks!

[@rossbuchanan7632]

Blown away. Never seen that done here in Britain. I'm fast, but that is amazing

[@travoltasbiplane1551]

Agreed. This dude would absolutely kill it on price work.

[@jennifurzoe1302]

Its always top notch with this crew and the getalongness with humor makes it such a gooderer day.

[@austindorf83]

The goodest

[@jennifurzoe1302]

@@austindorf83 bestestist

[@chuckkillawood8229]

First of all, the is nothing prettier than a perfect hand cut roof, properly aligned and trimmed, right before the decking goes on. To bad our roofs are just to cut, up for gang cuts. Anyway keep up the good work. # "The Great American Craftsman"

[@chuckkillawood8229]

If you can't read, then i'm sorry for you. But here it goes anyway, the guy commented on how pretty that roof looked, all aligned up and cut correct, I merely agreed in my own way, as an old framer I always loved it when the roof was done and trim installed, when a roof is cut and hung properly, it is the best advertisement of your skill, for others to see, part #2 I rarely get the opportunity to frame a single ridge structure, however when I do, I employ this method, to often the houses we build have to many ridges, which makes gang cutting impractical. #3 I paused the video and examined the rest of his frame job, walls etc. That is why I said keep up the good work. GOOD AMERICAN CRAFTSMEN, are becoming few and far between, when we see someone promoting the craft in this way we must encourage him to continue. I am happy to have enlighten you, reach out if you need anymore clarification. CHUCK.

[@chichidouglas5078]

@@chuckkillawood8229 I appreciate the sarcasm. There's not enough of it in the world anymore

[@benjaminhowell4164]

@Ken )llllll)l)llll

[@benjaminhowell4164]

@Ken ppl

[@yurihill4168]

Very impressed, I’ve been told about this method, nice to see it done. No doubt faster and probably less opportunity for errors. I think I’m going to follow u guys

[@kbanpball]

These videos are awesome to watch. I could nerd out on this all day. Would love to learn this trade.

[@commonsense7877]

Easy trade to get into.

[@chuckd9007]

We're hiring.

[@bradleyhayslip468]

you sir are one smart man!!! I have framed homes since 97 .never seen anything like that .

[@michaelgarrow3239]

Roof cutter since the 70’s. I used the swing table for years then got a dado saw and never went back. You would probably have to have one made these days.

[@CarlosSanchez-bg4wf]

Been framing since early 80's. But to each his own. Nice work

[@ArtByCater]

Impressive! I’ve never seen that done with a chainsaw before, nice! Thanks Chuck

[@thomasschafer7268]

Old stuff in germany for 25 years

[@chuckd9007]

If youre cutting lumber for framing with a chainsaw youre a hack.

[@brianrussell1565]

Best construction tool I seen yet

[@flyinpolack6633]

i was skeptical before the video, but you nailed it.

[@jemalwright3414]

Awesome! A STIHL with a plate to cut rafters. Your tool arsenal is sick!!!!

[@Bigelite094]

You seen the Mafell notching saw? I've been wanting to watch a gang cut birds mouth and fitted with it. Loved reading Larry Haun explain Gang cutting and batch cutting what an ingenious maniac he was.

[@AwesomeFramers]

I've read that saw is slow. But I don't know.

[@bobbyj0708]

You had me at "You have to invest in the tools". I love tools!

[@stephenharvey5289]

I find this excellent. I built trailer, and clapped all my cuts together like you did. They all go together the same.

[@ElToro1954]

This guy is a process optimizer...a badass!!! Thumbs up dude!!! This is how you make your life easier..by using your head and not your muscles. Lol

[@republicansthatdidntvotefo1605]

I am a Union Electrician.. We have nothing on you carpenters.. I love watching these videos, Masters at work..

[@steveswan5714]

How did i get here 🤔 i talked to my wife about Building a 8' x 12' shed in the back garden and "someone" was listening 😱😂 nice work bro 👍 could you take a week holiday in the Scottish islands and bring your tools 😂

[@AwesomeFramers]

absolutely, but you have to promise decent enough weather so I can capture some epic sunsets :-)

[@steveswan5714]

@@AwesomeFramers 😂 not this day 😫🌧🌧🌧 summer was last Tuesday 😂👍

[@Notesens]

I think i will start doing it like this. Up until now ive layed as many boards as i can flat, marking them with my template & cutting. Rinse & repeat. Honestly, this looks like less body movements. Plus you only have to mark and cut once and you remove user error. Im a big fan. Ill just make sure to measure thrice

[@thetallcarpenter]

Roof looks fantastic, and I enjoyed watching you gang cut all those rafters🤩 (its so cool that you got Ryan Reynolds to narrate the video as well😝) Cheers

[@AwesomeFramers]

Ryan and I go way back to 2 Guys a Girl and a Pizza place :-)

[@thetallcarpenter]

@@AwesomeFramers Sorry man, you must have heard that a thousand times🤔 Great videos mate😎

[@benh1216]

Great to see you here TC! 😀

[@thetallcarpenter]

@@benh1216 Hi Ben. I got this video suggested to me and I think this guy is really cool😎 Cheers Del

[@benh1216]

@@thetallcarpenter Yeah same here! Love the bit of banter in your first comment 😂

[@fredxoxo8673]

Nice sunny September day? Where the hell did August go?

[@AwesomeFramers]

Last September :-)

[@rooster82471]

You guys are top notch! Thank you for the amazing content!

[@aldoogie824]

when are you coming over?! We need you here pronto

[@renderwood]

Bro Perkins suggested this channel. You do have some nifty tricks!

[@Wizalker]

Not bad 👍We make a small tail pattern with wall line mark and birds mouth cut out and a small plumb cut pattern for the ridge. Set crown up on horses that are made from precuts line up the plumb cut edge with a square pull a tape down to the wall line mark on each side of the stack connect the lines with a framing square lay rafters flat and cut out. Cut a roof in no time 👍

[@Bwbravowhiskey]

Have you tried the Makita cordless chainsaws for gang cutting? I wonder if they would actually be able to compete with gas power.

[@thesicknessmademedoit5020]

That's a great idea for a video. There are gas powered makita chainsaws too. Wonder how they compare

[@trulyhappy8855]

This is what I’m talking about. Maximizing productivity. How much can you accomplish without running all day, how can the tools around you help you accomplish high quality work in the most efficient ways? May I ask who or where you learned the trade?

[@FrenchConnectie]

Bruh!! You are the man! Gave me a couple of good ideas... Thanks! And yeah... That was square!

[@briansheedy5779]

Have you ever used the Prazi beam cutter?? It’s a chainsaw blade attachment for a worm drive. I’m curious if you know if it’s any good?

[@dixiekayaker805]

Prazi has been around a long time. Does what it claims to. I was gang cutting rafters in 1979 in Louisiana for a big tract builder. I usually cut three houses worth of rafters a day in a dedicated cut lot. Id get plans, do the layout and go to town. I had several saws available and I would set them to the angle of the notch cut. Boring being in the same place every day.

[@hampyonce]

You are a building scientist. Love these videos!

[@anthonyfejeran1891]

I picture Ryan Reynolds when I hear your voice lol. No offense intended. Excellent video btw. Very informative and helpful.

[@paulmcgrath3882]

Wade Wilson? Why is deadpool in the framing business 😂 Especially at the end, all I can hear is chimichanga’s , awesome job

[@kennelson5096]

That is some nice work. Nice looking b lumber too. Back in the day I watched my boss measure twice and cut once an entire floor system of wood I beams this way. He should have measured three times. He cut them all three inches short. Oops.

[@10gallonhat76]

He was just leaving room for 2x girders on each end. Now that's planning.

[@nobleroofinggeneralcontrac7961]

Awesome work for sure. I would not even have a clue on how the math/layout works for the rafters to be tied to the beam.

[@rexolrexol7893]

Do you mean the length of the Rafters If you do . Take the span of the Building and look it up in a book and it will give you the length of the Rafter to the center of the ridge if there is a one.. if there is a ridge deduct the with usually 1 1/2 and look up that span

[@johnbennett4413]

Nice work as always…thank you

[@mpenrod]

Funny seeing Shane again. Great video. I wish the majority of our work wasn't on old buildings where we could utilize these time saving tactics.

[@T.E.P..]

Ah, sometimes I grow so tired But I know I've got one thing I got to do Ramble on!!!!

[@user-vf6fp8dr8c]

So what are the measurements and dimensions of that roof being work??

[@Natedoc808]

Love the skylight up in that roof. Our upcoming build is going to have several, because nothing beats a naturally well lit home

[@chuckd9007]

I hope your house has a nice steep roof pitch, is in a warm climate and not too much rain.

[@Natedoc808]

@@chuckd9007 lol, Georgia. 4/12 roof. Our skylights don’t leak. We frame them out of 2x6 above roof surface (curb type) metal flashing with Prosoco over it, Skylight mounts over exterior of the curb and the flashing. We have never had em leak even on a 2/12 pitch in hawaii

[@chuckd9007]

@@Natedoc808i have 30 years of building experince and the only skylights that dont leak eventually are on steeper roofs in warm climates.

[@Natedoc808]

@@chuckd9007 my dads been a roofer since 78, never had one leak, including one on a 2/12 section at my grandparents house. Before liquid flashing like Prosoco he would fire up his kettle and do a little hot mop around the 2x6 curbing. Also roofing contractor were “Roofing and Sheetmetal” back then so they bent and cut all their own flashing. Any roof can eventually leak if it simply wears out and gets old so I wouldn’t fault a skylight if the roof is shot, however now with liquid flashing there’s no excuse other than poor craftsmanship. Sorry you haven’t had a good experience

[@chuckd9007]

@@Natedoc808 my only bad experience is having to take them out and re roof because the previous builder put them in. I wont install them on anything less 12/12 and i tell people that in the cold climate we live in the thing will leak eventually, up here ice builds up above skylight from the high temperatures inside the house and the extreme cold outside and we all know what happens with ice dams right, the ice has a way of working its way past the sealer and around the flashing. Over time the ice will make a larger and larger path and eventually water can get in.

[@patrickwendling6759]

Thank you for your knowledge and video's USA 🇺🇸

[@rjhcarpentryandjoinery]

You'd make a pretty good teacher at this... just saying as a teacher going into carpentry!!

[@hobbitronicfunk]

Wonder how I could move from IT into doing this, this is an awesome job

[@mariampetrossian5855]

What size are the notches on those blocking? And, how high are the rafter above ridge beam? Impressive frame work.

[@henryware9440]

Questions please? With rafter on 24" centers what thickness roof sheeting do you use? Also, how will the rafters be insulated and to what R-value? TIA.

[@AndrewHaney]

One of the last shots shows notches in the ridge beam. Are those for ventilation?

[@norman1826]

F....... briliant bro ..I've learned something new and worthy 👍

[@darrellhoekstra8514]

I bought the small table to go with my small saw, but the handle on the XL looks great, might need to buy a bigger saw to go with a bigger table :) great content Tim.

[@AwesomeFramers]

I wonder with a stubby bar if the smaller Headcutter would be good for seat cuts?

[@darrellhoekstra8514]

light-bulb moment here at the end. letting the direction of the bevel relative to the guide dictate top of bar vs bottom of bar is a gamechanger.

[@darrellhoekstra8514]

I think it would work, I've cut with the end of the bar buried before, obviously a riskier cut but wasn't hard to control.

[@RobChapala]

Precut and install soffit on the ground!? You magician..

[@dustchip8060]

Larry would be proud of you!

[@markirish7599]

Larry haun would approve 👌

[@chrisdavidson4759]

Dude I thought Ryan Reynolds was narrating your video lol.

[@AwesomeFramers]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 He says thank you

[@murraysheppard1153]

Love watching a pro

[@grahamburrows7570]

That is some gorgeous work! Much respect

[@Warren3carpentry]

It's great to lean different techniques, thanks!

[@marine9583]

Ok. I've framed with the best of them. I can pick this apart. For starters, there's no way near enough temporary bracing on your walls. Telks me two things; the walls are likely not straight or even plumb, and when you walk on them to install the rafters, they shake. Then you lock them in permanently like that with the rafters, and then wonder why the drywaller and cabinet installers complain. Two, all the steps it took to prep for those rafter cuts with those big fancy saws, could have been done in a third of the time with a 7 1/4" circular saw, on the lumber stack or horses in the front or back yard. Cut a patter, install your butting blocks so you dont need a second guy, and your set. When you carry them to their spot, they are actually a little lighter. Also, snap a chalk line and cut the tails afterwards. Let the scraps fall where they fall outside, pick them up for firewood afterwards. With most lumber, there are sometimes 1/2" to 5/8" difference in depth. I've seen 2x12's at 11" and up to 11 5/8". So unless you are also taking the step of running these beasts through a table saw, cutting the seat cut with your fancy saw like you did agai st a 2x4 guide block can make that cut vary enough to make rafter longer or shorter in just one cut. On a lighter note, I suppose this would work ok on maybe a lig cabin. Besides for that, I would assume either the a cathedral ceiling or the roof would show a random high or low rafter here and there. Let me hear your replies.

[@AwesomeFramers]

Let me address a couple of your comments for the sake of those who will read these comments. 1) Since the exterior soffits are installed on the outside of the wall, we have a 16" strong back to keep the wall straight. Additionally, I run braces as needed work around. We don't walk walls. 2) As far as how fast you are at cutting, if you haven't cut rafters, your time savings is only a guess 3) I don't need to do any tail cutting in the air because the soffits are already installed. 4) cathedral ceilings are flat because by racking them I can remove the ugly rafters. 5) Gang cutting isn't for everyone. But I handled the material less total than using a pattern rafter. That pattern alone is going to be handled x the number of rafters, plus each rafter has to get moved onto and off of the sawhorses. Dragging them onto the racks is easier work for me than putting them on sawhorses. 6) I appreciate your comments because they reflect someone who is open to discuss and not just here to prove how cool they are. We all get better with constructive (pun intended) criticism. theroofcutter.blogspot.com/

[@hankclingingsmith8707]

FANTASTIC, WE BEEN DOING THIS IN CALIFORNIA FOR 55 YEARS.

[@NortheastFrameGang]

Good stuff....in my day it was the Prazi

[@domenicaldi3957]

Looks good. Most carpenter dont care anymore about their work

[@obieplayz5255]

And theirs me using a festool HKC with a fsk track that's smart

[@joeturbo64]

Excellent video excellent 👏

[@davedavis662]

Thing of beauty!

[@stevearttus8164]

I have no doubt this would be faster than cutting one at a time. But not all of us have all of these specialty saws and tool accessories to pull to off. I imagine the tool costs would certainly be justified in time savings. Part of my own issue is that I like the smoother cut and finish of a circular saw and the chain saw cut just seems too imprecise to me. Maybe I'm wrong.

[@michaelt5082]

nice work!

[@godbluffvdgg]

Gang cut...We don't get must opportunity to do that these days...Trusses are the technique de jour...That's how we did it in the 80's... We had a 16 5/16 saw (makita)...It was lighter than a 10 inch Worm drive!...:)

[@petervendetti2796]

Nice job

[@lasef247]

Dude you sound like Ryan Reynolds! You got mad skills 👍

[@imtypingwords]

What was the attachment you had on your chainsaw called?

[@hpw59]

Great video and explanation of gang cutting. Usually laminated beams have a built in crown.....do you run your rafters straight or follow the crown of the laminated beam?

[@AwesomeFramers]

Good question, I run them straight through, but only after sighting the beam.

[@rorschacht8478]

Is that black chalk in your snap line!? Never seen it before, i need it.

[@AwesomeFramers]

Yep, and it will last through rain and snow. You can buy it online or at any big box store.

[@CybekCusal]

Glad to see you over frame. I can't stand when the trusses don't land on studs.

[@EricJacobson1990]

Nice

[@aaaaaaaaaa697]

Sweet job fellas! Ballpark, what kind of time savings do you think you achieve this way. I know you say it’s faster, by how much do you think! Love the channel! Thanks!

[@AwesomeFramers]

I would say it takes half the time or less. I'm hoping to time the next one both ways since we have two gables nearly identical running front to back.

[@henrinaths1]

For us non carpenters the terminology needs to be dumbed downed a bit. Lol But aside from that perfect! Love the concept; been working in that manner with steel all my life. It’s a little nerve wracking at the beginning making sure no mistakes will pop up later but the rewards are exhilarating just knowing gang cutting and prefabing is so much easier and faster. Built the floor wall and prefabed the roof on the floor for this building once. Had the crane pick the roof straight up and popped the walls up underneath and lowered the roof. Boom done ! Took One person to prefab Two on assembly and install and one crane op.

[@wadepowell7879]

You guys are a hoot!

[@thomasbrown9402]

Why don't you use a guide when you use the beam saws for the bird's mouth cuts?

[@AwesomeFramers]

very good question. It doesn't work. Because the material is irregular the blade will pinch badly. I have tried it may times, finally gave up and just free hand it.

[@pedroprado92]

Me gusta el estilaso del carpintero bien coloresco, me recuerda la pastorela de mi rancho.hahaha saludos Raza

[@joshuaburke4777]

I beg to differ, I’ve logged for pretty decent amount of time limbing and topping and hand falling cottonwood and black walnut. Never once have I had a saw push out from using the bottom of the bar. The saw will want to pull you through the cut. You use the top of the bar and it will always want to push you back. I’ve started cuts with the bottom of the bar and just held onto the throttle and nothing else and have the saw do all the work.

[@AwesomeFramers]

I appreciate your experience. Have you tried this? Try it one time and you'll see that cutting the ridge cuts with the top of the bar pulls the saw. Cutting the tail cuts (opposite) with the top of the bar it has a tendency to climb out. I think its just something to do with the baseplate and angle. Of the 10 guys I've worked with who've run the saw and disagreed with me (2 were sons of loggers) at first, they quickly realized. BTW, if you have any chainsaw tips, please post them. That's not something I'm an expert on 👍

[@joshuaburke4777]

Not a whole lot of tricks I can tell ya, you are already wearing all your PPE and have respect for the saw so cut safely. As long as your saw is sharp and your rakers are filed correctly then there should be no problem. The rakers tell your tooth how much to bite. File them down to preference. Start with one swipe of a flat file on a brand new chain and if the saw doesn’t pull how you desire take another swipe after four or five sharpens. If you take too much then your saw will want to hop through the cut and it becomes fairly tiresome. And for the size of bar/ chain you are using you can either file with 7/32 or 13/64. I limbed and topped with 7/32 and filed my rakers way down to pull through limbs and tops faster. For bore cutting (plunging bar straight into tree) I used 13/64. It was just a finer smoother cut and didn’t buck as much as you plunge the tip of the bar straight into a tree

[@trulyhappy8855]

Beautiful clean job site.

[@matthewrivera5484]

Larry Haun would be proud

[@UGPepe]

Larry Haun probably wouldn't need to use 3 separate power tools and a $250 gig to do this

[@matthewrivera5484]

@@UGPepeLarry Haun had a dad blade big foot and a chainsaw that he used . He talks about them in his book. I bet he absolutely would have used these tools if they were as readily available then as they are now.

[@christophermalloy2]

High praise

[@chris0123]

Wow!! Ty!

[@erikcable1755]

on a side note..i missed the saw horse build...need that show...

[@Cpt_Adama]

Why not nail fences for the birds mouth cuts too?

[@ChromedOutDubs]

How do you stick frame a rafter roof that has a dual pitch slope on one side of the ridge? Like its 9:12 on one side of the ridge beam, then on the other side its 9:12 for say 10' then changes pitch to 4:12. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[@thesicknessmademedoit5020]

Google it

[@michaelfisher7835]

Impressive.

[@T.E.P.]

kickin butt with these vids .... superb!

[@robertgonzalez8419]

Awesome I would follow your lead, be safe God bless

[@charlesviner1565]

Very cool

[@clint351mx]

Ever use a dado to gang cut the bird mouths? My old man has a giant old dado saw and it is completely terrifying...

[@freebird7284]

nice, another happy new sub!

[@johnryan8859]

I'd hire awesome framers cause tim is so awesome Problem is it would take him more than a hr to fly to my job😂

[@delas7389]

Amazing…. Thanks for sharing

[@XredactedX]

Nice martinez..its all i use now. Way better than stiletto

[@timbarry5080]

Awesome.

[@wadebarret100]

Nice work Tim! Do you think this technique will work for stair stringers? I’ll have a project with 16 stairs

[@bertbergers9171]

Check out one of the stair videos of essential craftsman on the ...... house project. He uses a chainsaw on rafters, i am not sure if he copied his stair stringers from a pattern (he is scary confident with his skillsaw) or gang cut them with a chain saw also.

[@REDCLAYHOMESTEAD]

As a noncarpenter this scares the crap out of me. With my luck I'd mis measure and have 24 miscut boards