Tag: mass timber

Interview: Cornerstone’s CNC Team

Posted on by Gary Snider
Photo of Jake, Mattheus, Derek
Curious, detail-oriented, problem-solvers!

Background:

Cornerstone Timberframes is continuously learning. As a company, this means we’re always on the lookout for better information, methods, and tools.  Our transition towards CNC (computer numeric control), which allows a computer model to guide the cutting of timbers directly, began in 2017 with the acquisition of a used Hundegger K2. We were so impressed with the speed and accuracy of that unit that we upgraded to the latest and best in 2020, a Hundegger K2 Industry with Robot Drive.

I recently sat down with Cornerstone Timberframes’ CNC Team to talk about their work.  

Are there skills and interests that you, as CNC operators, share that make you well-suited for the work? 

Derek: Being comfortable working with computers is essential. Attention to detail is also key because small things, like decimal points, can have a big impact on the result.

Jake: We’re all mechanically inclined, and we love knowing how things work. We’re curious and want to know why something happens the way it does.

Matheus: Problem-solving is big. New joinery details will routinely cause error codes and you have to solve them. Figuring stuff out is an everyday part of the job.

Is there any aspect of your work with the K2i that you found surprising?

Derek: The CNC does what you tell it to do and that’s determined by the operator and software. Perhaps one aspect that might surprise someone not doing our work is that the software that runs this machine is constantly being updated.  Software updates will solve an issue, but in some cases will introduce a new issue. That happened this past week when an update caused the big 800mm saw to keep spinning after it was done with a cut, which it shouldn’t do. Thankfully, the technicians at Hundegger respond fast, and we get these types of issues resolved quickly.

Mattheus: What I found surprising is this big machine’s ability to cut fine, delicate details. A great example of this is the little trophies we made for a fun competition. We cut them from maple ,and the four corner posts are just 3mm thick. I was expecting these to break, but the machine is incredibly controlled and accurate.

Powerful but delicate, the K2i is superb at executing fine details!

How important is maintenance in your work?

Jake: It’s critical. Every morning, all working surfaces inside the machine are cleaned. The CNC spindle and robot drive are lubricated with specific oils. At the same time, any replacement blades and tools are also installed.  Before regular operation begins, a timber is run through with cutting instructions that test the K2i’s many operations to ensure that tools are cutting accurately and cleanly. 

Daily tests show that tools are sharp and operating properly.

Does the CNC do everything well, or are there details that are difficult for it to cut?

Mattheus: We have a current job that has lots of round columns, and the CNC has trouble seeing and handling rounds. So we “trick it” into seeing these pieces as squares. We attach special saddles to the columns so that the K2i can securely hold and cut them. A few of these columns also need large V-shaped cuts along one side, and the K2i can do them, but it takes too long. I think it will go faster if I cut this detail with a circular saw. We’ll see! 

Jake: I figure this K2i cuts about 30x faster than a person can. Of course, this also means that if an error makes it through into the final model, that mistake can be cut multiple times before being detected.  Focus and checking are super-important. 

A lot of our commercial projects use steel brackets, knife blades and connector plates. Timbers, even mass timber beams, are not perfectly uniform and straight, which means that small discrepancies are normal. Combining wood with steel, which has a near-zero tolerance, makes the slots and drillings where these two materials meet especially important and challenging.

CNC’s are fast but need creative humans to reach their potential.

What do you see in Cornerstone’s future concerning CNCs and other tech?

Derek: We’re going to have more technology like CNCs and robotics, not less.

Mattheus: That’s true, but we’ll also still have timber framing that a CNC won’t do, as long as we have natural and irregular materials like reclaimed barn timbers.

Jake:  Machines will do more of the hard, tedious work. CNCs won’t replace traditional know-how; they’ll replace the hard, repetitive tasks.

Finally, how do you find working together as a team?

Jake: We’re good at solving challenges together.  Because we run two shifts, one Monday to Thursday and a second Wednesday to Saturday, communication has to be effective between us, which it is.

Derek: We meet each morning to talk about the day’s tasks.  For team members who aren’t here, we use emails and shared documents to keep track of details that everyone needs to know.

Mattheus: We enjoy working together. And we learn a lot from each other. Each of us brings our expertise to the work: Derek has lots of previous CNC experience, Jake is an encyclopedia of tools and specifications, and I bring my joinery problem-solving. 

After our half-hour conversation, it’s time for the team to get their day underway. I’m feeling guilty knowing how much work is waiting for them.  They’re laughing about something as they walk back to their work – a healthy sign of a team that has bonded. 

I think about how much our company has changed since we took hold of the potential that CNCs offer. While the technology is impressive, I still find it’s the people who translate that potential into reality.  I’m proud of the great individuals and teams that keep Cornerstone at the forefront of sustainable timber construction!

Choose Black Spruce

Posted on by Gary Snider

Cornerstone Timberframes delivers mass timber structures that meet the highest standards of
performance, sustainability, and aesthetic value. In collaboration with our supply partner, Nordic
Structures, we proudly utilize black spruce for our mass timber elements — a material that
continues to prove itself as a superior and cost-effective alternative to Douglas Fir.

Why Black Spruce?
1. Reduced Cost Without Compromise
Black spruce offers structural strength ratings equivalent to Douglas fir at a lower material cost.
This creates notable savings, particularly when scaled to larger commercial, institutional, or
residential builds.

2. Superior Dimensional Stability
The tight grain and small laminations in black spruce glulam result in increased dimensional
stability, reduced checking, cupping, and twisting over time.

3. Improved Colour and Appearance
Black spruce is known for its uniform appearance and light colouration. Its superior ability to
receive stain and faithfully render colours makes for creative freedom and a higher architectural
appearance. In comparison, fir’s red undertone and tendency to have light and dark alternating
stripes create aesthetic limitations.

4. Locally Sourced & Sustainably Harvested
Grown and manufactured in Canada, black spruce is a renewable resource harvested from well-
managed forests in Quebec. Both Cornerstone Timberframes and Nordic Structures are FSC®
certified, choosing to follow the most rigorous sustainable forestry program in Canada.

5. A Decarbonizing Hero
Black spruce is uniquely suited to help Canadians decarbonize construction. At about age 80
black spruce is mature and begins to decline in health, moving from absorbing carbon to
releasing it back to the atmosphere. Nordic harvests mature black spruce, locking their carbon
into durable mass timber products. In contrast, Douglas Fir trees live for over 300 years,
absorbing C0 2 throughout their long lives. It is vital to preserve long-lived trees as carbon sinks
if we hope to reach a carbon-neutral future.

Black Spruce- The Unlikely Hero of Mass Timber

Posted on by Gary Snider

This feisty little tree grows throughout the northern regions of Canada. It survives harsh conditions, long, cold winters, and short 60-day growing seasons. 

Black spruce thrives in low, boggy landscapes. It reaches maturity at around 80 years and can live up to 120. Under ideal conditions, it can reach 30 metres into the sky and grow up to 36 centimetres across. But this is rare.  Most black spruce will top out at 20 metres (65 ft) and have trunks only 11-15 cm (4-6 inches) in diameter.

Black spruce is well adapted to wildfires and is one of the first trees to return after a fire. Rather than dropping cones, it holds them in its uppermost branches where they can remain unopened for years. The cones are tough, resisting weather, squirrels and insects, opening only slowly over time, or quickly when heat from fire softens the cone scales to release the winged seeds. 

Left: Wearing a winter cloak of snow, black spruce branches stay flexible.
Right: These cones, held for years, await a fiery dispersal and the start of a new forest

So far, none of this seems very heroic. In fact, it’s almost surprising that the black spruce is even considered for construction. But here come’s a plot twist where small is beautiful, slow is strong, and even early mortality can lead to a new life that can save the day.

Black spruce is the hero. Its list of hardships is now a checklist of preferred traits for sustainable mass timber construction:

  1. The short growing season faced by black spruce produces tight growth rings, which is ideal for creating high-strength wood fibre. 
  2. The tree has small downward-sloping branches, designed to survive heavy snow loads. Small branches leave only small knots in the milled lumber, which allows it to retain superior strength characteristics. 
  3. It often grows in dense stands and is exceptionally straight. As a result, black spruce boards have straight, uniform grain, giving them exceptional stiffness and stability.
  4. Black spruce is a short-lived tree which begins to decline in health around age 80. They also stop taking up CO2 and start to release it as they age further. Not surprisingly, this coincides closely with the historic frequency of natural wildfires. Harvesting black spruce before they decline helps to reduce CO2 emissions.

In contrast, large western conifer species like Douglas Fir continue to absorb CO2 throughout their lives and can act as growing carbon sinks for 300 years or more. As a climate-change mitigation strategy, the science makes a compelling case for protecting long-living trees, allowing them to remain in forests to take up and store carbon. At the same time, using black spruce for mass timber is environmentally responsible, as it locks the carbon of end-of-life trees into durable products and reduces the occurrence and intensity of wildfires.

To make mass timber, black spruce requires a passionate and innovative ally. That ally is Nordic’s parent company, Chantiers Chibougamau, who has worked in Quebec’s northern forests since 1961, turning black spruce into lumber and I-joists. In 2000, after years of development and testing, the company introduced the Enviro-Lam process, a method for making large-section glulams out of small-diameter logs. It was a breakthrough that allowed previously unutilized wood fibre to find a high-value use. In 2010, Nordic Structures built North America’s first Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) line and kick-started the continent’s mass timber movement, with black spruce as its undisputed champion.

Understanding and working with nature provides the best innovations and outcomes. When we adapt our approach to fit the resource, both nature and people can thrive.

 

Glulam & CLT- What’s the Difference?

Posted on by Gary Snider

The Building Blocks of Mass Timber

The spheres of architecture and construction are abuzz with the new ways that timber can be used in larger and higher buildings. “Mass Timber” provides faster builds, lighter foundations, more appealing spaces, and higher lease rates. It’s bringing heavy timber back to the forefront of modern design thanks to simple innovations in wood.

Let’s take a quick look at the two main ingredients in mass timber: glue-laminated timber (GLT or glulam), and cross-laminated timber (CLT).

Glulams have been around for over 100 years and grew rapidly in popularity and use in North America following WWII. Their first “golden age” occurred in the 1960’s when they were specified by architects in many civic, institutional and church projects.  Today, a second golden age is arriving for glulam, thanks to a new companion product: cross-laminated timber panels.

CLT’s were first used in construction in Europe in the 1990’s. They became available in North America in 2010 when Nordic Structures built its first CLT plant at Chibougamau, Quebec.

A Cornerstone installer guides a CLT to its final location atop Perimeter Aviation’s new Terminal Expansion.

Glulams and CLTs have several things in common. Both utilize small section lumber (lamella, lamstock), dried to 12% or less.  Both then use a combination of glue, heat, and pressure to bond the lamella together to create very large and long timber components.  The finished products have well-defined strength characteristics allowing them to span farther and carry loads greater than natural timbers.

The long lengths of both products rely on a process called “finger jointing” that takes short lamella pieces, cuts sharp zig-zags on their ends, applies glue and presses them together in a high-speed jointing line. The resulting joint is stronger than unjointed wood, increases the stability of the lamella and allows for lengths of 60’ and more.

Glulams orient their lamella in one direction, creating a big beam or column out of what essentially looks like a bundle of sticks or a stack of lumber.
A set of Nordic glulam beams and arches are prepared at the Cornerstone finishing shop.

The CLT’s innovation seems so simple: orienting lamella layers crossways to each other. But that’s genius, taking an existing technique and using it to make something no one has yet imagined.

CLT lamellae are arranged with each layer running perpendicular to its neighbours to create bending strength in two directions.
In many mass timber structures, glulams are used as columns and beams to support CLT floor and roof panels.

Bergen Gardens is a 6 storey, 149-unit, seniors’ apartment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, completed in 2023 with timber fabrication and install support provided by Cornerstone Timberframes.

Quebec City: Origin is a 12-storey mass timber eco-apartment completed in 2017

For certain applications, CLTs can also be used on their own, with the CLTs acting as beams, columns and shear-resistant diaphragms.

Mass timber will continue to become more competitive with concrete, steel and “stick framing”.  In many markets, it’s already become the obvious choice, realizing higher lease rates and faster market uptake.

 Article in BISNOW, a leading webzine for the commercial real estate industry.

Are you an architect, developer or builder with a potential mass timber project?  Contact Cornerstone Timberframes today and let’s talk about how we can help you achieve big impacts with timber!

Build Your Next Home With Mass Timber

Posted on by Gary Snider

Have you heard of Mass Timber?  It’s been the darling in architectural circles for several years now and is being used to build impressive, modern structures like this library in Scarborough, Ontario:

 

Photo credit: Stephane Groleau

Mass timber is both old and new. Glulam columns and beams have been around in the construction industry for about 100 years, but the newest innovation in structural wood only came to market in North America in 2010, when Nordic Structures first produced cross-laminated timbers (CLTs).

For an introduction to glulams and CLTs and how they complement each other read our article here.

Since 2017, Cornerstone Timberframes has been promoting mass timber to our clients who are looking for longer spans, contemporary styling, and more efficient use of wood.  We’ve supplied, cut and installed mass timber structures for high-rise residential, commercial, industrial and civic projects.  But our very first mass timber job didn’t fit into any of these categories.  Our first foray into mass timber was a lakefront cottage.

The client and their architect didn’t want vaulted spaces or elaborate trusses, often considered the heart of traditional timber framing.  They wanted to see wood but preferred a more minimalist, modern look.

Cornerstone Timberframes has decades of traditional joinery know-how. But when the architect asked if we’d work with glulams and CLT panels, we were excited about the opportunity. At our core, we’re a structural wood design and solutions company and mass timber offers great solutions!

 

CLT roof panels easily span the 12’ distance between beams to create a relaxed, open feeling throughout the living areas.

CLT roofs allow for big overhangs while maintaining the thinnest possible profiles.
In addition to long spans and impressive cantilevers, the precise fit of mass timber allows for uncompromising window arrangements.

In residential uses, there’s an option to celebrate wood in every space or to cover some… or all of it (gulp). It’s a client-designer choice.

And whether covered or not, mass timber walls provide unlimited attachment opportunities.  Whatever you need to support, you’ll never wonder if your fastener or mounting bracket will find a stud!

The most compelling feedback we hear from clients is that using mass timber not only looks good but also feels wonderful.  Medical studies back this up – having natural materials visible in the places we inhabit provides benefits to our mental and physical health.

Wood helps to create peaceful, comforting spaces that boost feelings of well-being.

If you’d like to consider how to best use mass timber in your next home project, talk to Cornerstone Timberframes, your residential mass timber expert. We are committed to helping you realize beautiful and inspiring spaces!