This is a long story to write, so I think I will tell it in phases beginning with a brief overview and where we are now.
Phase 1:
Three Elements Timberworks, Inc is a veteran owned business that was started by Eric Seelig in 1999.
I started framing houses while I was attending college at CU Boulder. I enjoyed it so much that I graduated on a Saturday and went back to working for the same framing company the following Monday. I can remember as a kid loving the smell of sawdust and now decades later I still do. While working as a framer I discovered timber framing and instantly fell in love with it. I began some timber framing projects in my spare time, working out of books by Ted Benson, Jack Sobon and Steve Chappell. This was in the mid 90’s before youtube. I built a timber frame shed. Then I built some timber trusses for custom homes. I started out working with the same tools I used for framing (my “day job”). Then I purchased a Barr chisel. A young timber framer’s dream tool. Anyone that has timber framed knows Barr Quarton’s tools. I cut all of my mortises with a 1/2″ Milwaulkee hole shooter and cleaned it up with my Barr chisel. I worked for a couple of timber frame companies and learned from some very good carpenters. I landed a good size truss job for Marcia Kirsch of Windward Builders and she was generous enough to loan me the money to buy a Makita timber hollow chisel mortiser. I am not even sure if you can buy that machine anymore. As my workload increased it became time to hire an employee and get a yard to work in. As anyone with employees knows that is a game changer. Up until then I had been working by myself on the job-site. I found a place to work in the fall of 1999 and that is when I started Three Elements Timberworks, Inc.
We are much more than a timber frame company. We are designers, facilitators, fabricators, team-builders and problem solvers. We believe in rock solid design. We use SolidWorks, one of the most sophisticated 3d parametric software packages on the market to provide accurate and precise modeling. We believe that detailed computer modeling is the best way to get the best quality product in a timely manner and achieving the best value. We use CNC technology to leverage the power of our design software. Our timbers are cut on sophisticate CNC machines. Our steel plates are cut on CNC plasma, laser and water-jet machines. We are a dichotomy between high tech fabrication machinery and old school craftsmanship. We have made steel assemblies that have been designed in CAD. Then the parts were cut on high tech CNC machines. Then the parts were heated in a forge and hammered on a trip hammer and by hand on an anvil before they were assembled by hand. Our ability to build a team of contractors allows us to fulfill a wide variety of our customers needs. Our roots are in timber framing but as our company has progressed we have found ourselves providing more and more products and services to our customers.