Will Holladay has produced a new book that falls squarely into the “must-read” pile for every carpenter. JLC readers may know Will as an early contributor to the magazine and author of A Roof Cutter’s Secrets to Framing the Custom House or perhaps as a presenter at the earliest JLC Live shows.
Will spent time in the Los Angeles housing tracts, working as a roof cutter and stacker in the mid- to late-1970s, catching the tail-end of a special era before roof trusses became the norm.
In his first book, Will codified much of the technical thinking those early production framers worked out. Their methods depended on supreme efficiency in calculating and cutting roof members, which took place on the ground where the entire roof package was racked and cut by the roof cutter. A stacker would unload the racks to erect, or "stack," the roof. Efficiency frequently won out over safety; it was a brutal process carried out with jigged-up tools. But this era spun out a body of forward thinking on jobsite efficiency and tool invention, much of which Will has captured in this latest book. He does so specifically as history in the chapter “Roof Cutters - a flash in time” (which is so readable, it’s hard to put down). But he gives us the insight of a true “roof cutter” throughout his new book.
If A Roof Cutter’s Secrets captured all his technical knowledge, Will says, From the Top Plates Up captures all his practical knowledge. With chapter headings like “Framing is a Street Fight (treating and avoiding jobsite injuries)” and “Train to Survive (physical training ideas for a framer),” the book contains concrete guidance for staying in the game for the long term. Other chapters take on practical framing knowledge, like “One Swing, One Nail - the art of the hammer,” “My Two Best Friends - a Skil 77 and a Homelite chainsaw,” and “Where Was Adam When We Need Him - names matter" (a treatise on rough carpentry lingo).
But the knowledge in this book is not for framers alone. Every carpenter, every building professional, can benefit from Will’s experience and insights. Chapters like “The Making of a Framing Crew,” “Smiles and Frowns - successes and failures (jobs),” and “A Man and His Truck” (one of my personal favorites) are based on personal stories, but Will has very little ego in telling them. He lives to teach, and embedded in his stories, full of joys and real-life pain, the author has captured a unique era in building and passes along the wisdom of a true working hero.
