Al,
That reminds me of the brand burned into the underside of each cedar roof shingle that came off a barn north of here. It was a coat of arms with the family name and the motto below said, "Don't Use a 50 Year Nail on a Hundred Year Shingle".
On my way to work I pass what's left of a big dairy barn that got wind blown .Someone evidently is trying to salvage some of the timbers because they are getting piled up on wagons .
I've seen this played out before .In spite of good intentions more times than not the salvaged timbers get left to the elements and within 5-6 years are just so much rotten wood good for nothing .
A fellow I know asked if I had any use for a load of dimensioned timbers he had stacked on a trailer and covered against the elements.
That was a few months ago. He indicated they were new, not salvaged, and times were just slow for timber framing.
You could always make something out of it .Worse case being firewood .
Oak or at least white oak does well in the elements for something like lawn furniture .Be it ash the stuff will air dry enough that it will work for trim although I don't personally think I'd try to make furnture unless it were kiln dried .
Now that all of the sawing is done, I've been able to get back in the shop and start my hewing. I hewed out all of the pine loft joists so far, and started on the white oak floor joists. Two different critters, oak and pine.
Pine loft joists, they will have to be scribed into a full layout to get the tenon locations.
Framing square calipers. The joist specification is 11" mid span diameter.
I went to see the replica Columbus ships, the Pinta and the Nina yesterday. Anybody interested in timber framing would love them. Hand built in Brazil. All wood I have never heard of. They had a small piece of wood the deck was built of. Very dense and an oily feel to it.
A number of the Brazilian rain forest woods are extremely hard and heavy, and some particularly resistant to water damage. I know that Purple Heart, a lovely wood, was often used for the pilings of piers.
I've completed another stage of the floor system, the oak floor joists. I don't know if fresh oak is easier to work or not, but this stuff was pretty time consuming. I estimate that I spent about 3 hours on each joist to chop the tenon on each end and to hew the exposed face. I'm going to work some pine for a while now.
Fresh off the saw.
Peeled.
All 14 joists finished. I had to cull two of them, one for marginal diameter, and the other for a four foot long split up the middle. Sample housed joist mortise on top.
I cut a joist mortise in a block to use as a go/no-go gauge for the tenons. Some of the tenons have opened up due to heart checking. All will have to be checked and corrected prior to assembly. The gauge will help save time on the 56 total joist tenons in this frame, and about 50 in the next floor system.
Gauge on a joist to show relationship of the top of the joist to the top of the sill. The joist is two inches down from the sill to allow for the two inch floor planking. When the floor is done, all of the sills will be visible, but flush.
In this barn I'm using a technique that some call fake hewing, or fewing. I started sawing the pine timbers about a 1/2" over size, and hewing to the finished dimension. With the oak, I saw to the exact size, and take about a 1/16" off. This saves a ton of time, as well as saves the side lumber from ending up in a wood stove. I'm about 2/3 done with this one.
I almost purchased an old farm house on a few acres in MA once. It had a multilevel barn made of mortise and tenon beams. Early 1800s I believe.
I was going to rent out the three stories of the house and make the barn my house
How much does a 40' shipping container to Denmark cost?
I stopped in at the Heartwood School after work tonight. Bought a nice 2" chisel from the tool guy. Going to get a visit from some of the apprentices and students on Saturday. I've got to finish organizing the shop in the morning, as I've got 35 architects coming from the "Association to Preserve Technology" in the afternoon.
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