Joe --

While yes, Lap is a family, a catagory of joinery - It is also a noun, for the male half of a joint.

In the lexicon I am describing - the Dap is the female half. The definition above suggests that it is a 16th century variation of dab - I wonder what the OED suggests.


Don --

I hadn't really been seeking examples, but had come to the assumption (without much more thought than that) than none existed. This based solely on personal experience, having been in (guessing) something approaching a hundred such buildings, and maybe a somewhat smaller number of earlier (mostly English Tieing) scribed frames.

Yes, as Tim suggests, an abcense or a presense of housings and reductions make the identification as to Scribe or Square quite simple, but there are other identifiers as you have guessed.


I'd like to recommend this book by New Hampshire State Architectural Historian, James Garvin - Jim gave an excellent talk at TTRAG '04 and is an open treasurehouse of knowledge

http://books.google.com/books?id=oC4zG5aR4rwC&pg=PA20&dq=square+rule+scribe+rule+Northern+new+england&sig=FM4_r0vWe9l_PmFJolK4kKTxkXg#PPA20,M1

Tim --

Perhaps have seen this or own a copy, there's a short section on plank houses on the following page.

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/