Timber Framers Guild Forums General Barns and Traditional Timberframing Pegs -- riven, sawn, drawn, turned, driven, etc?

In Jack Sobon's articles about his constructing his English side entry barn, he created a groove in the bottom side of the tie beams for the siding to stick up into. This eliminated the need for a nail up there, thus reducing the over all total count needed for siding a barn.

There are old stories about how after a fire, in colonial times, that they go to the cold ashes where the house stood and find all the nails that were used in the house.

And reuse them.

The nails that were used to make a plank a door were usually too long for the thickness of the planks. And the tips were bent over on one side. When these "fired" nails were found and they tried to straighten them out; these bent points would break off. And you'd have a very short blunt nail that was not very usable.
And this nail was considered, "dead." And that the origin of the old saying "Dead as a door nail.".......

Interesting for sure.....