List,
Remember that I am not timber framer so be gentle on me but I’ll ask anyway.
Over on the General Forum there is a discussion regarding the checking and splitting of cut ends and how and what you should treat it with. My question is does anyone have knowledge of a practice of treating ends of timbers in old barns?
In all of the Dutch barns I have looked at there would seem to be no evidence of this practice and I have seen very little bad effects from splitting and checking. I have seen a few, very few anchorbeam tenons where the wedge has split out the relish. In those cases I would have attributed it to racking of the barn frame more than anything else.
Anyone got any facts or theories about this in old barns?
Rolland
