Wood pegs

Hi Gents,
I'm about to start felling trees for a timber frame building here in Norway. It is all going to be pine, but I am wondering if I should use oak pegs? Surely they will dry at a different rate, and therefore possibly not pull tight? one of the local farmers says that he has used broom handles here for years, with no problems. Any comments?
Thanks for your time, and Happy New Year!

Hello,

You should stick with what is used locally, there is a good tradition where you are of building with timbers, one way or the other.

Snatchblock,

Well if Mr. Wagstaff says to use what they use locally, and if what they use locally is broom handles, then I would be calling all the local "witch clubs" and ask if they have anything "used" that they might want to donate.

Kind of like...if A=B, & B=C...then A=C, and you use broom handles! haha!

Honestly, they will dry at different rates, but the pine will dry faster than the oak, which will work fine...you might want to wait to drill the holes for the pegs/trunnels until after all the joints are cut and you are starting the dry fit process before final assembly and raising to ensure that all the holes will line up, especially if you are going to draw bore your joints.

Go and make your own pegs/trunnels...no broom handles.

Good Luck,

Rooster

I have used green pine and green oak pegs, drawn, with no noticeable issues. Some times the pegs have been made ahead of time and other times they were made the day before raising. I have also used tamarack for pegs.

My Mom relates a story of when she was young and recalls her dad going to work. He worked many different jobs, in this case he was working on a barn, 1940's or so. It is not known if he lead the group of carpenters or was just a worker, but he was the oldest of the crew by many years. I had a chance to view the barn a few years ago. It was a combination of mortice and tennon and balloon/stick framing. The pegs appear to have been made from broom handle stock. This is a good example of mortice and tenon work still being used well into the 20th century.

Hello,

So of course we understand, the broom handles in the Norwegian case were only incidental within the wider tradition, just as in Tim's story, and even though it might be unorthodox I see a lot of beauty behind these kinds of improvisations. Sort of breaks the monotony. Still, without mocking it, it would not be my approach. The other thing I was alluding to indirectly, but maybe it needs to be spelled out then, is that I think oak, growing that far north would be rare thing if existing at all. I was up in those latitudes this summer and there was n'ere an oak to be seen.
Grindverk, is a sort of indigenous Norwegian timber framing, where pegging is used throughout in different ways. This is where I would be looking for such answers, and then hopefully you would share how it is more widely done there, that would be interesting.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Most broom handles today are tin and coated in plastic. There are not enough wooden handles kicking around to use for a frame, anyway. Spruce is seen around here for peg material, btw, usually full inch. Hard wood is rarely seen.

Hi Snatchblock;

I agree with Don to use what was used locally, if you are using a traditional design in the same way they were built before. Any joints designed to be in continuous tension such as a tie beam into a post should be the strongest wood you have. You can use different species pegs in different joints.

We have powder post beetles who like our red oak more than our eastern white pine so I have seen buildings with timbers in good condition but the pegs are weakened from insect damage.

Tim Beal (Hi Tim) says spruce pegs are common in his neighborhood but hardwood pegs, particularly our species of red oak, are the most common wood for pegs in the U.S. as far as I have seen. I have seen red maple and black locust is another good choice. I have seen spruce pegs in a spruce frame.

If you can accurately draw bore 1/8", your joints will pull together just fine and the peg will not shrink that much.

Good luck;
Jim