Not sure of a good subject for this one....but in the picture below I was wondering how the scooped finish on the timbers was made? I have seen other work like this and was told it was with an adze. Just wondering what type of adze one would use for this? Any tips or techniques?

If you're talking about the curve cut on the braces, that can be done with an adze to rough out the shape of the curve and then finished with a spoke shave.
We also sometimes use a draw knife to rough out the shape and then use a spoke shave to finish it up smooth.
Hope that helps. Jim

Sorry I should have been clearer. I was referring to the finish on the timbers themselves. It is not the look of a scrub plane. I was thinking some type of scoup adze.

It looks like it was adzed. The light reflecting on the posts gives it a strange look but the beam without
the light looks adzed.

You can get a new adze from Woodcraft or from log
home supply stores or you can find used ones at
antique stores.

For an adze to leave that texture would require a cutting edge with much more curve than is common, or perhaps a small sculptor's adze. It may have been done with short strokes of a scrub plane. Can you tell if the tool was struck with a curved swing into the surface, or is it a flat stroke?

Well where I had seen this before it was scouped out with an adze. There was an article in a timber lodge stating much of the timbers were done like this. It would be tough to do these short strokes with a scrub plane!

I may go pick one up this weekend and try it! I liked the hewing finish as well but for those of you who have not hewn a log into a timber....it is alot of work!

Where did you get the photo, it looks a lot like a movie set. Nonetheless, the finish, faux or no, looks adzed to me. And Mike, adzing those timbers is a bunch of work too, the tool is lighter than a broadaxe and uses shorter/faster strokes, but there's a lot of them! Rich.

Sorry, I guess I mean Bruce. As for technique, like hewing it's all practice. The center of the curve on the brace is the toughie. R.

I have a question I'd like to add to this list.

I'm looking at enclosure systems for my timber frame cabin/house. I was originally thinking of SIPs, but am now re-thinking the idea. I have another idea that I'd like to throw out there.

My roof system is a common purlin system with purlins at 48" OC. I was thinking about adding 2X6 rafters on top of the purlins (with a spacer in there for slipping in drywall), putting fiberglas batt insulation between these rafters. Adding one or two layers of rigid foam insulation on top of the rafters, and OSB, and then standing seam roof.

I was thinking about using Atlas Roofing's ACFoam, cross-vent panels (rigid foam with OSB sheathing and a built-in air space).

Any thoughts on this idea? or any experience with the Atlas Roofing products?

Jon