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Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #27924 01/14/12 01:38 AM
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northern hewer Offline OP
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hello everyone tonight


Here is a good view of the inside of the attic of a lutheran church circa 1865--showing the intermediary trusses, that are 40 feet in length, and the rafter structure that is suspended on these trusses. Notice the centre wrought iron rod that drops down to hold the centre of the trusses straight

enjoy

NH

Last edited by northern hewer; 01/14/12 01:40 AM.
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #27927 01/14/12 08:26 PM
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Cecile en Don Wa Offline
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Hi,

It reminds me of the time I spent as what they call "klokenlouder," (which is also another name for whistle blower), in the village where I lived some years back. At times during the year I would have to climb to the top of the tower and hang out the flag, (for a small cash renumeration I might add), an impressive timber construction, the tower itself, but not as impressive as the construction supporting the bell - only oak wood there my friend.
Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Attached Files
P1000102.JPG (1.68 MB, 828 downloads)
tower
P1000101.JPG (1.62 MB, 635 downloads)
bell
P1000100.JPG (1.95 MB, 626 downloads)
Door to the ship
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #27928 01/15/12 02:15 AM
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Hello don

thanks for coming in with that interesting thread and the photos they are great

The last one showing the door and the ladder has some good details

The hinges are of a great style--crude yet well made for sure

The door itself is interesting, but doesn't show the characteristic nailing pattern usually exhibited in a board and batten door, it would be interesting to see the other side
It does have a nice mouse hole at the lower left corner

The ladder too its styling seems unique, around here the ladders are usually made from split round poles, with round rungs, I can't say that I have ever seen one constructed exactly like that one with round poles and flat rungs mortised right through.
The rungs show quite a bit of wear, must be quite old, and is real good construction

Do you have any idea the age of the structure?

The inscription on the bell would be interesting I am sure but I can't really make it outor understand the language, can you interpret it for everyone

enjoy

NH

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #27933 01/15/12 06:47 PM
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Hello,

Well, to begin the tower is not original but was an effort at modernization of the kind thought necessary around 1867. The building is ancient though and dates to the 12 century with some unique masonry workmanship. Anyway to the point. That door was always one of the more interesting features for me too. In fact I had intended to look into giving it some needed attention but never got further than repairing the arched trim which had fallen down. The hinges are authentic and likely even older than the door itself and differ from hinges used in houses or farm buildings, maybe because this is a church. They are attached pretty precariously only to the trim. I believe it is what you called a board and batten door, with three battens on the opposite side. But the construction is consistent with similar doors I know of, that is tung and grooved planks nailed from the batten side through and clinched.

Of the five ladders I had to climb to get in the top of the tower this and the one under it were fairly old and similarly built and I know at least the one under here was, like you describe, from a single, split through pole. The rungs always are flat, through morticed, shaped on the under side and pegged at every rung or every other rung. Mostly they are made from North American softwood like Douglas Fir because of advantageous strength to weight ratios over long lengths.

I can't tell what is written in the bell because other than the Latin there, the rest of it is in Friesian and my Friesian is very poor. An interesting thing is though that the Nazis stole the bell from the tower during World War 2 and took it back to Germany intent on melting the brass down for bullet casings or something. Thanks to their obsession with documenting the whole plunder though the village folk were able to track down and retrieve it. Of all the clock towers around here this one does have a uniquely long and clear resonance. It is located in the village of Ee.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #27936 01/16/12 01:30 AM
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Hello everyone tonight

What a great response Don I thank you very much, it addresses every point that I asked for claification, and I am sure that those looking in enjoyed the response as much as I did.

I wanted to point out to everyone that it is very big difference in looking at a picture, and really look at a picture, that is one thing I learned throughout my career, it is the fences, the roads the clothing, the animals, equipment and the list goes on that makes a picture or a painting very interesting.

I remember one time I needed to prepare a very accurate display for events that we would be staging for a number of years and one of the items was sawhorses for the timberframers to use. These had to be accurate to the period and had to be reconstructed a very costly venture in today's world.

I began by looking through old photographs, and paintings that our museum had in storage and the library. After looking in many areas and just about giving up I ran across a very old painting of tradesmen at work and low and behold there was a lovely view of the sawhorses they were using.

So from that I was able to pass on details to the construction division and I had 6 reproduced that were real treasures as far as strength, durability, height, width, and most of all each one had a nice shelf on which one could use to lay tools on when not in use. After approx 20 years now they are still in use and going strong

I guess I have a real interest in saw horses when I was very young My dad built 2 sets when he was building the barn in 1946, I remember him telling me that when he was working as an apprentice to become a full fledged carpenter, one of the first tasks that he had to master was to build a proper sawhorse.

I want to stress that these weren't just the ordinary sawhorses but after completion and you stood back, you really knew that a craftsman had did the job. These horses are still kicking around but starting to show their age

enjoy

NH

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #27937 01/16/12 12:15 PM
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Ah yes. I truly stepped into a trap of my own making, blinded once again by ego.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #27941 01/17/12 02:22 AM
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Hello everyone tonight

Hi Don

Just before we leave the conversation about the great church structure above, I expect that you probably had a peek in the attic, would it be possible for you to describe the roof's super structure, and maybe how the tower is supported, that would be nice

Are the exterior walls brick like the interior wall in the door photo?

One other item, I noticed no handle on the door, I expect for a reason maybe you might expand alittle--I am going to guess, probably only opens from one way

enjoy

NH

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #27942 01/17/12 03:06 AM
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northern hewer Offline OP
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Hello everyone tonight

Here is a view of one of the naturally curved runners that I am working on for the hand sleigh

enjoy

NH



Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #27944 01/17/12 09:02 AM
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Hello Richard,

Nice, how you've chosen to make your runners. Is that ash wood? And is this one of the two runners or do you saw the two from the one once you've got the shape?

I answer your, what I take to be straightforward questions this time in reverse order. First of all with a picture where I have highlighted the obscure handle on the outside of the door.

The parimeter walls of the building are made up of what they call kloostermoppen which refers to a particular soft-fired brick format,(22x10.5x5.5 cm) and lime mortar fired from seashells. Probably the clay of bricks was dug and fired at or near where the church is standing. The tower is, lets say built along side and independent of the original building. The timber framing of the tower begins at the third level, the level in which the bell is contained, and stands on bricked walls more than half a meter in thickness at that point. I'm not sure how it is anchored but the joists there are massive things, around 30x30 cm I think.

Here, because of the earlier influence of the sea, the churches were build on top of man made mounds of clay so the church and the old village stands higher than the surrounding area. This is a cultural/historical characteristic of the landscape in this part of Friesland.

Details for me of the roof construction are a bit vague at this point. I recall only the spaar construction, simple rafters of round and sometimes roughly hewn poles. And it is by no means original as the walls were made higher at some later point. The impressive thing is the upside down boat, the actual covering of the chapel below. In this little film, plucked from the internet, you can see this from the underside.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #27953 01/18/12 12:58 AM
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northern hewer Offline OP
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Hello everyone tonight

Thanks Don for all the feedback, and I guess the church secrets are now well explained--to other things--

You were asking about the sleigh runners, yes--what you see in the photo is a curved natural blank that will be split in two creating two identical runners

As I work on this project I will be posting photos that will show my progress and the early design of the sleigh

I haven't yet but I will be also showing the metal parts which are blacksmith made from times gone by

enjoy

NH

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