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barn age #6391 04/27/99 11:15 PM
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Tony Offline OP
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I'm restoring an old barn. We have no historical documentation to age it. What are some physical clues, such as type of saw marks on beams, nails, joinery, etc.?

Re: barn age #6392 05/02/99 02:21 PM
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Rudy R Christian Offline
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Tony,

Dating a barn can be both simple and complex. A lot has to do with how important the accurracy of the dating is.

In general there are some simple ways of getting a good range of age rather quickly:

1. Layout or framing method

2. Timber conversion method

3. Settlement patterns for the barn's location

The layout (timber framing) systems you can look for are scribe rule, square rule and mill rule. These systems are currently being discussed in the timber engineering section of this forum. The differnce can in general be found by looking closely at the connections of the timbers, or "joints". In scribe rule frames you will usually find marks scribed or chiseled into the timbers next to the joints. These are joiners marks or "marriage" marks, and were used to identify which tenon fits in which mortice. They often resemble Roman numerals.

In square rules frames there are no joiners marks at the connections, and the timbers are "housed" into one another. In other words, there is an area (usualy about 1/2" deep) of the timber removed at each point a connection occurs.

In mill rule frames there are no joiners marks and no housings.

A mill rule frame can generally be dated around 1900 or later. Square rule frames exist from about 1800 on and anything older will be scibe rule. The complexity comes in the fact that scibe rule layout was practiced in some areas well into the middle of the nineteenth century, and square rule layout was common in many area well after mill rule was practiced.

Timber conversion is the process of turning round logs into square timbers. The oldest form of conversion is hewing. This was done with various types of axes and the timber surfaces will appear "scallopped" or uneven depending on the skill of the hewer. Rough sawn refers to timbers that were cut on a sawmill. The marks that appear on the timber surfaces will be either straight lines or curved lines running in a repeating pattern over the length onf the timber. The staright lines are from earlier "cog" or "frame" mills and the curved are from later circular mills. Frame saws were common from revolutionary war times up until the early nineteenth century. The first circular saw was developed by Tabitha Babbit (a Shaker woman) in 1810.

The settlement patterns in the area a barn exists also play into the dating of a timber frame. If an area was opened for settlement late (in Ohio many areas weren't settled until the mid 1800's) you may find a completely hand hewn scribe rule barn a few miles from a completely sawn square rule barn that was built only 20 years later, after the sawmill came to town.

Another factor that affects dating is the availble power sources. If dependable water power was available, a frame sawmill may have been set up very early. If not, hewing may have been practiced until the steam engines arrived. Of couse the canals and railroads that sprang up around 1850 changed things even faster.

So how old is your barn? Is it completely timber framed (all the joints are wood pegged)? Probably 100 years or so old. Is it hand hewn? could easily be 150 to 200. Is it scibe rule? Might be 200+. When did agriculture first become established where it stands? The indians built very few barn we know of.

Oh, and one more thing. Did someone move your barn when the land was used up?

Dating a barn is challenging and fun. It also leads to places you may not have otherwise looked to learn more about your fore fathers. Enjoy!

Rudy


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