Originally Posted By: Will Truax


All these buildings are I’m sure, plumb full of cut nails, as was the 1821 timberframed Parsonage we restored this past year, everything from teeny 5d’s attaching the clapboards to 5” spikes in the framing holding butt cogs in their housings



Will, what is a "butt cog?"


This 1911 barn here in Maine is an interesting specimen in terms of nails. All the bracing is nailed w/ common wire nails. The braces are not even mortised, just butted to the timbers. There are also nails at prominent joint locations. Bolts / threaded rod, too. This barn is in sad condition, not quite even 100 years old. They built it over a very wet area and the foundation has cracked and heaved considerably.

I have found wire nails in barn joinery here in these 1900-era buildings. It always leaves me a bit disappointed as it heralded the end of tradition in timber framing technique...















Don Perkins
Member, TFG


to know the trees...