Hewing timbers as accurately as possible is quite a challenge, but to also execute the work as it progresses using period tools and methods is another thing entirely.
It always amazed me that the final product usually reflected all those hours of hard work, and then the fun began when the freshly hewn timber was moved to the framing area, and the pressure mounted because each move had to be very accurate because an inaccurate measurement could completely ruin a 30 foot 12 by 12 with many hours of work, especially if it was accidently cut even an inch too short, and it being a connecting girt in one of the frameworks.
We did use measuring poles for all layouts of varying lengths, multiples of which cold be used to come up with any measurement, we found this way of measurement superior in everyway to modern methods to reconstruct old frames.
It was quite interesting because real accurate overall measurements did not really matter, what really mattered was that all the measurements were the same, (if you all are following along on this line of thought)
these measuring poles could vary from accurate measurements by say fractions of an inch due to shrinkage,humidity, or wear, but generally speaking the emerging structure would be quite accurate, and fall in line with some of the odd measurements that the old structures exhibited
