Will,
Thanks for the reply

I didn't intend that all timbers got carted off the scribe floor, obviously that would be impractical.

Das Ständebuch, by Jost Amman. Interesting.

This, I can tell you, is a Swiss carpenter's setup. The reason I say that is because the name, Jost Amman, is typically Swiss. The name Jost, spelled Yost, is to this day used among the Amish in America, and spelled Jost is a fairly common name in Switzerland. The surname Amman, also, is immediately recognizable to me as the name of one Jacob Amman, from whom the Amish derive their name. This fellow, in fact, was from Zürich.

Judging from this, and from what I know from study, this would have been a typical South German/Swiss/Austrian setup of this time period. Notably missing are later developments such as the stichaxt (whose immediate predecessor, the Kreuzaxt, is seen twice)

Also notice that you don't see any saws (aside from the big crosscut) or chisels, neither of which are used much if at all in the German tradition. How many of you would be comfortable cutting your mortises without a chisel? Or even without a saw?

Also, Will, notice that these guys seem to have another thing in common with your setup, the majority of their timbers are out in the open, but in the upper left corner you can see there is a shelter of sorts.

The works of Amman are very valuable for such observations, he is said to have paid great attention to detail and accuracy, and his works have been used to gain tremendous insights into this period. Das Ständebuch in particular is an extremely valuable collection of woodcuts showing a number of period (1560's) artisans at work in excellent detail.

If you have any other such images, I would love to see them. I strive to use primary sources like these in my research as much as possible.

Also, I like and appreciate your insights, Will. I am merely trying to set up my work for an old-world traditional carpenter's setup, using the old ways and tools. So whenever I can hear from someone who has done it such as yourself, I eat it right up! Keep it coming...

My eventual goal is to do things just about like the picture you have here, with a few more modern tools here and there just for the fact that this is a business. I am the kind of guy that if there is any way I can make something instead of buying it, I will!

Sine I made some of my earlier comments, I have read some more, and think I may have to revise a bit.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the early American carpenter's also worked their timbers a lot lower than framers do now, and that our working habits are perhaps a product of the fact that we have been influenced by later developments in building. Does anyone have any evidence, such as drawing and engravings, to suggest that this may be a false conclusion?

If this is a true conclusion, then by extension my theory regarding the slick has to be discarded.

DLB