Hi Ron,

We just relocated another of those from Ohio to Texas. I will try and address your questions.


1) Specific to any particular ethnic group and/or region?

You can find them throughout different timber framing cultures but they are very common among Dutch-Germanic Barnwrights.

2) Were these absolutely structurally necessary, or just an insurance measure employed by the carpenter to stiffen or triangulate the bents/bays and to be used in conjunction with the "standard" braces (post to tie and/or plate)?

Actually, oblique bracing can do more harm to a frame than good, in many instances as these braces act as 'fulcrums' leveraging and prying joints apart under heavy weather or seismic loads. The "buttress brace," (what you are calling a down brace) is actually the better form of the two types, however they tend to get in the way of practical use of space, so tend to be found only in the outer walls, or in areas where they are not an obstruction.

3) Do these "down braces" generally function in compression as standard knee braces do?

99.9% of all oblique bracing forms work in compression, this is why they generally don't even need (we seldom do in new work) to be peg.

4) Do any of you traditional framers employ these in your work?

I often use them in frames of Dutch or Germanic orgin if that is the clients aesthetic. I specialize in North American, Middle Eastern, and Asian designs so we tend to only use "horizontal bracing modalities," which are some of the oldest continuous use types of bracing in the world as they react to seismic events much better than do oblique bracing forms. This is all you will find in regions like Japan, Korea, China, Himalayas, and mountains of Turkey for example. Infill methodolgy is also employed more commonly as well.