I have re-milled salvaged timbers for new structures and had them inspected. The process was to mill all the timber to the size needed. Then the traveling inspector came over and looked at each and every one, all four faces and ends. It was necessary to tell him where in the frame the timber was going. He stamped each timber with a hammer style stamp on the ends. This was to satisfy the building inspector of the town where it was going to be erected. As most ends of timber are cut off during the 'cutting' of a frame or are hidden, I didn't see much point in it, other than the inspector rejecting 'bad' timbers. It was a good learning experience for me. Good luck, Jim
PS. I agree with you that timber frame architects are hard to find.

[This message has been edited by J Rogers (edited 08-06-2001).]