Well Hello everyone tonight
Great topic one close to my heart for sure.
Specie type:
Put me down for white pine #1--these trees are fantastic, but have to be chosen carefully--Most of the barns requiring long plates used white pine in this region--they carried their size well, and at 50 to 60 feet could still square 12 by 12 timbers
I usually go with what the old timers used and the odd time basswood was employed for the long plates--these trees also carried their sizes up well and maybe only tapered a few inches in eight feet of length. Another thing about basswood is that it has an unusual growth characteristic it doesn,t seem to exhibit the usual growth rings of other wood types, and is quite strong for a soft wood
Some of the drivesheds that were constructed around here employed balsam posts, white ash connecting girts and white pine plates, and tamrack rafters, pine trim, and cedar shingles. When you stop to look at this mixture of varieties you reaize that there is a good reason for mixing up the species, ease of working, strength, and to attain the length necessary for plates and resistance to rotting.
I won't comment to much about hewing technique, I believe that most everyone knows that I favour a low setting for hewing, usually on 6 by 6's, scoring from the top surface, and hewing from the side and in front of my feet for safety, and swinging the hewing axe straight down across the grain bracing my body against the side of the log.
I recommend staying away from Cedar for hewing but having said that I realize that many cedar logs found their way into the first log houses, while pine founds itsway into the fully squared two story log homes
Great thread
NH
