Timber Framing Class (with video)

We always enjoy our Introduction to Timber Framing Class here at Maplewood.    Participants spent three days building a timber-framed sawhorse that incorporates three traditional timber framing joints, including the angled knee brace.    This is a “hand-tool only” workshop, so beams are crosscut with hand saws and mortises are drilled with antique beam drills (otherwise know as a “boring” machine or beam auger).

Maplewood instructor Nick Richards uses traditional layout and joinery methods to allow participants to see and experience how craftspeople built homes and barns for centuries.   Sharp tools…. Newly sharpened timber framing Chisels from Barr Specialty Tools, hand saws rescued from becoming a “display” on the side of a garage, and the beam drills needing only minor repairs before being placed back into circulation.   These are some of tools of the trade.