Tools used in traditional

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

date back thousands of years. Similar tools are used in many cultures, but the shapes vary and some are pulled rather than pushed.

Gallery

File:Reisshaken-01.jpg, A folding type of race knife File:Ritsmes en ritspasser met uitgeklapt mes, voor het telmerken in hout, lengte 16,7 cm. - Unknown - 20385256 - RCE.jpg, Race knife capable of making circles.(ritsmes en ritspasser met uitgeklapt). Image:Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands File:Hand boring machine (Carpentry and Joinery, 1925).jpg, Hand boring machine (Carpentry and Joinery magazine, 1925) File:Stoßaxt.jpg, A type of mortising chisel called in German a Stossaxt (Stoßaxt) or stichaxt. No wooden handle is inserted in the head, the metal head itself is the tools grip. File:Timber Mortising Machine.jpg, A chain mortiser. File:US Navy 090513-N-1060K-122 Ship restorers Chris Hanlon, bottom, and Paul Chiasson line up a new plank of white oak along USS Constitution's starboard side.jpg, Draw-bore pins (hook pins) are the metal pins sticking out of the plank above the plank being added to the USS Constitution during restoration. File:Toognagel staal.jpg, A hook pin or draw-bore pin

Preparing timbers

* ''Conversion'' of logs into timbers was often done by someone other than the timber framer including a

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unit ...

, sawyer, farmer, or laborer using a variety of tools including: **

Whipsaw A whipsaw or pitsaw was originally a type of saw used in a saw pit, and consisted of a narrow blade held rigid by a frame and called a frame saw or sash saw (see illustrations). This evolved into a straight, stiff blade without a frame, up to ...

types of

rip saw A ripsaw (or rip saw) is a wood saw that is specially designed for making a rip cut, a cut made parallel to the direction of the wood grain. Design The cutting edge of each tooth has a flat front edge and it is angled backward by about 8°, i ...

s used in the conversion of logs into timbers in a

saw pit A saw pit or sawpit is a pit over which timber is positioned to be sawed with a long two-handled saw, usually a whipsaw, by two people, one standing above the timber and the other below. It was used for producing sawn planks from tree trunks, ...

felling Felling is the process of cutting down trees,"Feller" def. 2. and "Felling", def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009 an element of the task of logging. The person cutting the trees ...

, carpenter's, and broad axes are used in

hewing In woodworking, hewing is the process of converting a trunk (botany), log from its rounded natural form into lumber (timber) with more or less flat surfaces using primarily an axe. It is an ancient method, and before the advent of the industr ...

. **

Sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

Wood splitting Wood splitting (''riving'',"Riving" def. 1.b. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 cleaving) is an ancient technique used in carpentry to make lumber for making wooden objects, some baske ...

, also called ''riving'' uses wedges,

splitting maul A splitting maul also known as a ''block buster'', ''block splitter'', ''chop and maul'', ''sledge axe'', ''go-devil'' or ''hamaxe'' is a heavy, long-handled axe used for splitting a piece of wood along its grain. One side of its head is like a ...

s, and/or froes. * Historically most timbers were used green but some went through a process of

wood drying Wood drying (also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning) reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a kiln, the product is known as kiln-dried timber or lumber, whereas air drying is the more traditional method ...

using some tools and equipment.

Marking and measuring tools

File:Miki City Hardware Museum10s3200.jpg, A Japanese ink line called a Sumitsubo. Miki City Hardware Museum, Japan. 10s3200 File:Winding sticks.jpg, Winding sticks are used to measure twist (winding) by viewing across one stick and comparing how parallel the other stick is. Tools for

marking out Marking out or layout means the process of transferring a design or pattern to a workpiece, as the first step in the manufacturing process. It is performed in many industries or hobbies although in the repetition industries the machine's initial set ...

and measuring: * A rule, now better known as a

ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines. Variants Rulers have long ...

and similar to a yard stick, is used to measure. * Repeated measurements often use a

storey pole A storey pole (or story pole, storey rod, story stick, jury stick, scantling, scantillon) is a length of narrow board usually cut to the height of one storey. It is used as a layout tool for any kind of repeated work in carpentry including stair-b ...

* Carpenter's marks were made with a race knife, chisel, gouge, saw, grease pencil, chalk pencil, or lead pencil. *

Chalk line A chalk line or chalk box is a tool for marking long, straight lines on relatively flat surfaces, much farther than is practical by hand or with a straightedge. They may be used to lay out straight lines between two points, or vertical lines by us ...

or ink line used to snap lines on the wood. Ink and a slurry of charcoal were used like chalk. * Carpenter pencil * Scratch awl or similar tools were used to scratch lines on wood before the pencil was commonly used beginning in the 19th century in the U.S. * Try square * Steel square is also known as a framing square. Historically a square with measurement markings on it was known as a "square rule" which is also a layout method. * Combination square * A

Plumb-bob A plumb bob, plumb bob level, or plummet, is a weight, usually with a pointed tip on the bottom, suspended from a string and used as a vertical reference line, or plumb-line. It is a precursor to the spirit level and used to establish a vertic ...

on a string is sometimes used with a plumb-rule or plumb-square to measure vertical or horizontal and to transfer marks between timbers while scribing. *

Spirit level A spirit level, bubble level, or simply a level, is an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal (level) or vertical ( plumb). Different types of spirit levels may be used by carpenters, stonemasons, bricklayers, oth ...

Dividers A caliper ( British spelling also calliper, or in plurale tantum sense a pair of calipers) is a device used to measure the dimensions of an object. Many types of calipers permit reading out a measurement on a ruled scale, a dial, or a digital d ...

Used in measuring and proportioning * Layout floor - a large, flat surface to mark lines and scribe timbers.

Hand powered cutting tools

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

Crosscut saw A crosscut saw (thwart saw) is any saw designed for cutting wood perpendicular to (across) the wood grain. Crosscut saws may be small or large, with small teeth close together for fine work like woodworking or large for coarse work like log ...

s to cut timbers to length and in making joints. **

Japanese saw The Japanese saw or is a type of saw used in woodworking and Japanese carpentry that cuts on the pull stroke, unlike most European saws that cut on the push stroke. Japanese saws are the best known pull saws, but they are also used in China, I ...

s are special saws used in woodworking including timber framing *

Axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has man ...

s were sometimes used to cut timbers to length and in joinery. *

Hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', ' axe' of Germanic origin) is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side. Hatchets may also be us ...

Adze An adze (; alternative spelling: adz) is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing ...

s are of many shapes and names. * Framing

Chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular Grind#Typical grinds, grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, Rock (g ...

s are heavy duty. In Western carpentry common sizes are 1 1/2 and 2 inches wide. They are designed to be struck with a

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and propor ...

* A slick is a very large chisel designed to be pushed by hand, not struck. *

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to ...

s for boring holes in timber framing were typically T-auger. The cutting edge of the bit can be of many shapes, the spiral auger being the standard shape since the 19th century. * Timber framers boring machines were invented by 1830 and hold an auger bit. They made mortising easier and faster. * Draw knives are used to

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

edges of beams and shape pegs ( treenails) * Sometimes, particularly in wooden bridge building the pegs were shaped by being driven through a hole in a heavy piece metal. * Historically timbers meant to be seen in houses were smoothed with a hand plane (

Japanese plane The Japanese plane or is a plane pulled towards the user rather than pushed in the manner of western style planes. They are made of hardwood, usually Japanese white or red oak. The laminated steel and iron blade is stout compared to western plan ...

including what is called a spear plane, yariganna or yari-kanna) and decorated with a chamfer or bead. * Twybil The name literally "two blades", historically rare in the U.S. * Bisaigue A French tool with similarities to a long handled twybill

Powered cutting tools

Circular saw A circular saw is a power- saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. '' ...

Drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to ...

* Band saw *

Router (woodworking) The router is a power tool with a flat base and a rotating blade extending past the base. The spindle may be driven by an electric motor or by a pneumatic motor. It routs (hollows out) an area in hard material, such as wood or plastic. Routers ...

* Power planers ** One or two sided stationary rotary,

thickness planer A thickness planer (also known in the UK and Australia as a thicknesser or in North America as a planer) is a woodworking machine to trim boards to a consistent thickness throughout their length. This machine transcribes the desired thickness u ...

s in a shop and up to a four-sided planer (timber sizer) at a mill. ** Hand held rotary power planers up to twelve inches wide. * Chain mortiser * A few modern framers use computer numerical control (CNC) machines to cut joinery. *

Chain saw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning ...

Splitting tools

A Froe is struck with a mallet to split blocks of wood into rough sizes for making pegs. Large and long timbers are split (riven) with wedges

Holding tools

* Shaving horse may be used in making pegs * Draw-bore pins temporarily hold a frame together during construction. * Iron dogs or log

dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. ...

are used to hold timers during

, scribing or historically to repair or reinforce a joint *

Sawhorse In woodworking, a saw-horse or sawhorse (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a trestle structure used to support a board or plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certain circles, it is also known as a ''m ...

s, short sawhorses are called ''ponies''.

Material handling tools and equipment

Gin pole A gin pole is a supported pole that uses a pulley or block and tackle on its upper end to lift loads. The lower end is braced or set in a shallow hole and positioned so the upper end lies above the object to be lifted. The pole (also known as a ...

or shear legs may be used in lifting wall sections or timbers. *

Pike pole A pike pole is a long metal-topped wooden, aluminium or fiberglass pole used for reaching, hooking and/or pulling on another object. They are variously used in boating, construction, logging, rescue and recovery, power line maintenance, and fir ...

used to push wall sections up during a

barn raising A barn raising, also historically called a raising bee or rearing in the U.K., is a collective action of a community, in which a barn for one of the members is built or rebuilt collectively by members of the community. Barn raising was particular ...

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly c ...

is used to lift or pull objects, sometimes in combination with a

windlass The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...

, bullwheel, or

block and tackle A block and tackle or only tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift heavy loads. The pulleys are assembled to form blocks and then blocks are paired so that one is fixed and on ...

. * Cranes are sometimes used to lift assemblies and materials. * Commander or beetel is a large, long handled mallet for forcing timbers together or apart. * Rollers, carts, or other lifting equipment are used to move the heavy timbers

Tool maintenance

Tools require sharpening and replacing handles. *

file (tool) A file is a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. It is common in woodworking, metalworking, and other similar trade and hobby tasks. Most are hand tools, made of a case hardened steel bar of rectangular, square, tri ...

sharpening stone Sharpening stones, or whetstones, are used to sharpen the edges of steel tools such as knives through grinding and honing. Such stones come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and material compositions. They may be flat, for working flat edge ...

Grindstone (tool) A grindstone, also known as grinding stone, is a sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools, used since ancient times. Tools are sharpened by the stone's abrasive qualities that remove material from the tool through friction ...

* hiring a blacksmith * mechanics tools for general repairs such as repairing power cords, changing bits, etc.

Access

Ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such as ...

Scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely used ...

Aerial work platform An aerial work platform (AWP), also known as an aerial device, elevating work platform (EWP), cherry picker, bucket truck or mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment t ...

Safety

* Fall protection *

Hard hat A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Suspensi ...

Safety glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or t ...

* Hearing protection *

First aid kit A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...

External links

The Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, Kobe, Japan

{{Woodworking Woodworking tools Timber framing