Timber framing

Laurie and Henry Russell started work on the timber framed toilet block. We have 60 acres of oak woodland on land close to the farm. Henry is one of the leading timber framers in the UK so was able to show us how to turn a standing oak into usable timber using traditional techniques. Once a suitable tree was felled and cut to length the timber was marked with a chalk line and then hewed using side axes. Within 3 days we managed to hew all the timber we needed.

It was a very fast and efficient way of making your own timber but also very tiring and knuckle bashing for Laurie the novice!

It feels really good to be using turning wood off the farm into such a beautiful building. The oak pieces will be taken back up to farm where we can make all the joints and peg it together. Whatch this space…..!

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