Good morning! A personal note quickly here for all who have asked. I had my 6-week check-up with the surgeon yesterday and he gave me a clean bill of health - I don't have to go back for a year thankfully. Again, thanks for your prayers and help through this whole time!!! Sandi TIP# 161 - GRANDPA WAS A HOUSEWRIGHT In the construction business, even back to the early settlement days, there were many distinct classifications of craftsmen. These varied from whether it was in the country or the towns. In town there were the carpenter who framed the house and the joiner who did the finishing work. In the country, often the same man wore both hats. They also had other "specialities" including glazing, the making of coffins and sometimes masonry work. The housewright was one of the specialists whose services were called upon in the erecting of a structure. Many types of wood were used for building houses - primarily whatever was available in the area. Oak has long been a favorite because of its durability. So, let's take it step by step and see who did what: The CARPENTER hewed the logs after the tree had been felled. If there was a sawmill handy, he would take the logs to the mill, but many times this was a long trek and he found it easier to do it himself. A "balk line" was made on the log showing the carpenter how much wood to remove. He snapped it on with a stretched string that had been dipped in red ocher known as "keel". The log was braced against two other logs, just off the ground and the hewer started scoring the bark along its right side using a felling axe. An inch or so of wood was allowed to remain outside the balk line and the hewer removed it with his broad axe. He then made a series of "back cuts" . The HOUSEWRIGHT cut the timber to size for the particular house being erected, jointed them and assembled all of them on the ground - laying out a side of the house at a time. Workers came next to raise the frame with long poles known as "pikes". The carpenter had to cut the timbers to the correct length using a cross-cut saw. Most posts needed for the house had to have tenons on both ends - this being a projecting piece of wood which was inserted into a mortise cut into the timber - thus allowing the two pieces to be joined together. When the two wood pieces were joined, he used a cross-handled auger to bore a hole straight into both pieces and pinned them with a "trunnel" (tree-nail). It took many hours for a worker or an apprentice to shaping tree-nails. He needed the assistance of the village or country blacksmith to make the tools he needed. These iron tools included the square and level. Many times the tree-nails were driven into the logs by wooden mallets or mauls; the claw-hammer didn't come into vogue until the 18th century. The builder used angled corner braces to "stiffen" the frame of the house, these being positioned between posts and beams and the spaced vertical studs. As the frame was nearing completion, the spaces between the studs was filled "nogging" - a term I can find no definition for. Sometimes stone or clay was used, also lime morter. I believe this is what is more commonly known as "chinking." Later clapboards were used instead of nogging. The tools used by the housewright included the broad axe, chalk line reel, the adz, mortise and tenon, auger, handsaws, squares, levels and hammers or mallets. The SAWYER was one who worked by hand, in pairs, to cut most of the timbers and boards to make the boards for the flooring of the cabin or house, and the wainscotting. It was a recognized craft, but required more brawn than brains. They are considered artisans by many of the old records. The sawyer needed a saw pit These were narrow holes in the ground with the timber laying across the top. If the pit was to be a permanent one, it was sometimes lined with brick at the bottom. The "top sawyer" was the leader or the boss and we worked at the top of the bit. He stood on the timber and guided the saw along a pre-drawn line. He pulled the saw up so the pitman below could pull it down again to make the cut. They used a whipsaw or a sash saw which had a long narrow blade in a wooden frame. As more sawmills came into use, the sawyer's duties became more recognized, and the circular saw came into use in the early 1800's. The JOINER as mentioned above, was a hard working man. He was responsible for dressing the board cut by the sawyer or the planing mill. This was done by hand using plane. The plane removed shavings from the surface of the board and it had to be a constant thickness. He had many different varities of planes to work with, most were made of maple. He worked diligently to shape the wood according to specification and then pierced it with a hole. This hole was wide at the top and tapered down to a blade slot in the bottom of the wood. He cut a sloping "frog" to receive the blade and the wedge that held it. The primary planes were known as the jack plane (used for rough work - 17 inches long, curved blade edge and deep set); the trying plane (also known as the short joiner - used to smoothing boards and squaring the edges, 20 inches long); the long jointer (used for smoothing of floors, 30 inches long), and the smoothing plane (7 inches long and used for trimming.) He also used rabbet planes, joiner's clamps, marking gauges, brace and bit and bow drills. He also constructed wooden staircases, window frames, sashes, simple furniture, drawers, panel carvings and other miscellaneous tasks! © Copyright 7 July 1998, Sandra K. Gorin, All rights reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Sandi Gorin - 205 Clements Ave., Glasgow, KY 42141-3409 (502)651-9114 or sgorin@glasgow-ky.com A Proud Kentucky Colonel PUBLISHING: http://members.tripod.com/~GorinS/index.html KYRESEARCH: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios BARREN CO OBITUARIES: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/BarrenObits PRAYER&PRAISE: http://www.listbot.com/subscribe/prayerandpraise