Timber Framing Symbols

[Joel d.]

The topic - Timber Framing Symbols is an attempt to see what kinds of markings the members of this forum use when timber framing and to see which ones are set in stone and which ones are personal markings of thier own.

[Joel d.]

For those who are shy out there, here is a question to get things rolling.

What kinds of marks or symbols are used in Square Rule and/or Scribe Rule (French, English, German Fretwork) and if so, what do they all mean and what do they look like?

[Dave Shepard]

Welcome to the Forum, Joel d.

I don't have any pictures of the French scribe marking system, but it is the most complicated I've seen. They each have a name, like The Rooster, or The Duck. The traditional square rule markings I've seen are simple chisel marks across the grain. Each bent is assigned a number, starting at one end, either the east or the west, I've forgotten. The North and South sides of the frame get different size chisel marks, either 1.5" or 2" The N,S,E,W are not necessarily related to the earths North and South, but rather the ridge of the frame. Perhaps someone has some pictures of the French scribe markings to share. The scribe rule frames I have seen here were a combination of circles, slashes, and half-circles.

[Rooster]

I mainly restore and repair old timber-frame dairy barns in Southern Wisc.  I sometimes get the oppurtunity to disassemble and reconstruct one of these "gems".  I use "blank" livestock ID tags (cow collar tags) stapled to the outside face of a member or on the shoulder cut of the tenon, and use a black magic marker to ID the beams with an acronym and numerical code....such as ID'ing the "purlin post above the third bent on the East side of the building"....the tag would read..."Bnt3PrPE".

Here is a list of abbreviations/codes:

Bent ........Bnt
Post .........P
Tie beam ...Tb
Girt ..........Gt
Sill beam ...Sb
Purlin ........Pr
Diagonal ...Dia
Top plate ...Tp
Interior ......Int
Exterior ....Ext
N.S.E.W.

Rafter pairs I scribe with a Roman numeral.  When I do get the chance to timber-frame from "scratch" I like to use the traditional sqare rule marking system for show...but still rely on the tags during assembly.

[Thehardway]

Joel,

The Single Brothers home in Old Salem, NC is a timberframe structure and the markings are visible on the exterior walls.  Most of the markings resemble a Roman Numeral type system.  This was built by a moravian community ca. 1769.

[Jim_Rogers]

Back in 02, I went to a project where the guild taught us how to record a standing structure for creating a drawing. And how to label it for disassembly.

During the first day of the recording session, we discovered markings on the timbers like this:



and:



We couldn't really understand what these all meant.

This barn was 36' long and 38' wide and it was constructed in 1856 or there about.

Being that the barn was wider then it was long, it was assumed that the builders could have had some Dutch influence. And that these markings could be a method used by the Dutch to label their timbers.

I posted these photos on the guild site and asked if anyone could understand what these meant.

I did receive some photos and some explanation of the German way of marking timbers.





and:



Basically in German marking systems, they pick one corner of the building as the starting spot and number out from there.

As each country had timber framers; there are many marking systems.

We usually use the English system with Roman numerals, as mentioned before.

And use two different chisels to create these marks so that you can have two number one timbers but one is one side and one it the other of a bent.



In the above photo, you you look closely you'll see the three marks on the tie beam for bent three, and the four marks on the tie beam for bent four.

As there are so many different ways to mark timbers, one could spend a lifetime trying to understand them all.....

Jim Rogers

[kfhines]

There are 10 bents in my Dutch style frame, Roman numeral from West to East. 2" chisel designating the South end and 1 1/2" chisel on the North, as Jim has shown in his picture of bents III & IIII (not IV). There was no need for tags marking it this way, as every timber only had one place to go. Although it was not an exceptionally large frame. sorry I don't have any close-ups' of the marking handy.

kfhines

[wojotf]

From the French bible for any carpenter - Traité théorique et pratique de charpente by Louis Mazerolle (1875)

In context, it looks like this:

[Brad_bb]

Some use no marks and just write with sharpie on the ends of tenons that won't be seen or shoulder that won't be seen once assembled.