Once the timbers are straight, they are ready for the mortise and tenon joinery. Again, we use a tool built in the early 1900s to ensure that all mortises are 1½" square. The Greenlee Hollow chisel mortiser does the job. For all end cuts, we use a 24" DeWalt radial arm saw capable of cutting a 10" timber. This cut brings the joint up tight.

The last large tool on line is a horizontal drill, which keeps all pin holes lined up. The large tools we employ help us to achieve the quality joinery we insist upon, but plenty of hand work still needs to be done. All housings are routed to a depth of 1". Every connecting timber rests on a 1" seat. When the joinery work is completed, the timbers have all sides chamfered with quarter-inch roundovers. We then sand the timbers and finish them with a beautiful Danish oil. The frame is then ready to be shipped to the home site where it will be erected either by us or by someone else under our supervision.