Plumb at work

David Martin

David Martin

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Apr 7, 2008
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Not cutting wood but using it. Today we have been adding another 8' to the pole barn. I used my Plumb victory (circa 1945) to drive #60 ring shank nails, to hold 2- 4"X 4" post together. These were used as a post. Using it to notch and nail, this hatchet excels at these task. It has good weight in it's head. For non-carpenter ax men, these are 6" hard to drive specialty nails. That won't pull out! They are used to build rural wood bridges and barns, ect.. It drove those in without hesitation. Plenty of good force. Glad I had this tool for the job. DM
plumb6.jpg plumb7.jpg
 
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Thank you Ax Men. This morning I moved those grain barrels over (left) to in front of the hay. We store pellet feed in them. This gave the goats
more wind break and room in the stall. The milking stand I built is in the middle, right edge of the photo. We really like the taste of goats milk.
My wife makes cheese and yogurt with it too. DM
 
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Keeps the wind out and the rain off. Lucky animals.

You might want to add a diagonal brace to that wood gate. It should go from the bottom hinge up to where the chain is.
 
Yes, I was giving that item some thought yesterday. As a gate will sag. Still, a good point. DM
 
I have the materials to do either one. Which do you suspect is stronger? No livestock is pushing against it. So, all were talking about is keeping
the gate from sagging. DM
 
Square_peg said:
Keeps the wind out and the rain off. Lucky animals.

You might want to add a diagonal brace to that wood gate. It should go from the bottom hinge up to where the chain is.
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Sorry, but it should go from top hinge to bottom outside corner. I've built a few gates.
And those Plumb rigging axes are the bomb.
 
freefalltheyounger said:
Sorry, but it should go from top hinge to bottom outside corner. I've built a few gates.
Click to expand...

Wrong. I've fixed a lot of your gates, or at least gates built by those who believe as you do. That method puts the brace in tension rather than in compression.

In a perfect world an engineer would tell you that a diagonal brace across a rectangle in either direction would hold the same. But wood isn't a perfect medium. Wood checks and fasteners loosen over time. Then a brace in tension begins to pull loose. The brace in compression from the lower hinge is more durable. Sure, the wood itself will shrink in time and a small amount of settling will occur from that. But you can design for that.

A gate built by your method will drag on the ground in a few years. It's far better than no brace but not as good as a brace in compression.
 
Square-peg is correct. I repaired and reconstructed a lot of plank built doors on early American houses, log cabins and barns. They were all done as SP described. Who cares what an engineer has to say anyway? Our forefathers knew how to do it, pay attention to history!
 
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