Computers assist carpenters match precision of their forebears

5 Responses to Computers assist carpenters match precision of their forebears

1. Entropy says:

   4 June, 2023 at 12:04 pm

   I think I would want to make use of the latest tools available.
2. C.L. says:

   4 June, 2023 at 2:08 pm

   They are using original tools (as seen in pics) but will use trucks to transport the new frame and a crane to hoist it.

   It’s incredible to ponder what the builders accomplished – precision-wise – nine centuries ago. We think we’re smarter than people were then but we’re not.

   I would prefer the restoration did not have a “deadline” (Christmas, 2024).

   That invites corner-cutting.
3. Entropy says:

   4 June, 2023 at 4:13 pm

   Ever read Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett?

   It is a semi fictional story framed around different methods and origins of medieval Cathedral building. A good story.
4. calli says:

   4 June, 2023 at 4:35 pm

   Thanks for this post, C.L. They also use the adze, which is axe-like but cuts horizontally.

   They were, and are still, accurate because they do what my father always told me – measure twice, cut once. The types of tools used to cut a roof are simple – apart from the actual saws and adzes and axes, a measure, a compass and dividers, protractor and plumb-bob. And, most important of all, a functioning brain or two. The trusses need a jig, and once that’s set you can produce lots of them, all the same.

   The original measurements and angles will have been shot using the latest technology. All the carpenters have to do (ha!) is build it.

   Good stuff. And all to the glory of God.
5. Nelson_Kidd-Players says:

   5 June, 2023 at 7:01 pm

   We’re not smarter, we just have more giants’ shoulders to stand on.