What do you think?

I will have to say that cutting the joint by hand with no power tools was a lot easier than I thought. Much to my surprise! The 2" hand auger did a nice job on the four holes (about 5 minutes each).

Getting into a nice rhythm and steady pace the drill advanced about 1/8" per turn. I appreciated the cool weather!

Although I did not have to stop and back out the auger to clear the chips I did have to use a needle nose pliers to pick out the chips that spilled out into the adjacent holes and would bind from time to time.

A little work on the tenon with the handsaw and the joint would be finished. Overall time for the hand cut joint 45 minutes. Note: in the background you can see the first log cabin I built in 2004. This time I have a great place to warm up and drink coffee ("think") between log joints. Should keep me busy all winter!

So there you have it. A 2" hand auger, 2"framing chisel, corner chisel, hammer and hand saw, plus a little will power and you have one nice floor beam joint.

Compare that to making the same joint with modern day power tools.

A chainsaw was used to cut the sides of the mortis after holes were drilled and the tenon end.

Here you can see all the tools (and cost) that modern technology requires - Chainsaw ($400), 2" Milwaukee self-feeding bit ($40) Milwaukee Hole Hawg ($300) 3500 Watt Generator ($300) 2" Framing chisel, Corner chisel, Hammer! 

Although the power tools got the job done in 1/3 of the time (15 minutes) the hand tool experience has given me a lot to think about. How the actual builders of the original barn worked and spent their day making joint after joint with only chisels, hammer and handsaw.

Actually by using power tools I will have about 30 minutes after each joint to just "think"! What do you think?

Would the pioneers have used chainsaws?

I bet they would have, had they had one! The oak timbers are extremely dry and hard.

Making this first 4"x4"x6" notch for the porch sill in this 8"x8" piece was a real workout even with drilling 2" diameter holes first with the Milwaukee Hole Hawg! As I chiseled away what a difference from the green pine I was used to.

I did the first one by hand but used the carving chainsaw to rough out the second one and then cleaned it up with the 2" framing chisel. Cutting the time for a single notch in half to 15 minutes.  I think I will bore the 2" holes for one by hand (out of respect to the barn builder) and to get a real feel for the amount of work (and time) that was involved in building the original barn.

Just imagine cutting and fitting all the pieces for this barn - by hand! Think about getting one of the top pieces up in place and having it not fit!

I will be working on calculating the weight of the Oak beams that I am using.  Anyone want to take a guess at the weight of the 12' - 8"x8"  piece sitting on the floor sill in the middle picture above?