Amazing Dovetail Joinery at Ft. Ross

I guess those carpenters had a lot of time on their hands, ummm, hand tools. Beautiful work they did.

-- Smile. Life can be FUN!

Anyone could do that with a WoodRat. Ha, ha, ha.

Neat. I like your photos. They have a nice quality about them. The outside phots are especially nice because of the tent lighting from the low clouds.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

Blake,

These are great photos thanks for sharing. Do you know if they also used glue on those dovetails joints or just the joinery. Just kidding! Goes to show you that good joinery has many uses.

-- Brian, Folsom, CA http://www.brianfullerdesigns.com

Blake this is a good one for “You Know Your A LumberJock…” You go on a vacation and all you notice is the joinery. I did the same think this past summer when my wife & I went to Maine & New Hampshire.

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

And also that good joinery will stand the test of time.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Too bad craftsmanship like that is fading fast. I favorited it and hope to visit some day. Thanks for the pictures.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

WOW

WOW

That is so cool. Thanks Blake, I love it. Someone had a lot of fun rebuilding a few of those too.

Major amounts of lumber.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Blake, thanks for sharing these pictures. They are fantastic!...very interesting…makes one appreciate what was done with hand tools at that time.

-- Martin, Kansas

I went to fort ross about 4 years ago…it is really amazing…pretty far up the coast…now with your photos I want to go AGAIN…unfortunately this was before I started wood working…and so I never notice all the joinery! It is truly an amzing place…its pretty big…I was impressed as a History teacher…Now I am impressed as a wood worker…so cool…thanks for sharing these…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...119 days to sanity...

Blake, That was really awesome to see… Thanks for sharing this…

-- God will match you to the size of your Destiny… http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6514763

Thanks for sharing these photos, Blake!

-- North Texas

The big bad wolf is not going to blow that structure down. Built to last all sorts of things.

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Great Post.. and pictures… Thanks for sharing.

-- Brian's Table Top Toys http://home.mountaincable.net/~bgraham/

Thank you Blake, to do such big job for us – taking photos, load them to the web, writing.
Very interesting and inspairing.
Sounds like a bunch of crazy dowtailers have done it – in a good sence.
Very precise and skillful job they did.
Honesly, thank you very much.
Can not come over to your land to see it so very apriciate your effort.

-- goldenhands

I love joinery! This is a feast for my eyes!! Thanks for sharing, Blake!!

-- Matt, Houston Texas

A timber framers dream! Thanks for sharing.

-- Don, Pittsburgh

Blake an excellent photo essay – thanks for the post

-- Phil in British Columbia

What a great post. Thanks for sharing it man!

-- Maplewood, MN

Appreciate the tour…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Thanks for sharing the photos. That is cool!

-- Jimmy

I love to see this type of work thanks for posting.I always like the way the old timers did things they often put us to shame.The problem is we are all in such a hurry these days we don’t stop to enjoy working without the pressures we could do without.The Japanese are very good at these joints too well done for posting thanks again regards Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Pretty neat looking, got me interested enough to do a quick google search, came across this interesting graphic guide. Shows a lot of early timer joinery.

Historic American Timer Joinery

Now that’s a vacation worthy of a wood worker. Enjoyed the pictures

-- Bill from Lithia Springs, GA I love the smell of sawdust in the morning.

Blake – I grew up near Fort Ross, and as a kid I knew a lot of the guys that did the reconstruction, as well as the (late) ranger John McKenzie who really drove a lot of the Fort Ross historical recreation. They did all the work with hand tools – adzes for surfacing, etc. Dave Lynn of Canyon Construction (http://www.canyonconstruction.com/portfolio/ftross.htm#), who led the project, had a lot of background in Japanese construction techniques, which I think informed some of the details like the scarf joints. Or least the aesthetic, for sure.

Nils

-- Nils Davis, Menlo Park, CA

Thanks Blake for posting these wonderful pics, very impressive jointery! I would like to one day be able to incorporate some japanese joints in my projects. Definately adding this to my fav’s.

-- Tim: Remember, if it doesn't say "Binford", someone else made it.

Wonderful photos! Great history lesson. Lots of comments to gain a deeper appreciation. Thanks!

-- Rich, Seattle, WA