Marriage Marks in Reclaimed Timber
One day in our yard I noticed these two reclaimed timbers sitting side by side on top of a pile of timber. The roman numeral VIII and the 1E shown in this photograph were how timber frames of old were marked for assembly. Hewn timber of old was neither straight, square nor flat, so the joinery wasn't interchangeable. To avoid mistakes when raising the frame later, joiners scribed marks into timbers that were fit to each other, or married.
© Carolina Timberworks