Shopsmith Forums

I have been out of the shop and away from the forum for a while, mainly due to work but also a trip we took to Canada a few weeks ago. While in the Calgary area we came across several 19th century buildings with timber walls constructed with striking compound dovetails that I thought might be of interest. The first two photos below are of the old North West Mounted Police barracks in Canmore, Alberta (built in 1893). The third photo is a detail of a school building from Gleichen (circa 1888) that is now part of the Heritage Park in Calgary.

What us intriguing is the fact that these were cut with such accuracy and with hand made tools.

Thanks for posting this.

You might want to watch the TV series "Barn Builders" if you like this sort to thing.

No onder those buildings are still still standing. To get those joints apart you'd have to unstack all the logs, starting at the top. Or else break the logs at the joint.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:No wonder those buildings are still still standing. To get those joints apart you'd have to unstack all the logs, starting at the top. Or else break the logs at the joint.

And any water that gets into the joint is directed down and out. Also that region is very dry/ low humidity.

I think my Dad still has the old dowel maker my great grand dad .

The show barn builders is a great show ,,it amazes me those buildings can still be torn down and moved and put back original.

They are warm in the winter and cool in the summer .

It also amazes me how, when a joint must be cut in replacement timber, how they achieve a mating joint with no fancy jigs (and with a chain saw no less).