Hand hewn reclaimed barn wood box beams

What are Reclaimed Hand Hewn Box Beams?

What are Reclaimed Hand Hewn Box Beams?

The term 'hew' means to strike or blow with a tool such as an axe. Hewing wood is using a sharp instrument such as a broad hewing axe and adze to shape a log from an uneven circle to a box or square shape. Simply put, it is using a tool to make a round log beam of wood suitable for framing structures by hewing the log into a dimensional beam. Hand hewing is the process of doing this by hand, without machinery.

When a log is hand hewn into a beam, it has unique tool marks, slices and scores ensuring no two beams look the same. Once the most common but labor-intensive methods of creating sturdy beams for building frames and structures, machinery replaced most hand hewing by the early 1900s. Hand hewing is a painstakingly long process and has been all but abandoned with the exception of some craftsmen dedicated to the artistic nature of it. Now that heavy machinery can create a solid wood beam in a manner of minutes, the hand-hewn process is almost strictly a thing of the past.

Here's a great and short article with tool images to learn more about the hewing process by going here.

Hewing Axes And Adzes

Example of a Hand hewn Box Beam:

Hand Hewn Box Beam Mantel Picture

Hand hewing is the method by which dimensional timbers were hand cut using hand tools like broad axes and adzes, to chop away excess material, turning a round tree log into a square or rectangular beam suitable for building or structure. .

Here's a great video showing how a log is hand hewn in the process of making a cabin:

This is just a portion of what there is to know about a wood box beam. Learn everything you need to know before pulling the trigger on buying a box beam by reading our all in one top tips on wood box beams here.

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