Building a barn one old beam at a time

(North County News) - Tom Donohue sadly admits he is one of a dying breed of craftsmen. But he will continue to build timber frame structures the old fashioned way — putting together salvaged logs with wooden pegs — as long as he can find clients who value his skill.
He takes on one timber frame building project a year. The process is a slow one. First he tears down an old barn or other farm building. Then he trucks the beams to the site of the new building. After discarding those with rot or termite damage, he replaces them with new beams. He assembles the entire structure — walls and roof rafters — flat on the ground. Only then is he ready for “crane day,” when a large crane lifts up each section and holds it in place until he and friends climb up and hammer in wooden pegs to stabilize the whole thing.
“It’s just like Lincoln logs,” he said. Continued

Canon EOS 30D & EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens