Timber-Frame

Terminology
BAY. For efficiency in both construction
effort and material use, timber-frame
structures are typically erected in boxlike
sections, called bays, consisting of two
bents (one on each end) along with
additional frame members that connect the
bents and form the structure.
BEAM. Any horizontal timber.
BENT. Each bent forms an end-wall in a
bay. Like individual slices in a bread loaf,
bents extend completely through the
structure from one end to the other, and
from the foundation base to the topmost
ridge, and serve as the major load-bearing
assemblies in a timber frame. Bents are
usually built flat on the ground or floor
deck, then raised to their vertical position
with a crane (or many willing hands).
CHAMFER. A 45-degree flat edge
planed or routed along the outer, or
leading, edges of a timber. Although
chamfers are essentially decorative, they
are often placed where occupants may
come into contact with sharply cut,
exposed timber angles and edges to
prevent injury.
GREEN TIMBER. Wood used in timber
framing is often built into a frame soon
after it is cut, when it is still green,
without any intermediate drying period.
The joinery used in such a frame is
designed to tighten and become stronger
as this green wood dries and shrinks in the
framework. Sometimes, timbers are airdried in weather-protected enclosures to
remove moisture and reduce them to
nominal finished size, or kiln dried in a
heated environment to almost furnituregrade condition.

POST. Any vertical timber.

RECLAIMED TIMBER. Wood that is
salvaged intact from older timber-frame
buildings such as barns, mills and
factories, and is then reused or recycled
into a new structure. Owners often pay a
premium for the unique appearance and
qualities of aged or antique timbers.
TIMBER. According to standard lumber
classifications, a timber is a length of solid
wood with a cross-section greater than
five inches on a side. Mill construction, a
designation for fire code requirements,
calls for structural timbers cut to a
minimum of eight inches per side.
Timbers are used interchangeably as both
posts and beams in timber-frame
buildings.
TRUNNEL. A large wood dowel or peg
used as a fastener in wood joinery. The
word is derived from the descriptive term
tree nail. Depending on the builder or
owners prerogatives, the exposed pegs
are either cut off flat to the face of the
timbers or remain uncut to extend beyond
for a more rustic look.
TRUSS. An arrangement of horizontal
and vertical timbers used to support a
roof, upper floor or balcony. A truss
combines and multiplies the weightbearing strength of its individual timbers,
allowing the assembly to span a greater
unsupported area and carry heavier loads.
Various types of roof truss designs are
available, including hammer beam and
scissor trusses.
Construction Components Terms
BEAM. Any horizontal timber.
BRACE. Variously called knee braces,
angle braces or wind braces, these short,
diagonally positioned timber supports are

used as reinforcement in the corners of a

frame to prevent shear, or horizontal
movement.
GIRT. This critical frame component
forms a horizontal band, or girdle,
completely around a timber frame. Often
referred to as a girder, bent girt or girding
beam, it also serves as the base, or sill, for
each upper floor and is frequently used as
the outer support beam for individual floor
joists.
GUNSTOCK POST. Also known as a
jowled post, this unique vertical support is
dimensionally wider at the top to enable it
to form an intersection for multiple beams
and support members.
HAMMER BEAM. An elaborate type of
tie beam used in open or unconnected
trusses, often in conjunction with a curved
brace, which helps to transmit the weight
of a structures roof to the walls.
JOIST. These
horizontal
beams
simultaneously carry the weight of interior
flooring and serve as room ceiling
supports. Joists are supported by major
horizontal support members such as girts
and intermediary weight-bearing beams
such as summer beams.
KING POST. This key timber forms the
center point in a truss, or geometric
support framework, and is often used as
an intersection for other frame members.
Although it is, technically speaking, a
post, it is usually suspended from above
and rarely extends to the floor of a
structure.
PLATE. A beam that forms the horizontal
base of the structure and serves as a
foundation or attachment point for vertical
frame members such as posts and walls.
POST. Any vertical timber.

PURLIN. The upper sections of timberframe bents are often connected and
reinforced horizontally by purlins, which
also support the roof deck.
QUEEN POSTS. These vertical frame
members are used in a truss configured
with two symmetrical posts instead of, or
in addition to, a single king post.
RAFTER. Roof-support timbers that
extend upward, from the wall plate to the
topmost ridge beam, are called rafters.
Rafters and purlins are sometimes used in
combination. Principal rafters form the
sloping
gable
roofline on each bent.
RIDGE. This
horizontal
member,
otherwise known as a ridge beam or ridge
plate, connects the bents at the apex of a
timber-frame gable. Ridge beams are not
always required and may be omitted in
some structures.
SUMMER BEAM. Sometimes referred
to as a center girt, this beam is typically
used to span large open areas and support
the weight of other beams, such as joists
at the center of a floor. Because it is
required to bear considerable weight, it is
often the single largest wood component
in a timber-frame structure.
TIE BEAM. An auxiliary frame member,
also known as a collar tie, it is installed
horizontally between roof rafters to
prevent a roof from spreading apart
because of structural (weight) loading.
Joinery Terms
BIRDSMOUTH. A complex cut made at
the tail end, or bottom, of a rafter that
allows the timber to extend over and past
the wall top plate, providing a greater
bearing and attachment surface.

BUTT. One of the least complicated

joints, in which mating pieces are squarecut and simply butted against one another.
Because this joint has little inherent
strength and depends on gravity or
fasteners to remain in place, it is typically
limited to intersections that are not subject
to movement or strong opposing forces,
such as where timber posts rest atop
horizontal beams.

complimentary cuts in the rafter and plate

to resist downward and outward thrust, as
well as side-to-side movement.

DOVETAIL. A commonly used joint that

includes a fan-shaped tusk or tenon that
drops into and interlocks in a similarly
shaped pocket cut. The wedge-like shape
of this extremely strong joint prevents the
interlocked timbers from shifting or
separating from one another.

SHOULDER. A ledge cut into the face of

a joint; this added facet increases a beams
load-carrying capacity by transferring
downward force directly to the post while
the joints tenon resists the lateral load, or
tension.

LAP. A joint in which the ends of two

timbers are cut at matching angles and
simply overlaid, or overlapped, then
fastened to each other. Because the wood
grain direction of the mating pieces is
parallel, these joints are easily concealed
and often invisible. Lap joints are
typically used to extend, or lengthen,
timbers in long horizontal runs.
MORTISE & TENON. A frequently
used joint in timber framing, it includes a
male end (tenon) cut onto the end of one
timber that fits into a square-cut matching
female receptacle (mortise). Like many
timber frame joints, it is often locked in
place by the addition of hardwood dowels,
or pegs, called trunnels (tree nails).
POCKET CUT. Similar to a mortise, this
joint receptacle typically is open in two
dimensions; cut into the side or top face of
a timber, it is designed to receive an
identically shaped tenon or tusk formed at
the end of a mating timber.
STEP-LAPPED RAFTER SEAT. An
improved type of birdsmouth and
overlapping joint, it typically includes

SPLINE. A long, relatively thin wood

section used to splice two timbers or
reinforce a joint. The spline is typically
layered between the timbers and the
assembly is fastened through with wood
dowels.

THROUGH JOINT. A descriptive term

used for joints in which a tenon or tusk
passes completely through a mortise or
pocket cut into the receiving timber.
TONGUE & FORK. A specialized joint
often used to connect the upper ends of
rafters that meet to form a peak, or gable.
One timber end is cut in an open U-shaped
configuration (the fork), and a single
tongue formed on the intersecting timber
closely fits into the space between the fork
ends.
TUSK. A tenon-like extension formed at
the end of a timber that fits into a
matching mortise or pocket cut; this joint
typically includes an additional shoulder
or ledge cut into the outside face of the
joint.
WEDGE. A wood shim inserted into a
joint to tighten and lock the intersecting
timbers in place.