Saturday, November 15, 2008

Another taste of Pleasant Hill Shaker Village

I was able to go up to the attic of one of the buildings in Pleasant Hill Shaker Village and see the incredible timber-frame construction of the roof.  I'll post more pictures later, but even the floor was amazing to see.  Some of the boards were probably 30" wide, something almost unheard of today.  I guess the light happened to be at just the right angle to allow me to see this. This board has the original toolmarks of the scrub plane a Shaker used to make it the right thickness for the job.  And it shows the 45 degree angle that he used as he went along the board.  This board is a time capsule.  It comes straight from the Shaker who worked it.  It has dried out quite a lot over the last almost 200 years, but it is as if it comes straight from his workbench.  It's truly an honor to be able to see it.

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