• Timber framing is a traditional skill.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Traditional timber framing was accomplished with surprisingly few tools. With the advent of electricity and gasoline, many new power tools have entered the field, but solid and beautiful timber frames can still be constructed using only a few high-quality hand tools. Unless you are a professional timber framer, hand tools make more sense in many cases. They are safer, less expensive and much quieter to use.
  
  

Measuring and Marking Devices

• A combination square is used for measuring and squaring and as a straight edge. Marks can be made on the timber with a carpenter's pencil or with a sharp awl. Lengths are measured with a wooden folding rule or with a measuring tape.
  
  

Mortising Tools

• A mortise is a hole in a piece of wood into which a tenon is fitted. The mortise and tenon joint is one of the basic building methods in timber framing. Mortising can be accomplished by drilling holes into the wood with a power drill or with a hand drill brace and then squaring the holes with a chisel, or by using a mortising machine. A mortising machine is a specialized tool for timber framing, and consists of a drill bit suspended in a frame that can be clamped around the timber. This allows you to drill plumb and accurate holes into the timber.
  
  

Chisels and Slicks

• Chisels are used for smoothing the edges of tenons, flattening the sides of mortises and shearing off the ends of pins. Slicks are oversized chisels that are used mostly for timber framing. A timber framing slick can be up to two feet long, with blades three or four inches wide. Their huge size allows larger areas to be flattened more accurately and work to be accomplished more quickly.
  
  

The "Persuader"

• Timber framing often requires very large, heavy timbers to be moved very accurately. The easiest way to do this in many situations is with a "persuader," a very large and heavy wooden sledgehammer. Persuaders are frequently made out of a piece of timber by drilling a hole through it and attaching a handle. The large size and wooden material of a persuader allow it to nudge timbers laterally without denting or damaging them.
  
  

Hand Planes

• Hand planes are non-specialized tools that are used in many different kinds of woodworking. In timber framing, they are used primarily for cleaning up the surfaces of the timbers. They can also be used in lieu of a chisel to take a shaving off the side of a tenon and make it fit better into a mortise.