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22' HAND HEWN HEART PINE BEAM

Hand hewn beams are nostalgic beautiful pieces of history. The hand hewn mantel is a beam that we cut down so you can enjoy the character and charm of a centuries old relic in your home or mountain cottage. 

The hand hewn beam is a fallen log that was shaped into a square or rectangular beam. Hand hewn beams were designed to support the sub structure of barns, buildings and homes. Hand hewn beams have been used since the colonial times. As a matter of fact some of our beams were made over 240 years ago. Hand hewn beams were hewn into shape using a broad axe tool called an ‘adze’. Old timers and artisan craftsman sometimes refer to them as ‘hand adzed’.

For many centuries shaping a log into a beam with an axe was commonplace. Settlers and pioneers used the resources they had which were trees and axes. During the 18th & 19th century nails and sawmills were hard to come by. Nails were expensive and when sawmills came about many were located far from Appalachia homesteads. So, hand hewn beams were used in construction up until the 20th century. When steam power moved into the sawmill, milling practices changed dramatically. At the turn of the 19th century rough sawn beams started showing up in construction. These rough sawn beams were cut with a large circular saw powered by steam engines. These beams have circular saw marks that make them very different from their earlier hand hewn cousins.

25 TO 30 FOOT HAND HEWN OLD GROWTH HEART PINE BEAMS

Hand hewn beams were the 2x4 of the early settlers. Hand hewn beams were necessary in the construction of sturdy barns, homesteads and town buildings. Settlers heading out west found that using trees helped them propagate the land. For most settlers the land needed to be cleared for farming and their grazing animals. When the settlers cleared the land they now had fallen logs to use in the construction of their homes. Most settlers were poor and did not have the iron and metal braces needed to tie these beams together so wooden pins or pegs were used. Beams would be shaped and carved to perfection so they could fit one beam vertically into a horizontal beam with a wooden peg. This practice is called "mortise and tenon". The practice makes for an extremely sturdy building and is still widely used today by expert wood craftsman. Many "mortise and tenon" barns and buildings are still standing today and the buildings that fall into disrepair are "reclaimed". 

That is where your hand hewn reclaimed fireplace mantel comes from!

WE SUPPLY "RECLAIMED WOOD FOR THE PEOPLE"