Here’s a quick little video of one of our favorite tricks we’ve learned during the Timber Frame Workshop: the so-called “French snap”. After you saw the tenon shoulder one on side of your piece, flip the timber and saw the end cut down to that same shoulder cut depth. Once you’ve got your cuts, you can snap the material off by striking it with a heavy mallet. It works with straight grain and eliminates extra sawing and splitting. It’s very satisfying!

We’ve been saving all of our  French snap “trophies” in a pile. The workshop has been full of great tricks and bits of knowledge like this.

Our French snap trophies