Media Studio Entryway Woodwork

Progress is being made on the Media Studio entryway. This long beam is the main ridge of the entryway and is almost ready for installation.

The classic tool in the following photo with Kumarnathaswami using it, is an Ajax No. 8 Barn Beam Drill, made of cast iron and oak. Such drills were common in the latter part of the 19th century, used for drilling large holes for mortising in timberframe construction, such as the building of those marvelous old barns that used to adorn the countryside from sea to sea. The drill removes most of the waste in the mortise which is then squared up and cleaned out with chisels. The mortise's purpose is to accept a tenon cut on the end of a joining post. 
Kumarnathaswami purchased this drill on ebay specifically for our timber-frame work on the Media Studio entry system. Despite being 150 years old, it is in perfect shape and functions flawlessly and easily, a remarkable wonder from the days before power tools came on the scene. It is also easy to use and a lot of fun. It just makes you feel good just to look at it, drill a hole or watch someone use it!

As you can see the beam stretches all the way to the back wall behind Task-forcer Cody.

An exact double of the lower piece will be glued to the opposite side (now the top) and the whole thing will stand verticle. The groove seen on the smaller piece will hold a strip of copper which runs the length of the beam.

The Ajax No. 8 Barn Beam Drill

It works really well, and we\

ve used it to make the mortise in the beams'

Cody has been a tremendous help, sharpening the bits along with countless other tools including chisels and planes

Here is one of the completed cross beams, you can see the finished mortise in the center.

The beam has been artistically enhanced with the use of a curved japanese plane

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