VIII · Strength

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Quietbeam Works Commission

Joinery & timber framing The Long Shed, Pellmire

Quiet work that carries weight.

We make furniture to commission, oak frames, stairs and shelving. Every piece is held by joints cut by hand and fitted dry before it leaves the shop, so we can show you exactly why it will hold.

Start a commission Pull a joint apart

Timber
Oak, walnut, ash, chestnut, Douglas fir
Fasteners
Oak pegs, glue, and the joints themselves
Lead time
Six to fourteen weeks
An oak post head drawn in isometric: a tie beam across a wall plate, two arch braces and five oak pegs, raised piece by piece.

Sheet 01

What we make

Four kinds of work, all in solid timber, all drawn for the place they will stand. Prices are where most commissions start; the drawing fixes the final one.

  1. Tables & furniture

    Dining tables, benches, desks and cabinets, drawn for the room they are going into and the people who will sit at them.

    Timber
    Oak, walnut, ash
    Joints
    Mortise and tenon, dovetails
    Lead time
    8–12 weeks
    From
    $3,800 six-seat oak table

  2. Oak frames

    Porches, carports and garden studios in green oak. Cut and test-fitted in our yard, then raised on your site in a day or two.

    Timber
    Green oak, fir rafters
    Joints
    Pegged tenons, scarfs
    Lead time
    10–14 weeks
    From
    $9,500 porch frame, raised

  3. Stairs

    Straight and winding flights with housed stringers, set out full size on a board before a single tread is cut.

    Timber
    Oak, ash treads
    Joints
    Housings, wedged tenons
    Lead time
    8–10 weeks
    From
    $7,400 straight flight, fitted

  4. Shelves & built-ins

    Alcove shelving, bookcases and window seats, thick enough to carry a full row of hardcovers without a sag.

    Timber
    Oak, walnut, poplar to paint
    Joints
    Dadoes, through dovetails
    Lead time
    4–6 weeks
    From
    $1,200 one alcove, four shelves

Something that isn’t on the list? Most of our best work started that way. Tell us what you need

Sheet 02

Anatomy of a joint

Everything we make is held together by joints you can see and name. Choose one, pull it apart, and follow it step by step to see why it holds.

Through dovetail drawn apart: the walnut tail board lifted clear of the oak pin board, parts numbered 1 to 3.

Through dovetail

Drawers, chests and cabinet corners: anywhere that gets pulled.

  1. The corner of a walnut and oak chest. Nothing but the joint and a little glue holds it.

  2. Lift the walnut board clear: the tail board (1), the pin board (2) and its pins (3).

  3. Each tail (4) widens toward its end at 1 in 7: enough to lock, not so much that the short grain splits.

  4. It goes together one way only. Pull the front, as a drawer is pulled all its life, and the tails wedge tighter against the pins (5).

  1. Tail board, walnut
  2. Pin board, oak
  3. Pins, cut to the tails
  4. Tail, flared 1 in 7
  5. The one way it opens
Pegged mortise and tenon drawn apart: the oak post, the rail with its tenon, and the peg, numbered 1 to 3.

Drawbored mortise & tenon

Frames, benches, tables and doors: anywhere a rail meets a post.

  1. A rail meeting a post, the way a bench or a frame is built. Only the end of an oak peg shows.

  2. The post (1) with its mortise, the rail (2) with its tenon, and the peg (3), split from the log so the grain runs its whole length.

  3. The hole through the post (4) and the hole through the tenon (5) are bored a sixteenth of an inch out of line, on purpose.

  4. Driving the peg bends it through both holes and draws the shoulder (6) hard against the post. It stays tight even if the glue gives up.

  1. Post, oak
  2. Rail and tenon
  3. Peg, riven oak
  4. Hole through the post
  5. Hole through the tenon
  6. Shoulder, drawn tight
Keyed scarf joint drawn apart: the lower and upper halves and the folding wedges, numbered 1 to 3.

Tabled scarf with wedges

Wall plates, ridge beams and repairs to old frames: anywhere one tree is not long enough.

  1. Two lengths of oak made into one longer beam, for a span no single tree will give you.

  2. The lower half (1), the upper half (2) and a pair of folding wedges (3) split from the same heart oak.

  3. A stepped face on each half (4, 5) hooks into the other, so the beam cannot slide apart along its length.

  4. Wedges driven from opposite sides (6) push the halves apart along the beam until every face bears hard. Then we peg it.

  1. Lower half
  2. Upper half
  3. Folding wedges
  4. Table, lower half
  5. Table, upper half
  6. Wedges, driven home

Sheet 03

How a commission runs

No surprises and no rush. This is the schedule for a typical table; frames and stairs follow the same steps over longer weeks.

  1. Week 0

    The visit

    One of us comes to measure and to look at the floor, the walls and the light. It is free and takes about an hour.

  2. Weeks 1–2

    Drawings, then the rod

    You get scaled drawings and a fixed price. Once you say yes, we set the piece out full size on a board, the rod, and mark every part from it.

  3. Weeks 2–4

    Timber, in stick

    We pick the boards with you if you’d like to come, then stack them in the shop so they settle to its air.

  4. Weeks 4–10

    Cut and fitted dry

    Joints are cut, fitted and taken apart again, without glue, until each one closes by hand.

  5. Weeks 11–12

    Delivered and fitted

    We bring it, assemble it, peg it and level it, and leave the cutoffs if you want them for kindling.

The first visit costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Ask for a visit

Sheet 04

The timber stack

Five timbers do nearly all our work. Each arrives as whole boards, sawn through the log, and spends weeks in stick in the shop before it is cut.

Five boards stacked in stick to air-dry, from the bottom: Douglas fir, sweet chestnut, ash, oak and walnut, with thin spacer sticks between them.
Walnut
Dark, close and calm to work. Tabletops, small cabinets and the key in our mark.
Oak
Our everyday timber. Heavy and hard, and it silvers outdoors. Frames, tables, stairs.
Ash
Pale and springy. Chair parts, stair treads and anything that has to bend a little.
Sweet chestnut
Oak’s steadier cousin. It moves less as it dries. Outdoor benches, gates, cladding.
Douglas fir
Long, straight, light for its strength. Rafters, joists and the big spans.

Sheet 05

The Long Shed

An old ropewalk shed at the end of Sawpit Row, 130 feet long and full of north light. Four benches along the windows, the timber racks along the back wall, and a yard big enough to lay out a whole frame.

Three joiners and an apprentice work here. Most of the cutting is done by hand; the bandsaw and the planer do the heavy, dull parts so our hands are fresh for the joints.

  • Monday Sharpening, then the week’s cutting list.
  • Thursday Frames laid out on the yard floor.
  • Saturday Open shop, 9 am–noon. Come and look, or bring a chair that needs mending.
A plan of the workshop: the Long Shed, 130 feet long, with four benches under its north windows and timber racks along the back wall; the yard to the south with boards stacked in stick and a frame laid out on the floor; the gate onto Sawpit Row. Mill race 130 ft Benches The Long Shed Timber racks Stove Boards in stick Framing floor N 0 15 30 ft Sawpit Row Gate, No. 9

Sheet 06

Straight answers

The questions we are asked most at the Saturday open shop.

How long will I wait?

Most furniture takes eight to twelve weeks from a signed drawing. Frames take longer because the oak is cut and test-fitted in our yard first. We give you a date with the price, and we plan the shop around it.

Do you use screws or metal hardware?

The joints do the work. We use glue in furniture and oak pegs in frames. Stainless screws appear only where they are hidden and can be replaced, such as anchoring a bookcase to a wall.

Will green oak move and crack?

A little, and that is expected. Green oak shrinks as it dries over a few years and fine splits, called shakes, open along the grain. They don’t weaken the frame, and we can show you some on older frames in the yard.

How do payments work?

A third when you sign the drawing, a third when your timber is cut, and the rest once it is fitted and you are happy with it.

How far do you travel?

We raise frames and fit stairs within about sixty miles of Pellmire. Furniture travels farther, wrapped in blankets in the back of our van.

Can you mend something I already own?

Often, if it was well made to begin with. Loose chairs, split tabletops and sticking drawers are most of it. Bring it to the Saturday open shop and we’ll look.

Sheet 07

Start a commission

Tell us a little about what you have in mind. We reply within two business days to arrange a visit, and the visit is free.

Call the shop
555-0108
Visit
The Long Shed, 9 Sawpit Row, Pellmire
What would you like made?

A sample form: nothing is sent.