Walnut Braces

A brace is the short timber that makes a triangle with the post and beam. These little "kickers" add stability to the frame. Most of our braces will be yellow pine, just like the rest of the frame. Mike has a new friend, whose name just happens to be Larry (no relation to my friend Larry who appears so often on these pages) with a new , who has some curved walnut he acquired after the January ice storm. Larry came today and we told him we wanted 4 spectacular walnut curved braces to run from the 12x12 posts in the kitchen to the valley rafters, and 8 walnut braces for the bent over the middle of the living room. We're keeping our fingers crossed he comes up with the braces we want. Mike and I also have been discussing the possibility of asking his blacksmith friend to do something subtle over the kitchen, possibly for lighting. We'll see there too.