ANSWERED!! A wood what is it, but really its a why is it? 110 yr old ANSWERED!!

[wrenchguy]

Here's a link to other forum i had it posted.   Scroll up to Davids answer.  http://lumberjocks.com/topics/43064
thanks

i'm working on daughters 110year old house in plymouth taxachewetts and have run across this thingy driven into the corner of 2x4.  the thingy looks tobe a wedge of wood as u can see the endgrain of the wedge. this is the 3rd or 4th time i've come across these. i've seen them in 2x10's and other 2x4's, always driven into the corner.  why and what purpose are these.  maybe this is a sawyer question.
anyone know a good sawyer fourm?
thanks.

[Papaw]

Do they spread the timber so it fills the space it occupies?

[Bill Houghton]

Kind of odd.  On modern walls, covered with sheetrock, it's good practice to "line" the walls, straightening out studs so the sheetrock lies flat.  That's not critical with lath-and-plaster walls, because the flatness is achieved by how well you do the plaster work (on our house, the outside of the perimeter walls are held flat, so the siding lays flat; inside studs are all over the place, but you'd never know, thanks to the lath-and-plaster).

Not sure what the heck this thing is.

[wrenchguy]

Do they spread the timber so it fills the space it occupies?

i don't think so, the crack u see is about all there is in length, to me, the wedge causes the split. it don't fix a twist or crown.

[wrenchguy]

Kind of odd.  On modern walls, covered with sheetrock, it's good practice to "line" the walls, straightening out studs so the sheetrock lies flat.  That's not critical with lath-and-plaster walls, because the flatness is achieved by how well you do the plaster work (on our house, the outside of the perimeter walls are held flat, so the siding lays flat; inside studs are all over the place, but you'd never know, thanks to the lath-and-plaster).

Not sure what the heck this thing is.
[/quote

yea i know about making balloon framing flat and on plane for drywall, these studs are all over the place. They run (one piece) from foundation sill to top plate second story. (bout 20')  I'll post some pics how i'm setting the walls up for drywall. (saturday)

[superzstuff]

I can just see the spirit of a long past carpenter laughing about nailing up the slats and finding a sharp broken piece, and seeing a crack in the framing, driving it in, only to puzzle us 100 plus years later!!

[wrenchguy]

I can just see the spirit of a long past carpenter laughing about nailing up the slats and finding a sharp broken piece, and seeing a crack in the framing, driving it in, only to puzzle us 100 plus years later!!

This is the 3rd or 4th time i've come across these. i've seen them in 2x10's and other 2x4's, always driven into the corner.

[Branson]

I've never seen anything like this, nor have I read of anything like this.  Odd bit. 

I'd be very interested in knowing what this is about. 

Could it be some kind of carpenter superstition?  I don't see any practical application.

[Mel Larsen]

I have searched all day for a answer to this mystery and this is all I could find. 
Mel

Straightening bent studs
Another technique that was used at the time, with full consent of the authorities was known as "Crippling a stud".  We were allowed to straighten bent studs, no more than two or three in any one wall, in the manner shown in the sketch. Note. The bend in the sketch has been exaggerated for clarity.  (We were rough, but not so rough:-)

    The stud walls are always assembled on the flat with any bends or bows up.
    This makes it easy to the plates to them. If the bows were down some of them would rock about.
    The main reason of course is that this avoids getting a one up one down effect which doubles any possible difference.   (This is a fairly universal principle with joist and rafter also.

straightening a stud in a framed wall
Cyclone construction - When the wall is in place but before the noggins are fixed, any studs that stick out are straightened by the following method.

    The offending stud has a saw cut a half to two thirds the depth of the stud cut into It.
    One guy levers the stud inwards using a spare length of timber against the next stud.
    The saw cut opens up and another guy drives a timber wedge into the saw cut. This fixes the stud in it's new position.
    A couple of cleats are nailed either side of the saw cut to give back some of the strength that the saw cut has taken away.

Needless to say a few of these in a wall made it a lot less resistant to wind driven flying objects from the outside.
Ground level timber frame houses were built very similarly, mostly sitting on a concrete raft slab with a sprinkling of hold down bolts.   They suffered slightly less than the high set ones.

[wrenchguy]

I have searched all day for a answer to this mystery and this is all I could find. 
Mel

Straightening bent studs
Another technique that was used at the time, with full consent of the authorities was known as "Crippling a stud".  We were allowed to straighten bent studs, no more than two or three in any one wall, in the manner shown in the sketch. Note. The bend in the sketch has been exaggerated for clarity.  (We were rough, but not so rough:-)

    The stud walls are always assembled on the flat with any bends or bows up.
    This makes it easy to the plates to them. If the bows were down some of them would rock about.
    The main reason of course is that this avoids getting a one up one down effect which doubles any possible difference.   (This is a fairly universal principle with joist and rafter also.

straightening a stud in a framed wall
Cyclone construction - When the wall is in place but before the noggins are fixed, any studs that stick out are straightened by the following method.

    The offending stud has a saw cut a half to two thirds the depth of the stud cut into It.
    One guy levers the stud inwards using a spare length of timber against the next stud.
    The saw cut opens up and another guy drives a timber wedge into the saw cut. This fixes the stud in it's new position.
    A couple of cleats are nailed either side of the saw cut to give back some of the strength that the saw cut has taken away.

Needless to say a few of these in a wall made it a lot less resistant to wind driven flying objects from the outside.
Ground level timber frame houses were built very similarly, mostly sitting on a concrete raft slab with a sprinkling of hold down bolts.   They suffered slightly less than the high set ones.

i've made stress relief cuts in alot of studs to straighten and follow up with a sister fastened to it to keep it straight. this ain't nothing like that.  whats odd with these, it goes in at like 45 degrees right on the very very edge of the corner, not 90 degrees to the flats.  this has got me looking high and low 4 more before i drywall tomorrow.
thanks.

[wrenchguy]

I've never seen anything like this, nor have I read of anything like this.  Odd bit. 

I'd be very interested in knowing what this is about. 

Could it be some kind of carpenter superstition?  I don't see any practical application.

i hope ur not right about these superstition thoughts, i want a plausible answer, but agree no practical application.

[Dakota Woodworker]

Very interesting,  It seems they would have had to make a slot by driving a chisel in the stud first then inserting the wedge.  I wonder if it was used to tie off a straight line to.....but why not just use a nail ?

[wrenchguy]

the last pic shows strapping shimmed 5/8" off stud to make on plane.
thanks

[Branson]

Straightening a bent stud?  That seems to be an awful lot of work when a shim would serve as well.

[wrenchguy]

Straightening a bent stud?  That seems to be an awful lot of work when a shim would serve as well.

i agree when ur fixing 1 or 2 studs, but all the corners were out plumb at least 3/4" in 8',  none of the studs were on plane with anything, nothing carried centers, so i plumbed corners chalked some lines and strapped on plane. putting sheet up vertical so no butts to tape. no insulation in the walls so we insulated and put new mechanic'ls in.  we call this 10 year project, "fun with dad". been here off and on 7 year now. thanks