Utvändiga ramverksfoder i Sydösterbotten : en undersökning av konstruktion och metod

Abstract

It used to be common, at least since the 18th century, that the boards of an exterior window casing were joined together with mortise and tenon joints. In the late 19th and early 20th century, in the region of Sydösterbotten, exterior window casings were often found to be a frame-and-panel construction. There is practically no literature describing this method. Without the know-how, we are at risk of losing tangible and intangible cultural heritages in the long run. The tangible being the window casings themselves, and intangible being the once common carpentry and joinery skills. The purpose of this thesis is to gain knowledge of the joinery and determine what tools might have been used (or even available to begin with). This is achieved mainly by examining an extant window casing from a house likely built in 1915. Old locally found tools and tool catalogues are glanced at. An attempt to replicate the crown moulding and panel is made to demonstrate a possible procedure, and tools that may have been used. The study concluded that there are no signs of machines being used in the making of the window casing. The marks left by the hand tools, on the other hand, are ambiguous. It wasn’t possible to determine whether the carpenter used a handsaw or a backsaw, a mortise chisel or a bench chisel and so on. The main joint being used is the mortise and tenon joint, connecting the parts of the frame. The panel is attached by means of a tongue and groove joint. The literature research didn’t provide any proof of a connection between window casings and immigration.