Watch as a group of students reassemble the Handshouse Studio Notre-Dame de Paris Choir Truss #6, and practice hands-on, the rigging and raising process needed to hand-raise a 8100-pound white oak truss replica. This full-scale reconstruction of one of the oldest trusses that once stood above the choir section of Notre Dame, was built by a team of traditional carpenters, faculty, and students in a 10-day workshop held in Washington DC in August 2021, using the materials and methods of the original medieval builders. Assembly will be happening from 11am-5pm Saturday in the lawn. RAISING WILL HAPPEN AT HIGH NOON ON SUNDAY! Truss will remain on display Sunday, and will be lowered and disassembled late afternoon before the end of the festival. If you would like to help with the raising, be in the east lawn shortly before noon.
Sponsored by Hardwoods of Michigan
The reconstruction was made using the official drawings created by the French lead architects Rémi Fromont and Cédric Trentesaux. They followed French protocol passed down from the Middle Ages for timber harvesting, fabricating, assembly, tools, and raising techniques.
Click here to register for the 2-day class, which is 8am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. The course is $65 for students, or free for SBWI Members. Click here to become a SBWI Member. Ages 16 & up.
Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute proudly welcomes Handshouse Studio of Norwell, MA in this collaborative hands-on project. Handshouse inspires participants to get into the “mind of the maker,” to use the period tools, materials, and processes of the time, to learn about who, why and how it was made. In this way, we hope to offer a new generation access to this history, personal tactile understanding of the ingenuity and significance of the technology and architecture of timber trusses that once protected Notre-Dame de Paris, and the materials, tools and processes used to make them. Learn more at https://www.handshouse.org/work#/notre-dame-truss/
