Capture

The Old Barn Model: The Final Product (Part 3 of 3)

by Hugh Fraser, OBP President for 2023-2024

In the first blog of this series, I described my serendipitous meeting with John Ness at Canada’s Outdoor Farm ShowTM in September 2022. He volunteered to build a scale model old barn for OBP to display at events. In the second blog of this series, I described the challenges John faced with building such great detail into a table top display. This third blog is about the final product, which arrived in a box John built and sent through a trucking company…all at no cost to OBP.

Even the shipping box was well built!

After more than 2000 km of trucking, the barn arrived unscathed. The total weight of 110 lbs was two-thirds box! The barn is nothing short of spectacular.

The barn is partially enclosed with wall cladding and roof shingles on one side so people can look inside. (Photo taken by John Ness)

Photos can only reveal so much in a blog. The model was constructed based on the details of a swing beam barn built in Wellington County ca. 1850. The precise location is not revealed for confidentiality reasons. The model barn will be displayed at Canada’s Outdoor Farm ShowTM on September 12-14, 2023 in Woodstock. It is bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Here are 10 special features to see on the barn:

  • Massive 23.5 inch deep tapered swing beam
  • Stone wall stable
There are working doors with homemade hinges and handles, windows and a stable that looks like it was made with stones from the local quarry.
  • Working Dutch doors on stable and big doors to threshing floor
  • Canted Queen posts supporting the roof
  • 1440 scale-size, handmade shingles (one side of barn!)
  • Horse-drawn threshing device attached to swing beam
Some 1800s swing beam barns had a pin installed under the swing beam so a horse or ox could be tethered to thresh grains in a ‘merry-go-round’ manner under their feet, or with a device dragged behind them. This is John’s rendition.
  • Diamond-cross in gable end
John even installed a diamond-cross in one gable end of the barn, precisely cut with a CNC wood carving machine. This carving is only 1 inch total in width!
  • 82 braces, 92 floor boards
  • Dozens of actual mortise and tenon joints, with real pins
  • Removable joists into the swing beam for a temporary mow
John installed tiny slots on the back side of the swing beam so joists can be installed to create a temporary storage mow for wheat sheaves or loose hay. Cutting 3/16 x 3/16 inch slots is not easy, nor is taking a photo of them with your cell phone through a 1-1/4 inch spacing between joists!

On behalf of Ontario Barn Preservation, I’d like to thank John Ness for providing such an impressive conversation piece to engage the wonderment of spectators and Canada’s Outdoor Farm ShowTM to provide us an opportunity to engage old barn owners across Ontario. No doubt this model barn will bring smiles to the thousands who will see it over the next few years. I believe this model alone will help save more of Ontario’s incredible old barns. John is willing to build more models like this, so this would be a unique opportunity to build a legacy model of your own barn for the hard-to-buy-for member of your family. John Ness can be contacted at johnwness@shaw.ca.barn!)

Related posts:

  1. The Old Barn Model: The Final Product (Part 3 of 3)
  2. The Old Barn Model: The Swing Beam Barn and Its Challenges (Part 2 of 3)
  3. The Old Barn Model: A Serendipitous Encounter (Part 1 of 3)
info

Published by ONTBarn

Leave a Reply