51/197

A timber dog is an iron bar shaped like staples with points at each end. They were used in saw pits to secure logs so that they did not roll around while being sawn. One point was tapped into the timber and the other into the baulks under the timber where the sawyer stood. This timber dog was found in saw pit at a ford of the River Isbourne near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire.

1 timber dog: metal (wrought iron); good condition

Citation in publication [H. J. Massingham, 'Country Relics' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939)] –' When balance, adjustment and manoeuvring had abetted strength in fixing the tree over the pit, the "dogs" held it fast. A dog is a bar of iron bent into shortpointed bars at each end and at right angles to its streight length. I possess a pair of them in the Hermitage, one large and one small. One point was tapped in by the back of the axe into the timber, the other into the wooden flooring round the pit-head where the top-sawyer took his stance.' (pp. 62) [see also 51/193, 51/198], MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Timber dogs were used at saw pits to secure logs to the wooden baulks on top of the pit so that they did not roll about while being sawn. One point was tapped into the timber by the back of an axe, and the other into the baulks under the timber where the sawyer stood. An illustration of timber dogs in use can be found in Edlin: Woodland Crafts in Britain, p. 16. They were also used in water power saw mills for the same purpose. // The dogs are iron bars shaped like staples with points at each end. This dog measures 12.5 inches in length and the points are 3.25 inches long. // It was in a saw pit at a ford of the Ishbourne [sic] River near Winchcombe (Glos.).', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/197 // NAME: TIMBER DOG // NEG NO.: 35/15 // STORAGE: '