Front Porch Sitting Rail Replacement - Early Bungalow in Tampa

Bigger and heavier than they look, we used 8x8 yellow pine timbers for the sitting rails we replaced on Eric's bungalow. The first picture shows an original beam end salvaged from the front porch. We incorporated it into the repair to maintain some authenticity.

Second picture shows an enormous saw that one of the guys used to saw the timbers. Scary to hold and to handle, I tried it out myself and got an adrenaline rush.

Third picture shows a mortise (the square hole) where the beam end attaches to the main beam. The background shows some of the cuttings and drop offs created by our cutting activity.

Finally, the last picture shows a sly snapshot of Brian, one of the carpenters recently hired. He wasn't looking (or so I thought) when I snapped it. We were all standing in a group. My camera was about waist level and pointed up. I pressed the button. What can I say?