Posted by David Bamford on March 27, 2002 at 21:55:38 from 203.10.110.133:
In Reply to: Scarph my timbers! posted by Peter H on March 27, 2002 at 20:28:23:
I hope that my good friend Mike F. will not mind me responding to the cry for explanation. A scarph is a kind of joint between two pieces of wood which will, when joined, lie in the same line; ie., they are joined end-on-end. The joint plane is set at an an angle to the alignment of the principal axis of the timbers being joined, so that there is a gradual transition from one piece of wood to the next. This kind of joint is used where a piece of wood needs to be let into the side of a larger piece, to make a repair of damage to the larger piece. Its main benefits are that it allows gradual transfer of forces from one piece of wood to the next, and it gives a much greater area of contact for glue to grip with. It is in this context that the scarph would have been used on Nancy's engine bearers. It is to avoid this sort of lengthy dissertation that the terms such as "scarph" were coined. I hope that this helps.