Building a structure without any power tools.

It sounds like an impossible task but there’s a group of volunteers from Buffalo at the New York State Fair and they're passionate about using traditional tools and teaching the public.

“There's a lot of work, but it's satisfying to see something come from a raw piece of lumber to something that you've shaped and created with your own hands,” said Aimee Bajorek, a member of The Woodwrights Guild of WNY.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Woodwrights Guild of WNY visited the NYS Fair to demonstrate timber framing.

  •  Their volunteer group builds structures starting with tree trunks, and without power tools.

  • Part of the group's mission is to teach the public about this traditional method of building.

Bajorek started timber framing six years ago.

“It's relaxing and it's slow work that you have to take your time and watch the piece develop into something that's usable,” said Bajorek.

The pegs she’s shaping will be a small piece in a larger structure. Their projects aren’t made with lumber purchased from the store. They start with tree trunks and transform them into building materials.

“Stripe some [8 x 8] lines, and then we cut, we use a felling axe to make some very big cuts to take away the part of the beam that's not 8 x 8, I guess, to put it very bluntly,” said group member Mark Bajorek.

Their goal is not only to build without power tools, but also to educate the public.

“I find a lot of people that say ‘I would really like to do this’, and there's really nothing stopping it. There's groups. We happen to be in the Western New York area, but there are groups like this everywhere, really,” said Mark Bajorek.

And in future years at the New York State Fair, you might see a permanent structure that they've created which would be used to teach the public for years to come about timber framing.