Shelter Institute

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Shelter Institute Think. Build. Live. Shelter Design Build · Shelter Courses · Shelter Tools
Est. 1974 You have been driving by for years! We won't disappoint.

You know you have been wanting to stop at our location on Rte One in Woolwich! Nested in the woods, up our driveway is a the best selection of woodworking and house building hand tools, books and materials. In addition we offer custom and kit timber frame homes/barns/garages, and we offer classes in house building, timber framing, carving, basket weaving and more! We have an in house real estate office with agents specially trained to service the discerning client in search of their dream home/land.

30/10/2026

One of the most useful tools in timber framing! We tell out students to keep their combo squares within arms reach at all times.

21/10/2026

When Steve Ferguson went looking for a well-made, American-built axe to give his godson, who was headed off to study forestry, he came up empty. That stung, because his home state of Maine had once been one of the country’s leading axe-making regions.

In 2015, Steve, his brother Mark and business partner Barry Worthing founded Brant & Cochran to bring that heritage back. The name honors the brothers’ grandfather, Leland Ferguson, whose Detroit business of the same name restored and sold military-surplus tools after World War II. Their goal is ambitious: to keep Maine’s traditional axe-making craft alive and restore it for a new generation.

Their first Maine wedge pattern axe, the Allagash Cruiser, went on sale in 2018. The Dirigo Belt Axe followed in 2019, and in 2021 came the Forester’s Friend, a limited-edition double bit cruiser built on the Maine wedge pattern.

19/10/2026

Eastern white pine timber frame castle joint rough out, refinement, and installation.

16/10/2026

In 1954, archaeologists discovered one of the oldest and largest ships ever found from the ancient world, buried beside the Great Pyramid of Giza. It had been taken apart and sealed in a rock-cut pit beneath a stone wall on the pyramid’s south side. The wood survived so well that the rebuilt ship is about 95 percent original timber, and there are signs it was used in water at least once, possibly to carry the pharaoh’s funeral procession.

The ship was built largely from cedar of Lebanon, a tree now listed as threatened, and one you’re unlikely to see cut for a boat again. Its longest planks run more than 70 feet, and even those couldn’t span the ship’s 142-foot hull. So the builders locked them end to end with hooked scarf joints.

The scarf joint was used by the Egyptians, the Vikings, the ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire and many others throughout history. Today it is still our favorite way to extend beams when they are too short.

14/10/2026

Preassembling and installing a covered entry, the final addition to a recent 30 x 40 eastern white pine timber frame home built in Western Maine

12/10/2026

What is your preferred sharpening method?

07/10/2026

Bent assembly on a recent 30’ x 40’ eastern white pine timber frame home we built in western Maine.

02/10/2026

Large timbers char at about 1.5 inches per hour, and the char protects the wood inside. The bigger fire risk is insulation and sheathing. So this SIP floor over the garage carries the structure, the insulation, and the 5/8” Type X gypsum that acts as the fire separation between the garage and the living space above.

30/09/2026

Cutting edge tech in the world of saws. We are specifically fond of the 300mm Ryoba for timber framing.

25/09/2026

If only every joint came together this smoothly!

Address

ME

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 16:30
Tuesday 09:00 - 16:30
Wednesday 09:00 - 16:30
Thursday 09:00 - 16:30
Friday 09:00 - 16:30
Saturday 09:00 - 15:00

Telephone

+12074427938

Website

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