TFG Events & Workshops

Hank Silver

Owner

Ironwood Timberworks

Carpenters Without Borders
The organization Charpentiers Sans Frontières (CSF), or Carpenters Without Borders, was founded in France in 2002 by ethnologist François Calame. CSF regularly organizes traditional carpentry projects, convening experts and apprentices from numerous countries.

Over the past 20 years, projects have been organized principally in France, but also in Norway, China, Romania, the United States, and Italy. For each project, an international team - made up of experienced carpenters and a few novices - is selected for the quality of their work and their ability to work entirely with hand tools. The team arrives in the host country with their tools, ready to donate their skills and sweat in service of the restoration of a chosen historic structure.

A CSF project is an occasion for the exchange of techniques and experiences, for special presentations and lectures, and for moments of relaxation and exploration. Each host country and community holds its own pieces of humanity and know-how, and every job site becomes a place of discovery and sharing with curiosity and generosity.

Hank owns and operates Ironwood Timberworks, Inc. in Hatfield, Massachusetts. As a member of the organization Carpenters Without Borders, Hank has been lucky enough to travel the world working with an international crew, using period tools and methods.