A 30-meter-high ash tree in the Westerwald. How did one cut down and process such a tree in the past, when there were no machines? Two men from Härtlingen near Westerburg still know how: Mathias Gläser and Jan Vockel. The two are master carpenters and certified restorers in the trade. They fell the ash tree with axes and then cut up the trunk. Then they demonstrate old techniques for turning the log into the largest square beam possible. They take the log to a trestle and "axe" it there. In the past, it took a skilled hewer only six minutes to make a square axe out of one meter of the log. Our two protagonists need a little longer, but the result is convincing: an accurate beam from which they then cut boards. The "craftsmanship" shows the traditional processing of wood. A job that is strenuous and sweaty.