Whetting bush on cabin peak

The log work is done and properly topped out with the whetting bush just in time for Christmas. Things went very well with the placing of the ridge log and getting the five tenons lined up and seated took only a little help from a come-a-long to pull the back well in about 1/2 an inch and a few taps with the commander.

The gable end logs on the back wall were trimmed off the match the roof pitch and look good. I left the log edge 1.5" higher than the roof line for now. My reasoning is that even though the logs have been cut and drying for three years there may still be some shrinkage. This way I will be able to measure any shrinkage and will wait until the final cabin assembly to trim them flush to the roof line and insure a tight fit between the logs and the roof boards.

 My next project will be to frame in the gable end window plan. The front end will be made up of 8 triangular glass panels. Each triangle as seen here will be split in half and then each of those resulting triangles also bisected. Calling around now for quotes on plate glass vs thermal panes.

Cabin building Safety. THINK! What's the worst that could happpen?

A few years back I took a field trip to see the wind turbines they were putting up in Monfort, WI. 

While waiting in the construction trailer I saw a sign that read, "Safety, THINK! What's the worst that could happen?" An odd statement but when I stood next to the blades/hub assembly seeing the size of these things up close and personal it made sense.

As a former high school shop teacher I know the value of learning and sharing what you learn. Especially when it comes to safety and a "close call event" when working on anything. I know and respect the dangers of log handling in building my fourth log cabin. However, there is always more to learn...

Ugh! This could have been bad, very bad.

The eye hook stripped out and the log dropped from the top of the cabin. I had taken many safety precautions in using the chain fall and raising the logs. THINK! What's the worst that happen? However using a safety strap was not one of them.

It is now though!

Just thought I would share and pass along my "close call event". Note: the eye hook is necessary to be able to set the logs in place on the wall. A strap alone would not work as it would be trapped under the log as it was placed on the wall.

At this point I have 4 of the 6 purlins up and 2/3's of the gable end logs in place. One more pair of purlins to scribe in and then place the ridge log and the cabin will be roughed in.

 

Rafter trusses up

The first one went up nicely with the help of my trusty yard arm, chain fall and block and tackle. After raising, the bottom chord had to be scribed and notched to the cabin wall so that the center line of it was 80" from the cabin floor. This gives me a 6' - 2" head clearance in the cabin.

The front truss would be last to go up.

I built some false work between the cabin and scaffolding with two inch material to support the truss members for assembly. (At 20 to 25 pounds per linear foot of log the whole truss would weigh between 1000 and 1250 pounds! This would require more than my simple yard arm.)

Using the chain fall to start the lift then an assist was added with a cable that ran through a pulley attached to the middle truss peak and down to a winch mounted to the floor of the cabin.

With the three roof trusses up and fitted to the cabin wall now it is back to the gable end and roof perlins. This will be a tricky process as each gable end log that intersect with a perlin will need to be scribed and cut to fit.

First two perlins in place with a gable end log ready to be lifted up and scribed to fit. Hope the weather cooperates.