Cabin Kit complete! Next?

The Cabin Kit is complete and listed on Craigslist, Madison, WI.  in the Farm & Garden section. Hopefully it will find a good home with some Do-It-Yourselfer that has long dreamed of building a real log cabin but just never did it because the task seemed to overwhelming.  Size 12 by 16 with a 5 foot porch and 3 foot overhangs all around to protect the logs from the weather. Features a 1/4 or 1/2 sleeping loft with plate glass front gable end.

The log work is done but there is still plenty of good honest "cabin building" work to be done. Dis-assembly, load, transport, unload, foundation, sanding logs, re-assembly, interior finish, floor insulation, floor boards, windows, loft floor, gable end glass, roof boards, roof insulation, chimney and roof steel. When finished they would truly be able to say that they built a cabin!


                                                           NEW  PROJECT

The next project, another log cabin is just getting underway. A local woman here had dreams of having a log cabin built from logs she had cut and then sawn into 6x6's about three years ago. After she found out the cost to hire local carpenters to build it she gave up on the dream. She wanted to know if I would be interested in buying the logs. After I saw the logs and the land she had I told her I had a better idea. If she was serious and wanted to build it herself just hauled the logs to my cabin building area in town and I would work with her and teach her how to cut half dovetails and build a nice 12 by 14 cabin. As long as she and her friends were there and working I would help and instruct if she would buy lunch!

LUNCH #1

 LUNCH#2

Apprentices, Sue and John applying what they are learning to the logs and making good progress. Got a little muddy with the warmer weather so I got and recycled the pine bows that the city took down from the light poles on main street.

Gable end windows framed

Framing in the gable end windows was a great way to kick off the new year. The first order of business was to layout and rip in the rabbet cuts for the glass panels into the rafter truss logs. This was no small feat to do however but provided a good opportunity for some creative problem solving.

The problem was solved by making a sort of 2x4 angle iron frame that was screwed to the logs and then used as a guide for making the 2" deep chainsaw cuts at right angles to each other. It turned out very well and insured the back side of the cuts were all in the same vertical plane for the glass panels to rest against.

Next I cut and notched in the 4x4's that divided each half of the gable end into 4 nice right triangles. These 4 by 4's were notched 2" deep into the truss logs to get their front surfaces flush (or slightly behind) to the front surfaces of the logs.

Mission accomplished!

Next it was time to cut rabbets into each side of the 4x4's for the glass. The cuts would be made so as to leave a 2" wide strip of wood between each glass panel. These cuts would be ripped on the table saw.

The corners where the 4x4's met required some special attention and cutting as you can see in the photo above. When the glass has been installed they will be trimmed out with wood strips to hold the glass panels in place.

The buyer will have the option to use just single pane 1/4" plate glass or more expensive thermal pane units. Prices quote are bring obtained. Now it is on to closing in the sofit under the eaves.