House of Fallen Timbers

Take the Leap!

2012-02-29T11:41:00.006-06:00

In honor of Leap Day I'm posting my correspondence with another blogger who asked me about using a print on demand service to publish a book. I sent him this outline of my experience and he told me I should share it on the blog so here goes.

I used a print on demand service called LuLu (www.lulu.com). This is one of many print on demand services. I chose LuLu because they are the most established. There is no up front investment in the book as long as you do all the formatting and cover design yourself. LuLu provides templates for free. You download the templates, fill in your information and upload the files. Then a "creation wizard" converts your .doc file into a .pdf which you can download and check for errors.

If you're not happy with the .pdf you can revise your .doc step back using the wizards navigation and resubmit the .doc for conversion. Once you're happy with the interior you move on to the cover design. Here you can use a LuLu template or your own .jpg or .png file to create the cover. The wizard converts this to a .pdf you can download and review. Same as the interior you don't move on until your satisfied with the look.

After you're happy with the interior and cover you move onto the description, price, and tags (metadata). Presto! You have a book available online in the LuLu marketplace. The LuLu marketplace is an online storefront just like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, etc. If you want to make the book available through Amazon you have to use specific formats. There are instructions for making sure your book qualifies for distribution on Amazon which you should read before doing anything else if you intend to market it outside the LuLu marketplace.

First of all an ISBN (International standard book number) is required which LuLu can provide you at no cost. Next there are size requirements, only certain formats can be distributed on Amazon. My book "House of Fallen Timbers" is a landscape format and does not meet these requirements so it is only available on LuLu. I wrote a novel last year titled "Ouabache" which is on Amazon and other online storefronts that partner with LuLu.

I chose not to assign distribution to "House of Fallen Timbers" because I wanted to use the landscape format and that is not an acceptable size for distribution. "Ouabache" has sold over 200 copies and is available in four different formats. If you chose to enroll your work into distribution you agree to give the other vendors a portion of your royalty and that comes out of your end. LuLu keeps enough of the money from the sale of a book to cover it's printing cost and another small percentage of your profit to pay themselves for providing the service.

Here is a hypothetical example. You want to sell your book for ten dollars. After you've finished uploading and approving your content, LuLu calculates the cost to print. At this point they tell you this book you've created costs six dollars to print now your profit on ten dollars will be four. If you chose to let them do the accounting they will withhold the income tax for you so now your profit is three dollars. If you chose to distribute it through other channels you agree to give the retailer a cut so now your profit is down to one dollar. This is a hypothetical scenario, you'll need to sign up with LuLu and read the fine print for actual numbers.

Depending on how you set up your revenue options you will either be mailed a check every quarter that your profits exceed a minimum or you can set up a Paypal account and get your royalties weekly (I think, it has been a while since I read the info).

I chose to use print on demand for my books because they are niche pieces which do not in my opinion have a wide enough audience to ever be taken seriously by a major literary agent or publishing house. I could submit hundreds of query letters and wait for years to finally be published (if ever) but life is too short. Many well known authors started out by self publishing their work. Mark Twain for one. I do not think of myself as a great author but it is nice to know that some greats did start this way.

Bottom line, if you want to make a living as an author, print on demand is probably not the way to go. If you just want to share your work I can't think of a better way to do it. All that said, LuLu does offer pre-publishing services and marketing packages that can help too take your work to another level but I didn't want to make that kind of investment. I was happy to do my own designing and marketing as this is a past time for me and not a profession.

Thanks for reading, here is my "Author spotlight" on LuLu with my latest book "Pickawillany".

Have a story to share? Go for it!

Blook Fever Jumps the Pond

2012-01-31T16:42:00.003-06:00

If you've been reading along here for a while you'll remember that my cabin won third place in the 2011 International Shed of the Year competition featured on the blog of readersheds.co.uk

As it turns out the author of readershed (aka Uncle Wilco) has been dreaming of putting together his own blook based on all the wonderful sheds and sheddies he has featured, but he seems to be procrastinating.

After I uploaded my blook to LULU, I posted links to the storefront on some of the blogs that had featured my cabin -- my version of a book release party.

Anyway, Uncle Wilco saw the comment, asked me to send him some more info and has graciously shared my blook with his readers!

"I procrastinate about doing a shedbook then two Amercian sheddies come along and have a go."

I for one would love to see a blook version of readershed. Thanks for the spotlight Uncle Wilco!

House of Fallen Timbers - The Blook

2012-01-14T14:05:00.004-06:00

Inspired by Derek I finally took the time to do some editing and uploading. House of Fallen Timbers is now available in blook form! A blook is a book based on a blog. It retails for $12.65.

I went through the first six months of posts and chose what I consider to be the most relevant entries and images and created a blook. It is organized into six chapters, one for each month from May to October of 2010, and includes 15 color images from the blog, anyway ... here's the preview!

If you know someone who for whatever reason can't access the blog online I hope this will help you share the story.

Relaxshacks.com

2011-12-16T05:46:00.002-06:00

I recently wrote a guest post for Derek Diedricksen of Relaxshacks.com who has a new book!

I am proud as punch to say that the banner photo from the House of Fallen Timbers is featured in Derek's new "Triple-Caffeinated EXPANDED EDITION." Available for pre-order now, first copies will ship on February 1st. Congratulations Derek!

Thank you so much for including me in this super cool project.

Fun With Pallets

2011-12-06T06:28:00.001-06:00

I salavaged a pile of shipping pallets not knowing exactly what I would do with them. I just wanted to keep them out of the landfill. About six hours later I had a new table/bunk bed for the cabin!

It's six feet long and four feet wide. I cut sections of wood from the pallets because the nails used to build them were impossible to pull without tearing up the wood. It has eight legs and is solid as a rock. To late to carve a Thanksgiving turkey on it but I'm looking forward to the next chance for a cookout!

Prophet's Town

2011-11-12T10:09:00.002-06:00

Last weekend I went to the 200th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of Tippecanoe. The event took place at the battlefield and in Prophetstown State Park. At the battlefield their was a military camp and all the units of soldiers that participated in the battle were represented there.

In Prophetstown there were interpretive events and a simulation of the village. There was a traditional Native lodge.

These were built using a framework of poles which were covered in bark and mats made from cattail reeds. This particular lodge was built by Woodland Indian Educational Programs.

A fire would burn at the center and the top was open for ventilation. They had the opening covered with a canvas the day I was there. It had been raining the day before the event.

Another traditional structure was called the "Longhouse". Originally these were built using the same pole and bark construction, but by the 19th century some natives had adopted European style construction methods. This longhouse is built using the French "Post-on-Sill" method.

Posts are placed at the corners and interspersed along the walls. The posts are attached to sill logs on the top and bottom to create a frame. The posts are slotted down the sides. Hewn timbers with tenons at the ends are stacked between posts. The tenons slid down the slots to lock the walls in place. Daubing then seals up the gaps. The roof is shake shingled and framed similar to a modern roof.

Inside there is a central fire like in the smaller pole and bark lodge with a similar opening in the roof for ventilation. This to me seems very appropriate given that many native families in the area were heavily intermarried with French fur traders.

Probably the most unusual structure in the village is a "Hybrid" of the two. Here we have a timber frame post-on-sill style octagon shaped structure with a central fire and open roof.

This one has not been daubed yet.

The roof is particularly interesting.

Here you can really get a good look at how the slotted posts accommodate the timbers.

As a matter of comparison they also have the more familiar style of cabin that was popular with the settlers from Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. I don't think it's much of a stretch to believe that some Native Americans had also adapted this style of home building by 1811.

If you love log construction and are in the area it is well worth a stop at the park. The builders of these structures did a terrific job.

Occupy the House of Fallen Timbers

2011-10-15T06:32:00.002-05:00

I have to say I am more fascinated by the reactions to the ongoing "Occupy Movement" than I am with the movement its self. Frankly I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened sooner. I'm even more amazed by the relative lack of violence. The reactions to the movement seem to reveal more than the message, or lack of it. I have been reading for days as bloggers, journalists, politicians, and the protesters themselves struggle to define the events that have taken place since September 17th. I must say I am enjoying it but I wish I could find more reaction from folks who don't have a particular axe to grind. In that spirit I would like to open up the House of Fallen Timbers for comments. The hammock is up,

and the door is latched.

The comments will publish without moderation and I welcome you to post Anonymously (pun intended). As a "Man in the Wilderness" I'd really like to know what you think. Many thanks.

Free Log Cabin Building Seminar

2011-08-26T10:56:00.001-05:00

I got this link from a YouTube contact and it looks to be on the up and up. If your interested in building your own log cabin you might enjoy this free online seminar.

Self-taught log home builder Tim Stenros has just completed his 3rd log home that he and his wife Mary have built together for themselves and family members. Each of these log structures was built using a short log method of construction that is incredibly versatile, strong and economical. He is now taking that knowledge from his experience and passing it on to other log cabin enthusiasts in a 4 part online log building seminar. Registration is free.

Good luck, let me know how it goes.

International Shed of the Year - Third Place!

2011-07-11T09:07:00.001-05:00

UncleWilco over at the Shedblog has announced the winners of the 2011 Shed of the Year competition. Sheds entered in the competition from outside the United Kingdom were judged separately for the title of "International Shed of the Year."

The House of Fallen Timbers finished a respectable third place in this global category! I am thrilled to be included in such an amazing collection of inspirational sheds! The annual competition is sponsored by Cuprinol.

I am so thankful to all the wonderful people who voted for my shed and all the judges who decided it was worthy of mention. Thanks UncleWilco, what a great way to share share!

House of a Different Color

2011-06-26T07:49:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday I went up to Fort Ouiatenon to volunteer at the Blockhouse. The blockhouse is open to the public on the weekends through the summer. Volunteers open, close and answer questions for the visitors. This was built in 1930 by a Doctor who believed he knew where the real fort had once stood. He bought the land and built the fort. Turns out archeological digs in the 1960's proved he was only about a mile off. Pretty darn good guess!

The Doctor used it to entertain guests and from what I understand held dances and parties on special occasions. He was obviously a history buff so no doubt he enjoyed telling his guests all about the Fort. When he bought the land it was used for farming so there were no trees on site to build with. Instead he bought telephone polls and had them delivered to the site.

The blockhouse rests on a concrete foundation which has no doubt helped it survive the years. He donated the land to the county and it is now owned by the Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

Close examination of the notches reveals the combination of techniques the Doctor used. On the top of each course he made a saddle notch to wick moisture and on the adjoining bottom of the next course he contoured the notch with a chisel to make a tight fit. Over the years the original daubing has been resealed using what appears to be Perma-chink or some such mortar. In places where the mortar needs repair you can see shake type shims of wood used as backing for the mortar to cling to.

The conical shaped roof is supported with no central center post using a secondary series of supports mid-way down the main beams like a large umbrella frame. As you can imagine I had a great time!

Happy Birthday!

2011-05-16T16:02:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow will be one year to the day that I began posting on this blog. What a year! I truly had no idea if the cabin would come together when I started and I had no idea how many wonderful friends I would make along the way. Here are the stats as of this afternoon.

As you can see there have been over 7500 visits, digging deeper into the analytics reveals that those visits were made by over 4600 unique visitors in over 1900 cities in 69 different countries! This is astounding given that I can count on one hand the number of people who have physically been inside the cabin.

In other news the voting for 2011 Shed of the Year has opened on the "Shed Blog" and I could use your vote. Voting ends June 5th.

Thanks again to everyone who has visited. As the Beverly Hillbillies would say ... "Kick your shoes off, stay a while, ya'll come back now ya hear?"

Eager Beavers

2011-04-06T06:18:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine took me to check out some stuff being prepped for a yard sale and I came across these two eager beavers. Manufactured by McCulloch in the nineties, the Eager Beaver model #2014, is no longer in production.

I got both of them for $30.00. When an old chainsaw won't start the first thing to check for is a broken fuel line. The lines are made of clear plastic tubing that turns yellow and gets brittle with age. Both ran fine after I replaced fuel lines but one had a worn out sprocket and the other a couple of missing bolts. I was able to scavenge parts off one to repair the other.

Once I got the saw running I used it to clean up this winter's crop of fallen timbers. This year most of them are old Redbud trees. I estimate somewhere between 15 and twenty of them.

I don't need anymore firewood and Redbud is not very useful for building anything solid so the project this spring is Wildlife Brush Piles. First you make a checkerboard structure with the largest of the timbers then build a crown for it out of the branches. This is the first of a total of four that I plan to build. They make great homes for small wildlife like rabbits, mice and voles who provide food for owls, hawks and coyotes.

I'll look forward to watching for tracks around these in next winter's snow. Meanwhile the trip hazards on the forest floor are getting all picked up which should encourage larger wildlife like deer and turkey to pass through more frequently.

Bangers!

2011-03-20T12:04:00.002-05:00

First weekend of spring and I finally got my sausage and onions cooked in the new dutch oven.

One large onion, 1 package of Johnsonville Brats and two cans of beer.

Boil over an open fire, then crisp em up on the grill. If you do it right you can hear them crackle and pop on the grill, that's why the Brits call them "Bangers"

Then eat your fill and sleep it off.

Three cheers for Spring!

Create Your Own "Walden Space"

2011-02-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

From the very beginning of my cabin building project the number one question people have asked me is ... "WHY?"

I found myself struggling to answering this question.
"I have a lot of dead trees and it's getting dangerous to walk the property."
"I want somewhere to keep things handy for the cookouts we have in the summer."
"I'd like to have an option other than a tent for guests to stay in."
etc. etc. etc.

Truth is there are tons of good reasons for building an outbuilding but when the project is as (unique shall we say) as mine a lot of people think you're strange. Then finally one day I answered the question. Without thinking about it or falling back on my laundry list of practical uses for the cabin I simply said ... "No computer, no phone, no T.V., or any other source of tragedy, anxiety, or hysteria."

For the first time ever I got the feeling that the person I was talking to was completely satisfied with the answer. With this in mind I thought I'd share the following video. I think we all need a "Walden Space" in our lives.

Let There Be Light

2011-02-06T12:28:00.000-06:00

The shutters on the window work fine to keep out gusts of wind but keeping them closed makes the cabin a dark place during the short winter days. Inspired by Russian John I decided to put glass in the window this weekend. My solution was made from a $2.00 furring strip from Lowe's and a few pieces of glass from some unused frames in the basement.

Two 8"x10"s and a 16"x20" did the trick.

It does not open and close but it can be removed easily and replaced with a screen when the weather warms back up.

Russian John

2011-01-05T15:47:00.001-06:00

I know those of you who have enjoyed watching the House of Fallen Timbers grow will love Russian John's Summerhouse. I am in awe of the artistry and couldn't resist sharing the link to his photos of the construction. John was kind enough to give me permission to post one of his images here to give you all an idea of what awaits you in his gallery.

Thanks John, WAY TO GO MAN!

Let it Snow

2010-12-07T08:47:00.001-06:00

First "big" snow on the cabin. Only about four-five inches but thats big for this neck of the woods. I thought it made a nice picture. Just a little bit got in under the door, walls aren't air tight but they are sealed.

Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

2010-12-03T06:39:00.004-06:00

My mother picked this up off the curb outside a home that was being cleaned out to be sold. Its an old Dutch Oven. It has three small legs and a rounded bottom. It is perfect for hanging over a camp fire.

You guessed it, someone had used it as a planter. Can't really blame them. These old ovens were used on coal fired or wood burning stoves. The rounded bottom fit in the open burner hole and the three little legs kept it from moving around. The same qualities that made it perfect for those old stove tops make it pretty useless on a modern one.

After an hour or so with a wire brush on a power drill it started to shine again. Of course the great thing about cast iron cookware is it's non-stick characteristics. In order to get it ship shape again it needs to be seasoned. Once I got the rust off I coated it with peanut oil and baked it in a 450 degree oven for an hour.

Presto! Its ready for a batch of sliced onions and bratwurst, the real seasoning won't begin until it has soaked up a healthy dose of animal fat. I did a little painting inside the cabin to help showcase my swanky new piece of cookware. Painted the heat shield with some high-temp XO-Rust.

Happy Holidays!

Snags

2010-11-11T08:31:00.007-06:00

Recently I've been having a conversation with the author of Relaxshacx blog about one of his upcoming projects and it got me thinking about why I decided to try building my cabin the way I did. If you've been following along from the beginning you know that my original motivation was a result of having a load of dead trees creating a variety of hazards and no real need for more firewood. I was afraid one of them would fall on me and I was getting pretty concerned about the fire load that was building up in the woods.

A snag is another term for "dead tree". But a snag also refers to trees that have become habitat for bugs, birds and other little creatures. Think of them as wildlife condos. I thought now would be a good time to reassure everyone that I did not remove all the snags from the property. Most of the leaves are down now and I can get a good look at what I left on the property. I'll be honest, there were only three reasons I didn't harvest a dead tree for the cabin.

1. Size - this is one of my favorite old snags on the property. It is a Sycamore and although it will fall someday in the meantime it is a favorite haunt for the local Barred Owls. I have seen as many as three baby owls at once perched in its branches.This tree is way too big for me to handle confidently.

There are also some trees I left on the ground because they were too small to be of any use. These smaller trees create a barrier between young saplings and browsing deer. Deer are a lot like people, if they see a trip hazard they will avoid it and that gives green sprouts a place to grow.

2. Characteristics - This one is just too crooked and although its days are numbered it does give the squirrels a short cut from the ground to the higher branches of other trees they call home.

3. Condition - this Red bud has been on the ground for many years and I was originally planning to use it but upon inspection it became obvious that it had serious rot. Meanwhile it has become a nice shelter for rabbits and chipmunks looking for a place to hide from the Coyotes and Red Tailed Hawks that patrol the property day and night looking for tasty treats.

Over the course of building the cabin I learned a heck of a lot about what's out there in the woods and my interest in becoming a better steward has grown considerably. Now that the cabin is up my next goal is to learn more about intentional placement and construction of habitat brush piles to promote diversity of species reduce potential fire hazard and help control erosion.

I'm still working on sealing up the cabin for the winter. A co-worker brought an almost full gallon of stain into work over the summer and put it in the break-room with a little sign that read "Free" on it. The ego-maniac in me is sure that they have been reading the blog and brought it just for me but odds are just as good that it was a coincidence. Anyway, I used it to protect the bottom courses of logs from the snow that will be coming soon.

Gussy it Up!

2010-10-14T16:39:00.007-05:00

A friend from the Forestry Forum asked me to post some photos of the interior so of course I had to gussy it up first.

Here is the Kitchen (So to speak). I decorated it with a map of my Hoosier home, my grill gear, a jug and mugs I made when I was a student at Vincennes University. The hand crank Ice Cream maker will see some action when the snow flies. Oh ... did I forget to mention the Perfection Oil Heater!

This thing is a beauty. My Grandmother's cousin, Orpha Wickersham, gave it to my cousin before she died in 1989. He saw the blog and asked me if I wanted it. It had been sitting in his shed unused for years. She was a homesteader in Wyoming. She taught school in a one room school house and I remember her telling stories about getting to school before the kids so she could warm the place up. This is very likely the same oil heater she used. While I was cleaning it I found a date of 1925 on the wick cap. The brochure linked above is dated 1920 something and has a picture of it on page 4. It still works like a champ and you can still buy wicks for it. It is one of the simplest machines I have ever seen. And you can boil water on the top in a pinch.

In the living area I give a "Tip-O-The-Hat" to the first European settlers of the Wabash Valley. For those of you who aren't familiar with Illinois history, it might be of interest to know that this area was once part of the French colony of Canada. Along with the fluier de leis flag there is a set of wrought iron chairs, purchased in Paris and sent to Granny Hawkins by her son Daniel. I have a dandy kerosene lamp from my mother and if you look closely at the shelf in the top center of the picture you'll see a Beaver skull. Our intrepid Husky found the skull along the river trails one morning last winter. The beaver are not only the reason the French colonized the Illinois Country, they also are responsible for killing several of the Hackberry trees I used to build the cabin.

Finally we have the washroom complete with basin, bucket and washboard. My sister gave me the washboard. She found it in the garage of her first home in New Albany Indiana. As you can see I still have a lot of work to do on sealing up the walls but I'll be warm, clean and well fed while I work on them.

Bonne nuit les amis!

Swing Swang Swung

2010-09-29T10:35:00.002-05:00

Well, the construction of the cabin is more or less finished. I still have some detail work to do but I probably won't be posting updates every week after today. I will still try to make monthly updates on the goings on at the House of Fallen Timbers. If you haven't noticed the slide show in the sidebar I encourage you to check it out. It was created using a service called animoto. Anyone can get a basic account at no charge and make their own 30 second slide shows or you can pay an annual fee for a pro-level account and make slide shows of any length. If you work or volunteer for a not-for-profit agency of any kind you can apply for a free pro-level account for your organization. Here's my latest slide show, enjoy!

Create your own video slide show at animoto.com.

Sheddies

2010-09-21T17:22:00.001-05:00

“A yerde in which was a shadde where in were five grete dogges.” - William Caxton, 1481

This was the first printed use of the word “shed” in English. There is perhaps no finer example of botanical artistry than a proper English garden. After all there was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire and the result of that early globalization was that many of the finest horticultural treasures in the world can still be found in the gardens of the United Kingdom. The soul of the garden is of course the shed. Not only is a proper garden shed the wellspring of ingenuity its a place where friends can roll up their sleeves and share a pint on a hot summer day. Over the centuries a subculture of devoted garden "Sheddies" has spread throughout the world and thrives to this day!

No where is this tradition more alive than in England. Don't believe me? Take a look at The Shed Blog

I found this blog a while back and I still can't get over the incredible variety of ingenious designs by Sheddies. Every year there is a competition between Sheddies to see who has the "Shed of the Year". The competition for 2011 has begun. The winner will be announced sometime in July. I was delighted to learn that the competition includes an "International Shed of the Year" for Sheddies living outside the UK. So of course I've entered The House of Fallen Timbers in the Cabin/Summerhouse category. Please take a minute to visit the Shed Blog and leave a comment so the judges know which shed you think deserves to win. I know you'll enjoy your visit.

Stuffing it

2010-09-19T12:12:00.002-05:00

I used up the last of my workable cement mix yesterday and only covered a little more than half of one short wall. By my estimates in order to daub the entire cabin this way would require an additional 800 lbs of dry cement mix. Not very encouraging.

On the interior I have been experimenting with canned spray foam insulation. I bought three cans and sealed up part of two walls with it. I know this is terribly unauthentic material but something tells me if Daniel Boone could have gotten his hands on this stuff he would have been on it like flies on honey. The color is not great and the bead can be very uneven.

I put some of this on Thursday evening and trimmed it up Yesterday morning. Once it has been trimmed and or sanded it will take stain.

I did a quick test with some stain to see what it would look like and I have to say for reasons of time and economy this will probably be the way I go to finish sealing the cabin. At least temporarily for the winter. I may still panel the interior with barn wood eventually and I may still mud the exterior someday but for now I'm going to concentrate on sealing up the interior with this stuff.

Ridge cap, daubing and paneling

2010-09-13T07:22:00.003-05:00

First project this weekend was to put a ridge cap on the seam of the roof. $20.00 investment but should prevent water from damaging the ridgepole.

Next up was a test of the cement mix and unfortunately moisture has contaminated it over the years. It was more like gravel than cement mix. I pulverized it with a hammer and mixed it up just the same but it doesn't have the right consistency anymore and doesn't appear to be drying well. Also, a quarter of the mix only filled the gaps between six courses of logs on one short side of the cabin. Another solution may be necessary to seal up the cabin.

Knowing that the hardest part of daubing would be the gables I returned to the rafters of the garage and found some old floor boards that had been squirreled away years ago. I trimmed them up and used them to panel the interior gables. This will at least reduce the amount of daubing needed to seal up the gables.

Despite the disappointment of the cement mix the cabin is in practical terms, very close to finished! Most of what I have left to do is cosmetic. I may decide to panel the interior walls if I can find enough old barn wood or other satisfactory paneling to do it.

Chinking

2010-09-06T15:06:00.004-05:00

I spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday wedging sticks into the gaps between courses of logs. For the really large gaps I split small Sassafras logs into quarters. Sassafras is very soft wood, splits nicely and smells like root beer!

As you can see I also got the door and shutters for the window hung. Nice bug and rot resistant Ceder left in the rafters of the garage. I used some old cupboard hinges to hang them. After getting the wood chinking, door and shutters finished I decided it was finally time to check out the bags of cement that have been living under the workbench for the last eight years. I had been putting it off because I didn't really want to know if it was unusable.

Turns out the cement wasn't the only thing living under the workbench! A nice healthy Black Rat Snake had taken up residence in one of the open bags of cement. Looks like some mice had been living in it before him. I chased him off with a broom stick and low and behold the cement is still workable. There are three part bags and one unopened bag, all together probably 200 lbs of dry cement mix. Next weekend I'll start sealing up the chinking.

Today I raised my colors to celebrate the beautiful weather and the fact that the snake didn't bite me. Happy Labor Day!

Please Be Careful

2010-09-02T09:59:00.001-05:00

Last night we had our first good soaking rain since the roof went up. First thing this morning I walked my dog down to the cabin to see how the roof fared. To my amazement the walls both inside and out were dry along with the interior floor. I found that to be a great piece of luck considering the walls are not chinked yet, the roof has no ridge cap and I had no idea how far to extend the sheet metal to keep the exterior walls dry.

As I stood inside the cabin drying off and listening to the rain fall on the tin roof I was thinking this bit of luck was just the latest in a long string that started the day I dropped the first dead tree. Almost every phase of this project could be categorized as Extremely Dangerous.

It is no small miracle that I didn't die, or permanently injure myself, considering how little I understood about what I was planning to do. I took no safety instruction courses and my only experience with the chainsaw and axe was limited to cutting firewood. As I've fumbled along over the past few months I have learned that there are literally hundreds of courses on these skills and schools dedicated to log cabin building.

With all this in mind I thought it was time to clarify what exactly it is I'm doing with this blog. It is a "Brag Book". I started it with the intention of sharing my experience with friends and family who are unable to visit, sit around the cook fire and listen to me spin yarns about how I did it. As with every aspect of the project I have turned the journal into more than I thought it would be.

In less than three months I have had over 1680 visitors who have made over 2600 visits from 49 different countries! At one point in July over 500 people a week were visiting.

So ... I'm concerned that someone could get hurt. Of course I hope every visitor learns something and is inspired to get outdoors and learn more but I don't want anyone to consider this a "how to". Especially if your thinking of doing this alone like I did. It is dangerous and no one can help you if you make a mistake.

I am by any definition a novice and my cabin can only be considered amateur. Even my design's structural integrity is untested. There are many things I would have done differently if I could start over. Proper training and tools foremost. I do hope I have inspired and entertained but I don't want anyone to consider this a tutorial or instructions.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey and I hope your enjoying it half as much as I am. Be safe!

Roof!

2010-08-29T12:34:00.003-05:00

Three weeks behind schedule but no less satisfying, the roof is on!

I had to splurge and buy ten dollars worth of sheet metal roofing fasteners for this job. They have sharp ends like nails to puncture the sheet metal, threads like screws to turn into the wood and hex heads like bolts so you can use a wrench to tighten them. I put about seventy of these little guys into the roof. Below you can see the green heads of the fasteners. They also have a neoprene washer that seals up the hole as you tighten them.

I know hand split shakes would have been much more authentic but I kinda dig the 1930's depression era grunge look of the sheet metal.

In other news, Kent Griswold posted another House of Fallen Timbers update on his Tiny House Blog for August. Thanks Kent! Also, I registered the blog on the Nature Blog Network. It's a great listing of blogs on all things nature, lots of birders and other flora and fauna related topics!

Purlins, Gables and Ridgepole

2010-08-22T20:59:00.004-05:00

Hands down the toughest job so far. As I mentioned before I had to re-design the roof plan based on the lack of suitable dead trees left on the property. I had to scrap plans for a loft over the porch that would have given me an additional 15 or so feet of storage space but I was still able to gable the roof.

The first big challenge was to get the purlins up on the walls. I'm 82 inches high at the corners now so I had to lift these logs over my head to get them up on the walls. These are the Hackberry logs I floated up the river, they are strong, straight and heavy. The largest is 9 inches at the butt and 8 inches at the tip. All are ten feet in length. The ridgepole stands ten feet off the cabin floor.

I used Cherry, Box Elder and Elm for the gables. I have some left over scraps of bridge decking I will be using as makeshift rafters. Those are the boards you see laid across the purlins. Cutting off the ends of the gable course logs at an angle with the pitch of the roof is extremely difficult, as you can see I still have to get the back side gable trimmed up. The sheeting you see on the side of the cabin is the corrugated metal I'll be using for the roof. The previous owner of the property left around fifty sheets like these stacked up on the side of the garage.

I slid the metal up to see if my rafter scheme will work. Not ideal but it does look like I can make it work. I hope to get the gables trimmed up and the rafters nailed down next weekend. Who knows maybe I'll even get some sheet metal tacked down!

Last Round Up

2010-08-08T20:21:00.003-05:00

Friday evening I hiked the entire property and made a treasure map of every fallen or standing dead tree the size I can use. The news wasn't good. I had to re-design the roof based on what I have left to work with. On Saturday I rounded them up and hauled them to the site. I left no stone unturned as they say, one of the fallen trees was hanging over the river, its root ball still attached to the bank. I dropped it and floated it upstream using the water to carry it. Real lumberjack style.

I'm sure this river has been used before to move lumber but I would bet it was a very long time ago.

I got two logs out of the tree and pulled them about fifty yards upstream to a less daunting embankment, closer to the cabin. I ended up with six twelve foot fairly strait logs by the end of the day. All six have at least a 6 inch diameter at the tip. Today I cut six notches and stacked three logs. The walls are just under seven feet around and I plan to start on the roof next weekend. Weather was pretty good for felling, hauling and notching. My wade up the river was perfect. The temp is like bathwater in August. All in all a great weekend and a real treat to be finished felling and hauling logs.

Close but no cigar!

2010-07-25T11:40:00.003-05:00

Cut 16 notches, stacked ten logs over the weekend. Looks like I won't make my deadline for being under roof by August. But pretty close. I have a family reunion next weekend so this will probably be the last update for a couple of weeks. My foraging efforts last weekend helped me find three standing dead trees of appropriate size for my uses.

I chopped this one down with the axe because it was growing up from the side of a steep and slippery ravine. I didn't trust myself with the saw under those conditions so I got a nice workout. I tied a rope around it before I dropped it so that I could haul it back up the hill after it fell. Even at 11:00 a.m. my little point and shoot camera had to turn its flash on to take a picture this deep in the woods. Gives you an idea of how lush the canopy is this time of year. "The woods are lovely dark and deep" - Robert Frost.

The walls are almost finished. I just need a couple more courses and I can start the roof! Can you believe it is almost August? Time flies when your having fun.

The Art of Manliness

2010-07-23T13:36:00.005-05:00

The Art of Manliness is a blog I came across while doing research on log construction. I know what you might be thinking and if I'm right about that your wrong. It is not a haven for testosterone induced chest thumping by a bunch of he-man woman haters. OK if you go there looking for something to be offended by you will probably find it. They cover a lot of ground and aren't shy about addressing controversial issues. To quote the author --

"The Art of Manliness is authored by husband and wife team, Brett and Kate McKay. It features articles on helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men. In our search to uncover the lost art of manliness, we’ll look to the past to find examples of manliness in action. We’ll analyze the lives of great men who knew what it meant to “man up” and hopefully learn from them. And we’ll talk about the skills, manners, and principles that every man should know. Since beginning in January 2008, The Art of Manliness has already gained 53,000+ subscribers and continues to grow each week."

Anyway I noticed today that Brett showcased the House of Fallen Timbers!

Thanks Brett!!

My analytics tell me that over 100 vistors have been referred here since Brett posted the link so welcome to all of you visiting from The Art of Manliness.

I really enjoy Brett's work and lets face it guys its getting harder and harder to find good male role models these days. Here is one of my favorite recent articles from The Art of Manliness.Dance Like Zorba the Greek

A Poem in Thanks

2010-07-20T07:40:00.001-05:00

One of my friends told me to read this poem and I thought it was worth sharing.

Lord Whoever, thank you for this air
I'm about to in- and exhale, this hutch
in the woods, the wood for fire,
the light-both lamp and the natural stuff
of leaf-back, fern, and wing.
For the piano, the shovel
for ashes, the moth-gnawed
blankets, the stone-cold water
stone-cold: thank you.
Thank you, Lord, coming for
to carry me here -- where I'll gnash
it out, Lord, where I'll calm
and work, Lord, thank you
for the goddamn birds singing!
-- Thomas Lux

Thanks Flash!

Interior

2010-07-18T07:28:00.003-05:00

Cut 12 notches and stacked eight logs yesterday. The walls are now over five feet high all the way around.

Which brings me to the next image. Drum Roll please...the first ever taken from INSIDE the cabin!

As you can see the gaps between logs are wide.

My plan is to wedge smaller logs (sticks) into the gaps and seal them up with mortar. Below is a quick example of what I mean for illustrative purposes. I'll whittle them down to make a better fit before the mortar goes on.

Today I'm heading back into the woods to forage for some more dead trees. I need six more nine foot logs to finish up the walls.

In other news. Kent over on the Tiny House Blog posted an update I sent him. Thanks Kent! His blog is an incredible resource for ideas and examples of all sorts of construction methods and man does it make my Google analytics go wild when Kent posts an update. I had 193 visits to the blog the day Kent posted the story!

Everything I ever needed to know I learned on Sesame Street

2010-07-13T11:53:00.004-05:00

Thought I would share the video that helped me figure out how to move some really big logs out of the woods. I watched this video and noticed the older man using horses to drag a big log. I don't have horses and the logs were to far off the trails to use the tractor but I have been called a jackass myself so I thought I'd give it a try. I was able to drag three big logs out of the woods. Something about having the weight distributed across the stick and all the tension on the rope makes it possible to lift one end and slide it relatively easily. Like so. I dragged the logs up hill, downhill and through a creek bed!

Anyway, enjoy the video and keep an eye out for the log dragging.

ROI (Return on Investment)

2010-07-11T08:39:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I cut ten notches, stacked eleven logs of various sizes and started framing up the window. The weather was nicer than it has been and I worked shirtless most of the day. I took a dip in the river to cool off and noticed that I'm really starting to get in good shape.

The point of this "backslapping" is that this cabin is a gift that keeps on giving. Not only am I getting a deluxe little outbuilding out of it, I am in the best shape I've been in over a decade. So I thought I would run down the cost of goods and the return on investment today.

The latest expense was a new set of handles. One for the axe and one for the hatchet. fifteen dollars.

I estimate I have used around three gallons of gas give or take, another fifteen dollars.

There was a new chain for the chainsaw, eighteen dollars, and a pound of nails, two dollars.

Grand total = $50.00 (so far)

Building your own log cabin = Priceless!

Half way up!

2010-07-05T22:07:00.008-05:00

Happy Independence Day!
I had three days off work and got 28 notches cut and seventeen logs stacked. The walls are half way up.

Nothing particularly exciting to share, except maybe my plumb line. This is the poor man's lazer level. A string with a nail tied to it. Helped me get straight lines to square up the doorway.

Sorry for the brief update. I spent way too much time in the heat this weekend. To quote my favorite pirate ..."Stagger, Stagger, Crawl, Crawl ... or was it ... Crawl, Crawl, Stagger Stagger?" - Yellow Beard

I fought the log and the log won

2010-06-27T07:31:00.007-05:00

WORST IDEA EVER!

I am not a smart man but sometimes I amaze even myself! Last March I cut a nice straight ten foot length out of a fallen elm. This was before I realized I couldn't really work with 15 inch diameter trees. That is until I can afford a mule team. Anyway, I left this log sitting in the woods until I convinced myself that I could split it and get two for one. The last log I split was a red oak. It split into two fairly even halves with a moderate amount of work. So off I go to split this elm at 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning. I have since learned that elm is nothing like oak when it comes to splitting a ten footer. Elm is moderately heavy, hard and stiff with excellent bending and shock resistance. It is difficult to split because of its interlocked grain.

I spent the whole day yesterday beating myself and my tools to death on this log. By 4:00 p.m. I had broken the handle off my hatchet, knocked the head off my axe and stretched the chain of my saw beyond its ability to readjust. CAN YOU SAY STUBBORN! As you can see the log is still not split. It was 100 degrees in the shade all day and I think I lost about a half a gallon of blood to the mosquitoes that surrounded me despite bathing in Deep Woods off. Something tells me this log will be a featured piece of the cabin, some way or another. Maybe a monument to my pigheadedness!

Hot and Wet!

2010-06-20T12:29:00.012-05:00

Rain finally stopped yesterday morning about 9 a.m. The sun came out and turned the woods into a sauna. I got three logs peeled. Thought I would post a picture of the spud hoe in action on a log. A spud hoe is so named because it is used for digging potatoes....(I think). Its a straight bladed hoe. Works great taking off big strips of bark.

This is the cause of all these dead elms. These little trails you see on the log below are the work of a beetle that carries a fungus that kills the trees. (At least that's the story I've heard)

I decided to try notching this log with just the axe. It was pretty tough and it took a lot longer than using the chainsaw but I have to admit it felt pretty darn good to whale on that log and watch the chips fly!

By the end of yesterday I had eight new notches cut and a new course stacked. No where near the three courses I'd convinced myself I could do. The heat and humidity made four hours seem like eight. We have a 30% chance of rain everyday for the next five days so I got out early this morning and stacked the logs up to get them off the ground. I tacked a couple of salvaged 2"x6" boards up in the doorway to check the width of the opening. I don't know if you can see it but there is an orange trumpet vine blossom tied to one of the boards at seven feet. The bench is 20" tall. So, it looks like the notched part of my walls are just under 1/3rd up.

Happy Father's Day!

dirtTdude

2010-06-14T07:12:00.003-05:00

Not much to report this weekend. Rained Saturday and Sunday. Got two logs peeled including the Cherry and took an inventory of the logs on site.

15 - 12 footers
10 - 3 footers
7 - 9 footers
6 - 6 footers.

If its dry next weekend I could notch and stack three more courses and get the walls half way up!

In the meantime checkout this amazing collection of videos from an incredible cabin builder known as dirtTdude on YouTube.

Cherry

2010-06-07T21:16:00.004-05:00

Rained most of the day Saturday so I didn't get much accomplished but the new windfall I found in the woods last weekend turned out to be Cherry.

I got a nice straight twelve foot log out of it on Sunday but couldn't lift it. I didn't want to cut such a beautiful log in two so I used a rope and a stick to drag it out of the woods.

According to the Log Weight Calculator this thing weighs at least 350 lbs. I had to strap it on the trailer crosswise to keep it steady.

More logs

2010-05-31T10:10:00.003-05:00

Spent Sunday hauling logs out of the woods.

I got four trees cut up into eleven logs of various sizes and managed to get six of them on site before the heat got the better of me.

I still have five to gather up and I spotted a fresh windfall on the hillside, still has bark and everything!

Happy Memorial Day!

Tacking down the floor

2010-05-31T08:21:00.008-05:00

Got an early start Saturday morning and spooked a doe with her fawn. I had my camera with me but the mama deer was so distressed I just passed by as quietly as possible. The little fawn was hunkered down in the grass trying to hide while the doe stomped and circled trying to decide if she should run from me or take me down. Nice reminder of how fortunate I am to live in such a beautiful place. Anyway, I started the day by stripping the cabin down to the floor and squaring up the decking as best as possible. Then I tacked down the boards with 16 penny nails. This is what happens to cheap fiberglass handled hammers when used to drive big nails through hardwood!

Once I secured the floor to the joists I lag bolted the short sill log to the decking to keep it from sliding around.

About eight hours later I had eight new notches cut and joined. I tried using a long groove cut on the first course above the sill and it did make a nice snug fit but pulling two angled cuts for six feet was really tough. On the remaining front side logs I pulled long straight cuts to flatten the sides that stack on each other. The back and front walls are tight but the sides have large gaps between courses. I'm thinking I will put small 3" diameter logs into those gaps just wedged and toe nailed in before chinking.

Ended the day burning the slash pile and roasting some pork chops over the fire. I was treated to a serenade of coyote howls and the familiar "Who Cooks For You" hoot of the Barred Owls.

Notching

2010-05-23T12:51:00.005-05:00

On the first notch I tried scribing the contour of the lower log onto the upper log then made a series of vertical cuts down to the line. Once the cuts were made I used the hatchet to knockout the chunks.

That made a nice snug fitting joint but it was very time consuming and hard to carve the contour out with only the hatchet and no chisel so I'm going to stick to the simpler "V" saddle notches from here out. Just cut two angles to the appropriate deepth on the edges and knock out the middle using the hatchet/axe whack method.

First seven notches cut and joined!

Splitting the sill log

2010-05-23T12:31:00.004-05:00

I need a flat sill log on the face of the cabin for the threshold. So I cut one of the twelve footers that I couldn't pick up into two six footers and cracked one open.

Once you whack the front of the log enough to crack it you follow the crack with a hatchet or wedge and slam it with the back of the axe. Snap crackle pop.

Eventually it splits

Now I have two sorta kinda equal halves.

Plained them down with the edge of the saw to flatten them a bit more.

I used one six foot half on one side and cut the other six foot half into two three footers. One three footer is on the other side and I used the other three foot half to make a bench with some decking scrap. The gap between will be the doorway.

Cutting the decking

2010-05-17T16:18:00.005-05:00

Time to start cutting the old bridge decking down to size. I'm five weekends into this project now and finally starting to see some results.

The footprint of the cabin will be 12'x12' with the enclosure only 8'x10'. The front three feet will make a small porch.

About now I'm thinking maybe I'll hoist a sail on this bad boy and ride it down the river!

Stacked the logs back up to keep them off the ground over the coming week. We have predictions for rain on four of the next five days.

Foundation and Joists

2010-05-17T16:06:00.006-05:00

The foundation is made from three logs set right on the ground. The two outside logs are an old utility pole left on the property by the power company. It is kiln dried and creosote soaked to prevent rot. It has been on the ground for over eight years and still no noticeable signs of rot so I think it will work fine for the cabin. The center log is one of the dead Elms and will rot fast in contact with the ground so I painted it with some left over oil based wood treatment/stain that the previous owner of the property left in the basement.

In order to hang the joists I had to make plunge cuts in the two outside logs. I was not looking forward to plunging a running chainsaw tip into a log but I got the hang of it.

Once the two vertical cuts and the bottom plunge cut are made you just set a hatchet on top whack it with the backside of an axe and POP the wedge comes right out. Pretty cool.

On the center log I made saddle notches to carry the joists. I'm going to have to cut about a thousand of these before its over so this was good practice.

Joists are hung!

Flooring

2010-05-17T15:48:00.004-05:00

My neighbor had torn down an old bridge that spanned a pond on his property and stacked the decking up along a fence row. I noticed this decking looked like old locally milled hardwood and asked him if I could salvage it to build a floor with. He told me to "Knock myself out"... so I did.

The wood was wet and covered in mud so I scraped it off with a sharpened spud hoe and stacked it up to dry. The spud hoe makes a great log peeling tool as well.

It took most of one weekend to haul the decking to the site, scrape it clean and stack it up to dry.

Hauling Logs

2010-05-17T15:18:00.008-05:00

The next big challenge was to get the logs out of the woods. I found that for the most part I could lift and carry anything 12 foot long with a diameter of under 9 inches far enough to get them on the trailer of the tractor

Once I got them on site I started stacking them to keep them off the ground and get a feel for the size and shape of each log.

It took about three weekends to get thirty logs cut and hauled out of the woods. It was at this point that I decided not to use the old French method. I started to like the idea of the more familiar looking Swiss style cabins that the American settlers of the 19th century brought to the Wabash Valley. This way I won't have to dig fifty feet of four foot deep trench!

Felling leaning trees

2010-05-17T14:36:00.005-05:00

Instead of waiting for the dead fall to come down on its own I decided to harvest the dead trees and build a cabin out of them. The first thing I had to do was find some instruction on dropping trees that lean into others. These are called "widow makers" because they can fall quite unpredictably when cut.

I found a few helpful resources on the internet. The most helpful was the one that instructed me to cut the wedge out of the tree on the top side and then cut the strap on the under side. This effectively caused the tree to drop straight down only a matter of a few inches. The tops of the trees remained lodged in the surrounding trees which turns out to be pretty manageable.
Once the tree is free from the stump you can wedge a sturdy branch under it as a lever and lift the tree up slightly. As you lift the tree will slide slowly back towards the stump. Move it back about a foot at a time and eventually the smaller branches at the top will free themselves from the surrounding trees and it will drop. I didn't take any photos of the leveraging process because...well, I was leveraging! This is one of the above windfalls with the top cut off after bringing it down. As you can see I only had to lift it a few feet back past the stump before it came down.

Welcome to the House of Fallen Timbers

2010-05-17T14:25:00.006-05:00

For many years I have been cutting up fallen trees for firewood that piles up waiting for those occasional evenings when I build an outdoor cook fire.

Most of the wood is dead Elm and stands in the woods for years before it falls.

This year I thought I'd try something completely different. I decided to build a log cabin. I hoped to use the Poteaux-en-Terre method that the first French settlers of the Illinois Country used in the eighteenth century.