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Yellow & White Birch Logs

44K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  rivergirl 
#1 ·
Or what I did today

Peeled the Birch Logs today that I cut down last weekend. They need to be peeled while they are still green to get the desired "Rustic" look. Finally got to use the antique draw knife that I picked-up at an antique shop awhile back for around 1/4 the price of new for the quality of blade it has, worked real nice.
This is the second step to making the Rustic Bed frame for Camp that has been kicking around in my head for ever it seems. 1st of which I posted in the wood forum last weekend, Harvesting!
Now I'll let them dry a couple months and make this a mid winter project.
Till then.
Rustic peeled birch logs
Peeling birch logs
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#2 ·
or what I've done this month

It's been a cold and snowy month of January here in Berkshire Mountains of Western Mass. We have shattered the monthly snow fall total and to date have had over 60" and with no meltdown as of yet, still have over 3" on the ground. SOOO!! Seeing I can't get much done outside except PLOW SNOW!
Sky Snow Tree Branch Natural landscape


Luckily the only way I can find the dog is she's a black lab.
Snow Tree Freezing Carnivore Slope


I decided to work on my Log Bed project. 1st order was to rasp down the knots and finish cleaning up the marks from draw knife from removing the bark. I used a Japanese Shinto Rasp to remove the knots and branch ends. This rasp has a reversible fine and course blade and makes quick work of it. Next I smoothed out the rasp marks with a whittling knife used as a scraper and also scraped all the high spots off this way.
Gas Tool Wood Metal Bumper


Wood Machine tool Workbench Engineering Hardwood


Wood Gas Window Hardwood Pattern


Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Wood Tool Metalworking hand tool Gas Machine


Now, this is where I went beyond the normal Log Bed and scribed all pieces to fit instead of the usual method of Holes & Tenon's. I will admit, it's a slow and tedious process made even more difficult by the fact that I'm working with a very rough and uneven material. I do have experience scribing logs having built an Alaskan style log cabin. On this project I wanted a perfect fit with no visible gabs unlike a Log Cabin where you just fill the gap with a sealing caulk. 1st step is to drill the dowel holes, join the rail and posts together and scribe. Next I used a jig saw to rough-out the scribed profile and finished with a rotary rasp mounted in a ½" drill (needed the power)
Wood Hand tool Hardwood Wood stain Plastic wrap


Wood Natural material Hardwood Wood stain Plywood


This takes some time, scribe, rasp, sand, test fit, scribe again, rasp and so on till I got the fit I liked. Repeating every rail and slat till it all dry fitted together. Each night I sealed the ends of all pieces with a clear log seal to help prevent cracking and so far it has been good, only some slight checking on the posts which I then filled with clear silicone caulk.
I've gotten the Foot Board glued-up so far and have brought inside to a cool room to finish drying. Logs were only cut-down in November.
Furniture Product Wood Outdoor furniture Natural material


Product Wood Outdoor furniture Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Creative arts Natural material Wood stain Hardwood


Today I got the head Board rails and posts dry fitted together.
Table Wood Automotive tire Desk Gas
 

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#3 ·
or what I've done this month

It's been a cold and snowy month of January here in Berkshire Mountains of Western Mass. We have shattered the monthly snow fall total and to date have had over 60" and with no meltdown as of yet, still have over 3" on the ground. SOOO!! Seeing I can't get much done outside except PLOW SNOW!
Sky Snow Tree Branch Natural landscape


Luckily the only way I can find the dog is she's a black lab.
Snow Tree Freezing Carnivore Slope


I decided to work on my Log Bed project. 1st order was to rasp down the knots and finish cleaning up the marks from draw knife from removing the bark. I used a Japanese Shinto Rasp to remove the knots and branch ends. This rasp has a reversible fine and course blade and makes quick work of it. Next I smoothed out the rasp marks with a whittling knife used as a scraper and also scraped all the high spots off this way.
Gas Tool Wood Metal Bumper


Wood Machine tool Workbench Engineering Hardwood


Wood Gas Window Hardwood Pattern


Wood Table Wood stain Hardwood Plank


Wood Tool Metalworking hand tool Gas Machine


Now, this is where I went beyond the normal Log Bed and scribed all pieces to fit instead of the usual method of Holes & Tenon's. I will admit, it's a slow and tedious process made even more difficult by the fact that I'm working with a very rough and uneven material. I do have experience scribing logs having built an Alaskan style log cabin. On this project I wanted a perfect fit with no visible gabs unlike a Log Cabin where you just fill the gap with a sealing caulk. 1st step is to drill the dowel holes, join the rail and posts together and scribe. Next I used a jig saw to rough-out the scribed profile and finished with a rotary rasp mounted in a ½" drill (needed the power)
Wood Hand tool Hardwood Wood stain Plastic wrap


Wood Natural material Hardwood Wood stain Plywood


This takes some time, scribe, rasp, sand, test fit, scribe again, rasp and so on till I got the fit I liked. Repeating every rail and slat till it all dry fitted together. Each night I sealed the ends of all pieces with a clear log seal to help prevent cracking and so far it has been good, only some slight checking on the posts which I then filled with clear silicone caulk.
I've gotten the Foot Board glued-up so far and have brought inside to a cool room to finish drying. Logs were only cut-down in November.
Furniture Product Wood Outdoor furniture Natural material


Product Wood Outdoor furniture Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Creative arts Natural material Wood stain Hardwood


Today I got the head Board rails and posts dry fitted together.
Table Wood Automotive tire Desk Gas
Looks great. Impressive work on the scribed joints.
 

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#6 ·
Headboard Assembled

This past week, again plowed snow and shoveled more roofs (Roofs are collapsing at the rate of up to 50 a day around here, I should have plenty of work come spring fixing roofs)
Finished and assembled the head board. Again this section was even tougher to scribe due to the top rail being curved and twisted, turned out pretty good. Next step is to clean them up to get them ready for staining, haven't quite decided on stain color yet. Birch stays a whitish color, even when polyed. I want this bed frame to look rustic aged. Side rails will just be 2x stock and joined with heavy duty bed rail fasteners.
I started a couple other projects with what I have left of pealed logs
Slab end tables
Cat tree (these were suppose to be for xmas)
Furniture Wood Outdoor furniture Couch Natural material
 

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#7 ·
Headboard Assembled

This past week, again plowed snow and shoveled more roofs (Roofs are collapsing at the rate of up to 50 a day around here, I should have plenty of work come spring fixing roofs)
Finished and assembled the head board. Again this section was even tougher to scribe due to the top rail being curved and twisted, turned out pretty good. Next step is to clean them up to get them ready for staining, haven't quite decided on stain color yet. Birch stays a whitish color, even when polyed. I want this bed frame to look rustic aged. Side rails will just be 2x stock and joined with heavy duty bed rail fasteners.
I started a couple other projects with what I have left of pealed logs
Slab end tables
Cat tree (these were suppose to be for xmas)
Furniture Wood Outdoor furniture Couch Natural material
That looks great. Those scribed joints look amazingly tight. Nice job.
 

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#15 ·
1st peek at Log Cat Trees

Here is my first Cat tree for my Daughters belated Xmas gift. She has 3 cats and has tried the carpeted cardboard trees in the past, but the cats just destroyed them.
First the tree is 6' tall and will have 5 levels or seats with one being a Box/house (2nd one up one the left)
I should have finished it today, BUUUT, the tent garage I store all my wood in Collapsed under the snow as mentioned in previous Blogs.
Plant Wood Twig Natural material Terrestrial plant


Wood Twig Natural material Hardwood Wood stain


I stained the log bed today, finally, went with Golden oak.
 

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#16 ·
1st peek at Log Cat Trees

Here is my first Cat tree for my Daughters belated Xmas gift. She has 3 cats and has tried the carpeted cardboard trees in the past, but the cats just destroyed them.
First the tree is 6' tall and will have 5 levels or seats with one being a Box/house (2nd one up one the left)
I should have finished it today, BUUUT, the tent garage I store all my wood in Collapsed under the snow as mentioned in previous Blogs.
Plant Wood Twig Natural material Terrestrial plant


Wood Twig Natural material Hardwood Wood stain


I stained the log bed today, finally, went with Golden oak.
When you said "tree" you weren't kidding. That is very cool, and original.
 

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#18 ·
Or what I did today, matching Log Dog Beds

I decided to make a matching Log Bed for my Black Lab today,( My Daughter came By and said I have to much time on my hands). I still have lots of odds and ends from this last Log harvest so,... why not. This of course is for camp.
I decided to use construction adhesive instead of glue for the dowels, I think it will fill the voids and be much stronger since no screws are used.
I will use sisal rope as the mattress frame support (Good thing shes past chewing on stuff)
Wood Gas Hardwood Wood stain Lumber


As with the other projects I scribed and doweled the joints for IMO a much cleaner fit.
Wood Gas Composite material Auto part Metal


I'll throw in a pic of the Bed frame stained and sealed with 3 coats of tung oil.
Wood Outdoor furniture Natural material Rectangle Plant
 

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#19 ·
Or what I did today, matching Log Dog Beds

I decided to make a matching Log Bed for my Black Lab today,( My Daughter came By and said I have to much time on my hands). I still have lots of odds and ends from this last Log harvest so,... why not. This of course is for camp.
I decided to use construction adhesive instead of glue for the dowels, I think it will fill the voids and be much stronger since no screws are used.
I will use sisal rope as the mattress frame support (Good thing shes past chewing on stuff)
Wood Gas Hardwood Wood stain Lumber


As with the other projects I scribed and doweled the joints for IMO a much cleaner fit.
Wood Gas Composite material Auto part Metal


I'll throw in a pic of the Bed frame stained and sealed with 3 coats of tung oil.
Wood Outdoor furniture Natural material Rectangle Plant
Wonderful! I just found your blog today, so I have to catch up and then keep following to see how you use up your pile of beautiful logs!
 

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#20 ·
Or what I'm waiting to do!

Spring has sprung,... yeah right, coulda fooled me!.... My pile of Logs that I did not peel has finally appeared from under its winter slumber, I am going to start selecting and peeling for my next piece of furniture "Log Couch and end tables". I have the logs to do all the slats and posts but not any long enough for the rails and I want to get a New arched piece for the top rail, Problem is There is still over 2' of snow on the ground at the Camp in Northern Vermont. Looks like I wont be able to drive in till the end of the month to get that piece.

My Daughter and Step Daughter both sew and have volunteered to make the cushions, just need to find the right fabric, maybe moose's.

I will slowly work on this through the summer, when I have time ;)

Snow Wood Trunk Biome Freezing
 

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#21 ·
Or what I'm waiting to do!

Spring has sprung,... yeah right, coulda fooled me!.... My pile of Logs that I did not peel has finally appeared from under its winter slumber, I am going to start selecting and peeling for my next piece of furniture "Log Couch and end tables". I have the logs to do all the slats and posts but not any long enough for the rails and I want to get a New arched piece for the top rail, Problem is There is still over 2' of snow on the ground at the Camp in Northern Vermont. Looks like I wont be able to drive in till the end of the month to get that piece.

My Daughter and Step Daughter both sew and have volunteered to make the cushions, just need to find the right fabric, maybe moose's.

I will slowly work on this through the summer, when I have time ;)

Snow Wood Trunk Biome Freezing
GO GO GO!!!
 

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