Log home shell

sounds fascinating: the quiet “in sync” moments vs the wild chainsaw orchestra moments.. very cool

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hello Steve;
—-this is really great!
I will be following your blog story on you log home. I just love reading about workers of wood who work in this form.

Now a question, in your last photo of the three series, there is one man doing the cutting with the Husqvarna chainsaw and then the other one is holding//bracing the front end of the chainbar. Can you explain more on what the man doing the hold//bracing is doing and why-how? I have not seen this before, but would venture a guess that this is a safety feature to guide the bar in the cut or to eliminate the possibility of kick-back….?

And yes, I am happy to see the great detail in all clothing aspects of safety apparel for chainsawing….eye protection, head protection, ear protection and the chaps.

Keep blogging on this story when you re-turn from your vacation….and,

Thank you for sharing.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Steve, Sounds like you had a fun and interesting time. The floor plan sounds like the log home my brother-in-law finished a couple of years ago. Log houses are a lot of work. But they sure are neat when done.

-- Thos. Angle

What a big job!

MsDebbie, I think a road trip is in order. :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

That is so cool! Something I have always wanted to do..go to a timber frame or log house building course. That looks like it was allot of fun as well as work!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

Great experience, I hope to do that some day.

-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3 http://www.portablesawmill.biz/concrete/

i can relate to this project, myself and another guy built a log home for a guy up in north georgia about 10 yr. ago . i could lie to ya and tell ya how much fun it was but i wont . it was the most gruelling physical thing i have ever done . the heavy eqipment we had on the job was the chainsaw . everything else was brute strenth and im not much of a brute ! i did lift weights on a regular basis back then but it was still killin me .
glad i did it but i wont do it again . lol

Hi Frank,

You are right that in the last picture the second man is holding the bar against a guide. There is a pair of metal guides secured to the chainsaw bar ( an engineered piece of steel tube with cutouts for the chain to pass through top and bottom and bolts to secure it against the sides ). These guides are slid along 2×4 posts which are temporarily nailed to the logs, 3/4” from the cut line ( The 3/4” is distance from the guide to the chainsaw teeth on either side ). The chainsaw is set against the guides and then slowly lowered, cutting a neat straight line on the log ends. The second person is ensuring that the bar stays tight to the guide,ensuring a straight cut. The wooden bar he is holding is attached to a swivel on the metal guide. His job is merely to ensure that it stays tight against the 2×4. He’s not pushing or pulling or guiding the chainsaw in any way, that’s the operator’s job.

I have some better closeups but here is a somewhat better view of the guides on the bar.

I’ll have some more info on this and some other jigs used. Like all woodworking, inventing tools for the job is all part of the fun.

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com

Great Job. Steve. it will be exciting to see it all being done.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Very interesting Steve. I’ve always wanted a log cabin – never had the urge to build one though – but I’m glad you had the opportunity to follow a dream.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Yes sir!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

That’s a little bigger than the boxes I usually make, but I really like it.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Hello Steve;
—-many thanks for your getting back with an answer to my question! Once you get to know me you will probably come to understand that I have many questions and opinions….but then I have a busy mind that needs to be feed.

Your explanation and then the photo is most en-lightening and speaks much to me. What I originally did not see was the other ‘guide bar’ located at the front of the chainbar, so that there are really two ‘guide bars’. Great down-under way of thinking. I am excited about what you have shown me here, as my mind is all-ready working on an-other way of adapting this jig to a style of chainsaw cutting that I also do. I do some slab cutting with ripping chains and bars, and I am thinking of going up to a 48’’ or 56’’ bar and chain. Most slab cutters will attach a handle to the outside of the end bar, where another operator also stands holding and guiding his//her end of the bar….for straightness, along with the engine operator. This has all-ways seemed un-safe to me since from my way thinking….what happens when//if a chain breaks and you are the one standing out there at the end? I have even asked the folks that manufacture these different mills and when I bring up the question of; ’’what if//when the chain breaks’’, there is all-ways the pause and then the statement that; ’’well all chainsaws and chainsawing is dangerous. Kind of like….duh, don’t you think I know that!

The point I am getting at here is that this jig you have shown me has given me an idea of locating a bar that swivels on the outside of the chain bar, which would put the operator at that end of the bar, who is doing the guiding also ‘back behind’ the bar and more out of harms way, should the chain break.

Next question I will ask is have you any knowledge of seeing or hearing what happens when there is a chain break using this jig you have shown us? And yes I know that the operator on that end of the jig is out of the way, but I am wondering more about how does the jig and ‘guide bar’ react to the breakage?

Beyond this I will wait patently for you re-turn and for any photos on your blog story that is forthcoming, and….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Nice job Steve. Nothing like back to basics. Good on you Kiwi’s for coming up with something different.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

A dream house for sure.

-- Kip Northern Illinois ( If you don't know where your goin any road will take you there) George Harrison

Here is an updated photo of the shell which has now been dissassembled, drilled, sealed, had windows and window sills cut out and then transported to Te Anau and reassembled, adding the roof with the ridge beam, the porches, conventional framing, etc.

Now that I see it this way, I wish I hadn’t left it when we left the course last November!

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com