Today is the thirteenth of July. General update time. The weather has vastly improved over the last couple of weeks and this has led to great progress being made. Along with a couple visitors it has been an exciting few weeks in the woods. More below.
The first project to get finished off this week is the porch. Too long had it sat half finished with a pile of scabs and rubbish leaning up against it. I cleared away all the rubbish and started stacking the scabs and such under the porch. Using the chainsaw mill I finished off the last of the sycamore logs from last years coppice work. These milled out nicely with the sharp 550 cutting through them in good time. Once the boards were milled out in rough I took the battery circular saw and took the worst of the live edge off the boards. This allows them to sit roughly straight and look good on the floor. Once the boards were sided they then got nailed down to the frame. The boards a pale white and stick out, against the greyed older boards, like a sore thumb. However, they will, over time grey out and join the other boards sitting gently in the woods.
Along with milling the last of the sycamore I went out to the oak thinning’s and took the mill to those too. I was amazed at how well the boards cut out and how much character they had. The oak boards were more work to mill then the thin sycamore but that is to be expected as they are twice the width and made of oak. These boards will get jointed and then eventually be used for the internal cladding of the cabin. Also I have had a good idea to use some of them to make a couple beehives for the soon to be instated orchard.
This milling experience has taught me that I can now make things from large diameter trees. Once upon a time I was greatly limited on how big of a tree I could harvest. I was limited by how heavy a log one man can carry across the woods. The massive advantage of the chainsaw mill is that I can move the mill to the log, cut it to beams and boards and then move it in a great many pieces back to the Den site. This will allow me long run to create a different sort of building. Roll on the oak timber framed toilet. Spoilers :p .
Now the cabin has a finished porch and back wall it is time to get back on that roof of mine. I have cleft out about 200 shingles with some help from a good friend over the last couple days. A few more days like that over the week and I will have a decent pile to whack up this weekend. Next update will be a roof update and if everything goes to plan it might be a rather substantial milestone in the cabin build. Thank you all for following along with the build. Also a great thank you to those people who have been an endless source of encouragement to get this project finished up. Below is a few other photos of what has been going on. Also check out my Instagram Thedenworkshop1234 for more regular photos of what is happening down in the woods.
The Den workshop 