beenthere,,
The logs ar ponderosa.. all materials came from the property,so I am dealing with what i have locally..
part of the dream. I peeled them about two years ago, so the color is natural, which is what I wanted. I do know how to color logs,, muriatic will lighten them, but if you dissolve iron filings in the acid,, you can darken them as well. I don't want to do this,, but play with the colors as they are.. with some yellow logs on the top for accents.
Hehe,, the low header is an optical illusion due to the size of the logs and rocks. the height to the bottom of the header is about 8'6" and inside opening is about 12'. the butts of the logs are around 20".
I am located just west of Colorado Springs,Colorado
logwalker,,
that it is,, an ambitious project,, It has been in the planning for about 4 years. I spent the first year hauling rocks and logs,, the next year I excavated the site and put in the footer.
I was going to just blaze off the ground but hit three springs. So I took it down 2'. then I hit another spring nearly dead center in the shopspace,,so put in a french drain on the diagonal and filled it with decomposed gravel. I still had a water problem, so put another french drain at the top of the foundation and tied it into the lower one at the southeast corner.
the excavation was the prime expense,, the d&g came from the site.
Late last summer i started the stone work,,around august and had to quit mid november due to cold. Then the winter snows came and i began to dig out.
Oh,, yea,, the shop is 20' x 40' and a shed roof with a pitch to match an existing old shed just behind the bandsaw.
anyway,, i dug out the shop and logs and moved the goalpost logs into the center and began to put them together,, my first attempt at a mortis\tenon\cope combination. everything has been done pretty much Egyptian style,,comealongs,block and tackle, a wood platform and 1" pipe for rollers. the first side took me two months,,the second took two weeks,,and i think i could do the whole deal in a two - three week timeframe now. We erected the doorbucks in August,,and i jumped back onto the stonework.
I ran into a time problem,, sheesh,, a very insistent, but patient customer with a job... So my good friend Mark came aboard to do the stack logs. I am finishing the stone during the week, and when he comes up , we are doing the rest of the logwork. He is pictured setting the log on the other page. Pay attention to his notches btw,, and see if you can figure out just what is going on...
we will finish the last front log,, seen on the left with the tripod in place,,and the first fit in the pics on the other page. Then we will put up the "Big Kahuha"!! It is a 50' 24" butt that will sit on top of the goalpost,, then the four main rafters will be notched in with temp notches,, and a large tarp will be put up. I will begin setting up my shop,,and we will have a place out of the weather to do the rest of the logs and iron.
The plan,, is to be operational as a blacksmith shop in a few weeks,,and pretty much finished by the first of the year. truth be known,, once I have my forge,anvil and power hammer set up,, time is not a priority,, but still looking to be pretty done by the first of the year.
The bandsaw is pat. pending 1900 and a machinist friend rebuild it a few years ago. It is a great tool,, has a 48" dia set of wheels and with bit bigger motor and another pulley,, will work for metal or wood into the future,, but now,, it is a metal bandsaw,,and just sweet to work...
When i get my main computer back on line, i will put up some pics of my other tools,, my camelback drill press is the same vintage,,and rebuild by the same man.
I cannot speak high enough of Mark,, just a fine craftsman. We have been working on the design over many cups of coffee,,and a huge amount of BS,,, hehe,, and both of us are really excited over just how it is turning out.
Logs are so cool,, and the details are beginning to emerge,, check out his pic,,and the knots on the vert buck and the log he is setting. I am going to run the stone behind these four knots so they will be visible on the inside of the shop.
This is my first major project where i am combining stone,iron, and log. the iron is not easy to see,, as it gets buried,,but I have hand forged all the "J"bolts and counter sunk square washers as an example. I made all my stone tools,, trowels, and whatever else the others are called,,
,, I'm a blacksmith,,not a stonemason!! but i am a toolmaker.
I cannot begin to tell you just how satifsying it is to use these tools on a daily basis,,and see this stonework rise from the ground...
I built a log house a few years ago,, nearly as nice as this,, not quite,, and came up with this design for the log dogs. the design is not fluff and stuff but all very functional. I have used the typical square bar\rebar with welded on legs,,and they are just a pain in the butt!! So this design makes them a joy to work,, the taper from the center,,and the curve make it so a light tap in the center sets the dog,,and creates a spring action to secure the dog in both logs,, one light blow,,and you are done,, tap it sideways,,and it pops loose. no more hit one end,,and the other pops loose,,or hit it in the middle ands both ends go wherever they danged well want!!
I have been saying for the last month,,that i will be done with the stonework in two or three weeks,, still got two or three weeks to go,, and its getting cold!! I have a thermal blanket,,but don't want to put any additives into the mud. so the pressure is definitely on... so back at it tomorrow. today i picked up a couple hundred pounds of quartz,, to highlight the stone here and there on the last corner...
anvil
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September 30, 2015, 08:19:06 PM
