Best Choice for simple cabin build

[Banjo picker]

Very nice except for that white stuff. Banjo

[CJ5]

That is really nice, Bandit and thanks for the offer. I will get in touch with you later, once I get a good plan. I need to do some tree inventory and then get some ideas on cost to have a peckerwood saw for me.

[frazman]

Bandmill Bandit, where did you get the hardware for the door. I like the look. Your cabin looks very well made.  The open ceiling gives it a nice touch. Trying to get ideas for my wife small cabin.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Bob had those hinges made at our local Alberta Heritage Museum Black Smith shop. The operator is a young man from many generations of black smiths. He is *DanG good too. Ill get a picture of his shop and post it here. 

[1938farmall]

Lots of great info on dovetail corners, but how about CJ5's original idea of just sawing 2 flats & dead-stacking them right off the mill in butt & pass fashion - how bad would the mold & future rot be, say, in red pine from moisture in the logs (assuming rain water is kept to a minimum with shelfs & undercuts at the log joints)?  assuming no spikes or screws were used, could a person insert some 1/4" stickers when stacking the logs and pry them out a year later and let the joint close?  or maybe just leave the "stickers" in place & caulk/chink the joint outside leaving the logs to dry to the inside of the building?

[jeepcj779]

If mold was a concern, the logs should be treated with Bora-care, Solubor or similar treatment to prevent it. Even if mold was not a concern, the logs should be treated anyway. Mold is usually not a problem with logs in log walls unless you leave the bark on. Considering the weight of a log wall, you would probably not be able to pry out most stickers when the walls are complete. If you did not use any type of fasteners for the log wall, especially for a butt and pass system, you might not have to worry about pulling the stickers out because the wall would be unstable and may fall apart. Seriously though, if not fastened together somehow, all the warping that happens during drying will become an issue with fitment - the flats that were flat when the log was wet might not be flat once it dries.

[Bandmill Bandit]

If you just flat cut/stack I'd give you about 7 to 10 years and your corners would show significant mold/rot onset. The cost of the jig to do those corners is so negligible and the process of doing the cuts with or with out a jig is pretty much the same. 

The beauty is that the jig actually speeds up the whole construction process because everything is exactly the same and fits without triming or shimming etc. 

Red Green would do the duct tape and hay-wire method and while i can do things that way, I don't do any thing that way and don't recommend. Its just not worth the wasted energy and time.    

[Don P]

Flats that are flat when sawn will not be flat when dried no matter what you do. Radial shrinkage is about half of tangential, here is what that means in your 2 face slabbed logs;



The left hand pic is the freshly sawn log with flat faces. The middle pic shows what it looks like dry. Draw vertical lines through the log near each edge and one through the center. The lines near each edge are tangent to the growth rings, the one through the center is radial through the growth rings so shrinks half as much there compared to the edges. I run the power planer down the center of the bottom flat before assembly to help it bear tight on the edges after it dries. A saw kerf down the center of the bottom helps encourage the shrinkage check to form there.

If you want to provide for cranking down on the log stack later, drill through the logs with a 1" ships auger at each log level, drill hole over drill hole as you go up. Ram the chips out the bottom each time with a piece of allthread and install allthread through the holes when the wall is up with steel plates top and bottom. Nut the allthread top and bottom and tack weld the top leaving access underfloor to the bottom for tightening later. Don't overtighten, if you snap the allthread its done. I'll usually run that near each corner and beside doors and if needed windows depending on wall length.

You can staple sill seal or backer rod in the underside planed trench to help with air infiltration.

I've done both ways and a number of others, some of the flat stacked is around 30 years old without mold or rot, that is more about having a good hat on.