Forest log cabin renovation/building

nebruks · July 02, 2011, 09:27:57 AM

Hello up there.

Last summer I made a small log cabin for my family from an 100 years old bath house.

While the bigger house will be built - the small cabin will be a good shelter for us.

Here are some retrospective of how the cabin has been made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNhxDUsESUM

Jeff · July 02, 2011, 09:34:53 AM

That was an absolute joy to watch. Thank you and welcome to the Forestry Forum.

Mooseherder · July 02, 2011, 09:49:02 AM

That's a good enough production for the Big Time!
Awesome, thanks for sharing it.

Tom · July 02, 2011, 10:27:13 AM

That was great. Thankyou for letting me be a part of your project. You are quite the talented fellow.

Jim_Rogers · July 02, 2011, 10:31:51 AM

Thanks for posting....and yes welcome...

LOGDOG · July 02, 2011, 10:37:33 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Nebruks. My wife and I have enjoyed your video on YouTube for some time now. You have a beautiful family and a beautiful home. Please tell us more about you and your projects.

WDH · July 02, 2011, 10:41:08 PM

That was great!

ibseeker · July 02, 2011, 11:11:11 PM

Nice work, both the video and the log cabin renovation and Welcome to the Forum.

WildDog · July 03, 2011, 03:08:10 AM

Hats off to you for keeping some history alive. I could of sat through a couple of hours of that. Thankyou

nebruks · July 03, 2011, 03:10:18 AM

Hello again!

Thanks everyone for kind words.

A little bit about myself.

My name is Jacob. I am 26.

I live in Latvia (Lettland). I am overtaken by traditional log and timber architecture and craftsmanship since I was a child. I have restored a log cabin (that you saw in the video) that has been built in 1910 and also made some simple timber frame buildings for myself so far.

I am willing to practice more and deepen my experience and skills in timber buildings.

I was in Sweden last autumn to log building courses organised by famous axe factory - Gransfors Bruks. I have some of Gransfors axes. Those are very good tools. Tools with a soul.

Now I am working on my next (bigger) project - to build a house for my family using timber frame technique and insulating the walls with hand hewn logs and pine wood shavings. I have prepared all the timber in my own forest - here you can see how my trees fell like in the old days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkvS4k9xfsY

I will build the house mostly with hand tools and human energy. I have almost all the old tools that I need - a broad axe (Swedish and German style), mortise axe, chisels, slick, crosscut saw, auger bit hand drills, draw knifes, some layout tools... I also made a shaving horse last week for peg making. I will use dry maple wood for pegs.

Now I am almost done with the foundation and the basement building and I will start the framing and hand hewing process in a few days.

Here is a short video of making the hand split stone (boulder) foundation for my family house:

http://vimeo.com/24390643

Ianab · July 03, 2011, 04:09:29 AM

Interesting, the hand split stone looks very similar to work recently done on planters, traffic islands and a bridge here in my small town here in NZ. But it was done by some Samoans, using their "traditional" stone building methods. Just so happens that stones on the opposite side of the world are very similar.

Ian

LOGDOG · July 03, 2011, 09:08:15 AM

Nebruks ....

What program are you using to create your videos? They're excellent quality. The flow is very nice. Do you do this your self or maybe your wife?

Buck · July 03, 2011, 09:50:18 AM

Nice work. Welcome to the forum. Your photography is amazing. Thank You for sharing.

nebruks · July 05, 2011, 12:00:41 AM

Hey.

Thanks for replying.

I use Final Cut Pro for making movies. I make them by myself. I use Nikon D7000 camera with option to record movies in 720p HD.

Jacob

fishpharmer · July 05, 2011, 07:48:00 AM

nebruks, welcome to forestry forum. Your obviously an energetic and talented fellow. I look forward to visiting with you here for years to come.

I can only echo what the others have said about your videos, GREAT! An oustanding aspect of the first video beside the nice photography is the "human" factor. Your cabin isn't just a building, its a home. You so creatively meld the natural elements of trees and stone with your precious family. The video captures the same timeless pioneering spirit that has driven men (and women) to sweat and toil throughout history. Only a few modern things, such as truck and crane giveaway that your video didn't actually occur 100 years ago. Bravo.

nebruks · July 07, 2011, 03:36:35 PM

Quote from: fishpharmer on July 05, 2011, 07:48:00 AM
nebruks, welcome to forestry forum. Your obviously an energetic and talented fellow. I look forward to visiting with you here for years to come.

I can only echo what the others have said about your videos, GREAT! An oustanding aspect of the first video beside the nice photography is the "human" factor. Your cabin isn't just a building, its a home. You so creatively meld the natural elements of trees and stone with your precious family. The video captures the same timeless pioneering spirit that has driven men (and women) to sweat and toil throughout history. Only a few modern things, such as truck and crane giveaway that your video didn't actually occur 100 years ago. Bravo.

Thanks for your "Bravo". I like to do the things as much as possible like they have been done in the old days. It is for me like to be in a time machine. Like a live history. I wish to go to USA next summer to some Timber Framing workshop in Idaho near Spokane. Never knows, maybe we will meet some day...