So..... Great weekend.  Got up to the land with the family and got some stuff done.  Second try at time lapse, this time a section of short retaining wall along the camper site.   I only had that little baby tripod on a block of wood so the viewpoint isn't all that great.  Another couple of days and this section will be done, then on to the 'big one'!

This section is an extension of the wee bit'o wall that marks off the camper spot.  We started on it last fall and it'll probably be done shortly ;-)!

2/5 Pairs of Rafters Ready to Go....

Well, I spent a few minutes this morning looking a distant neighbors blog on the subject of building a cabin and thought that I should add an update...  I have been working on (milling) what I am now calling the 'tool shed' and 'temporary tractor shed' this summer and just finished cutting two of five rafter pairs.

I got the logs from a rental property that was doing some clean up and, unfortunately, the timing is was pretty poor.   Cutting in the summer with all the sap in the trees is less than ideal but I had to take advantage of the readily available wood.

The problem I am seeing with the very wet wood is mold/fungus.  The big pine that I took (9 - 4x10 beams :-) had some serious discoloration and growth.  Not sure if it was the best idea but I thought that perhaps a little bleach would be a good way to knock it back.   Seems to have worked, will have to find out later if it messes my finish up.   I figure that I'll rinse all the pieces off good after they dry.

Tool Shed Plan.

Put on the big bar.

Makes for a pretty impressive saw :-)

Buck the log, took the 'small end'.

36" cut was almost not enough!

Too big for the mill, so invert to get it down to manageable sizes.

Second cut...

... and another view.

Result: 4" x 34" 'board'.

Quartered.

All that's needed are some basic tools.

And a plan.

Here are the first four rafters.

Stitched Time Lapse....

So, took two more 'sessions' to complete the joint.  Patched them together and laid in some sound (thank you Stefano Vita), a little learning on iMovie.  I wasn't too thrilled at the level of control for viewing each picture, now I see that you can re-time a clip after it's made as a % of the original - problem solved.....

Always little things along the way too.  In the first clip I had the the camera on a small flexible legged tripod sitting on a board connected to one of the shelves in the garage.  It seemed too far away so for the second clip I moved it forward.  Then the tripod wasn't able to bend and point down well.   So I put together a little stand for the camera out of a pile of scraps destined for fireplace kindling.  Worked pretty good, think it's a keeper.

Moving forward again - and first time-lapse :-).   Don't like the view, but I can tweak it next time....

Frankenstein Complete

Winter project complete.  After seeing the waves in the driveway an night with the headlights shining over it I knew that adjustments had to be made.  So, after a bunch of Internet searches and plenty of YouTube videos I know beyond a doubt what needed to be done - it had to be graded.

I kinda of suspected that might be the case when I bought the Gravel Rascal and even asked the sales guy why they didn't offer a grader option.  He brushed it off and I pressed forward with the purchase.  I am pleased with the product, it's just not complete.  Back in the day (at least at home) the counties all had horse, later tractor, drawn graders.  As motor graders came along these got sold off or parked somewhere to rust away.   I have seen a few around here as well, even one that looked like it might want a new home at a construction equipment lot.  Called, no response.  Time to get busy.  

After a bunch of time in SketchUp had a plan.  Bought a small pile of steel and started cutting.  Overall it really came together quite nice.  There was one pivot point that I just couldn't quite get my head around so I swapped out the solid support for a chain so it could be adjusted, and I worried (correctly) that the actuator would not be stout enough with the additional weight to lift it.   After swapping out the lift it was good to go.

Best news is that it actually works!

One more little step forward.... Sill 'A' is complete!  Got the joints cut and, now that I know better, put on the Anchor Seal.

Wow, been a while.  A few things have happened I suppose.  Mostly lots of changes to 'the plan'.  One of the big ones is the location of the finished Timber Frame shed I have been working on.  I think we are going to put it in West Virgina instead of the back yard.  Long story :-).

If you have ever read the short called "Sequences" by Patrick McManus you'll have a deep appreciation for the ripples on both sides of the cause and effect that came from this change.  One of them was the decision to build a little post and beam wood shed as a thank you gift for our friend who donated a bunch of wood for the big shed.  I have been cutting beams from trees that had come down in the yard due to either storms or thining for a couple of years now.  Problem is there was one more tree and I don't really need any more beams, so....

The screen capture here shows the design I came up with.  Pretty simple.  They have a fireplace that they use a few times a season so it doesn't have too be all that big.  Need to keep the firewood up off the ground and the weather off.

Wood Shed Design

The small size drove the timber size to 4x4 posts so there was really no way to do timber frame joints so went with metal fasteners, post and beam style. Still like the timber frame look though so put some lap joints in to give it a little bit of effect.

Beams, Ready to Assemble

Next photo is all of the timbers cut and ready to go.  For such a small little thing the pile ended up a lot bigger then I expected.  Of course this also means it took much longer than anticipated as well.  Twice the cost and four times as long as the estimate as I am often told by certain other people near and dear to me.

Mostly Finished

Last shot shows the decking going on. At this point I was doing an hour or so at a time after work so it took one more trip to get the shingles down, in the rain of course.  Need to get back over and see how it looks with some wood stacked up....

Laying Down the Decking