OPWA Update
January 2017
Finn and Charlie's
Cabin
Initially, I thought I would need
about 64 logs, 10' and 12' long, 6-8" in diameter at the thickest point
and 4-6" at the thinnest. The
size of the cabin had been determined by the weight of the largest log I could
single handedly lift above my head.
The ideal trees, by necessity
double the length of the desired log, are located deep in a cedar forest where
they might grow straight, narrow, and tall, seeking sunlight. Fortunately, we have an abundance of such
woodlots. Unfortunately, they are difficult to access, most often quite distant
from the road system I have cut in their midst. One doesn't just cut a wedge out of one side of the tree,
crosscut the back side, yell 'timber', and watch it fall to the ground. Instead, one makes the desired cuts
then watches the tree lean imperceptibly into the neighboring boughs. This required that I pound the somewhat
fallen tree off its newly formed stump with a sledge hammer and drag it to the
ground either by hand or with a chain and tractor. Then I'd trim the log to size and remove the branches with
my small Stihl chainsaw.
Initially, I removed the bark
from the log in the field using a hand held draw bar. This is an arduous task made even more difficult by the
presence of a sticky substance called cambium that lies between the bark and
sapwood. I'm told that the cambium
is edible once boiled into a paste, but I preferred Butterfingers for my
snacks. Once cleaned, I leaned the
log against a tree for air-drying.
Fifty years ago, our 160-acre pretend
farm was a real farm generally devoted to wheat and cattle. When the owner was stricken with what
neighbors would later describe as a mental illness, the property was left untended. Eastern Red Cedar (of the juniper
family), Osage-Orange (aka hedge apple trees), Black Locust trees, and bovine
skeletons then laid claim to the land.
Red cedar is a pioneer species,
meaning it is one of the first to repopulate damaged land. Cedar is also considered an invasive
species and was controlled by wildfires in days of yore, before the prairies
became subdivisions. Their low, long branches block the sunlight over a wide
area. Few plants can live under
their canopy encouraging erosion of the land. Adding to their undesirability, their needles raise the pH
level of the soil making it alkaline.
On the plus side, the abundant, bluish juniper berries on female cedars
provide food for cedar waxwings, turkeys, bluebirds, and even hungry mammals. A brief trip through the birds'
intestines triples the reproductive capabilities of each berry.
I chopped, trimmed, and debarked
64 logs over the winter of 2014-2015. (I used 440 logs constructing nearby Fort
Waverly, but they were only 9' x 4", and I didn't debark them.) In the
following spring, I drove around the forest with my Kawasaki Mule and a trailer
to retrieve my crop. After several
failed experiments, I determined the best way to mill the rough logs was to use
a Makita grinding tool. It took 30
minutes of grinding and sanding to make each log approximately round and
smooth. I would later learn that
all my drawbar work was in vain, as I could easily use the grinding tool to
remove the bark and cambium, but this is how the slow witted learn.
I had a mental image of the log
cabin in the Walton's television show that I would replicate, only much smaller
as the new dwelling would be for the use of little people. The interior size would be 9' x 10'
with a 5' porch with a wall height of 6' 8". The cabin would feature 2' x 2' windows on each end and a 6'
x 2 1/2' door on the front. The
gables would be sufficiently steep both to remain in architectural harmony with
the roofline of our nearby barn and to house a sleeping/play loft.
I would quickly learn that the
height of the door was problematic.
I am 6'1", add another 1" for work boots, and one can quickly
deduce how many times my head collided with the unforgiving cross piece.
With 64 logs arduously assembled
near the barn, I naively thought the lion's share of the task was complete. I would later state with complete
accuracy, "Had I any idea how much work this would be, I would never have
begun." So it is well that I
proceeded with complete ignorance.
One June day, Waverly and Finn
accompanied me to Home Depot to buy the only dimension lumber I would use in
the project, thirty 1" x 6" x 12' CCA pine boards for the cabin floor
and sixteen 2" x 8" x 12' boards for the floor joists. Each had a pair of work gloves, and
they helped load each board from the shelves to the trolley to the cashier to
the trailer and to the work site.
I can say with a modest dose of grandfatherly pride that their
assistance transformed a solitary 30-minute task into a well-spent day. As Finn would periodically inquire,
"Can we stop for a snack?"
A friend helped me align and set
the foundation starting with six cedar poles arising from the ground. I then built the decking, with
reinforcements on the edges and laid the floor decking. I discovered that my deck was slightly
out of square. One end wall would be 1.5" longer than the other. "No big deal, I'll fix this as I
go." This would prove
vexatious, but manageable.
Once the deck was laid, it was
time to stack sticks, think Lincoln logs. I watched numerous Youtube videos and
decided to use saddle cuts to connect the corners. Cedar trees are tapered so I had to lay the logs in a thick
to thin manner insuring each course stayed approximately level. I would eventually measure and cut
about 120 saddles. The first dozen
were pretty ragged, but fortunately they were relatively hidden being nearest
the floor. The last dozen fit like
a glove. I oftentimes marveled at how pioneers built these structures without
the aid of Stihl chainsaws, sharp blades, and grinding tools.
Wall building involved a
meaningful amount of log lifting, first for scribing, then to the sawhorse for
cutting, then back to the wall to check the fit and level, then to adjust as
necessary. Rarely would the first
cut be the last.
I cut spaces for my front door
and the two side windows using my chainsaw, repeated measuring, and wedges to
keep the cut logs level. Then I framed the holes. I cut down and hung an old door and used clear Plexiglass
from Home Depot for the windows.
Early on I realized my initial
design for the gables was flawed requiring a mid-course correction. There was no way to maintain structural
integrity merely by stacking gable logs and tying them together with large
dowels and a ridgepole. Instead, I
would use purlins (longitudinal rails running from one end of the cabin to the
other) connecting each coursing of gable logs.
Owing to a miscalculation and the
mid-course design changes, I realized I needed 36 additional 12' logs of
varying diameter. It was late
August, hot, and the trees were heavy with sap, but it was back to the forest
chainsaw in hand. I had a mid-October
deadline when I intended to dedicate the cabin to Finn and Charlie at our
annual fall farm party.
After cutting, trimming,
debarking, shaping, and sanding the new logs, I was ready for the gabling. This was by far the most difficult part
of the construction, particularly since I was working solo. I used wood bolts to tack each gable log
to the one below it. I used a
string guide from a temporary ridgepole tacked to the cabin wall to insure the
correct angles, and cut accordingly.
Then I measured, scribed, and cut a saddle at the ends of the purlin,
and hooked each over the opposing gables.
I was mightily pleased and relieved when I placed the ridgepole across
the top level of the gable, and it was level.
I hated the thought of using
plywood for the roof sub-structure and expressed my concerns to a farm neighbor. He said he had a stack of used Knotty
Pine beaded boards in his barn that he would donate to the cause. Perfect. Then I headed to ABC roofing, purchased cedar shingles, flashing,
and tarpaper, and completed the most unpleasant task of the endeavor.
I built a loft covering about one
half of the interior accessible by a built-in ladder, believing little people
like to climb into small spaces.
All that was left was chinking to
fill in the spaces between the logs..
Again, I relied on Youtube and learned of a product called
Perma-Chink. I bought and used
their cleaning materials to insure the chinking properly adhered to the logs. I then placed backing (foam rods of
varying diameter) in the spaces between the logs, applied the chink with a
caulking gun to cover the backing, and spread the sticky substance with a putty
knife and paintbrush to smooth and clean the seam. I made most of my mistakes on the outside of the back wall,
and was moderately skilled by the time I finished the insides of the walls.
I trimmed the edges of the roofline
and porch with rough cedar, leaving painting and hanging the front door as the
final task. I asked the cabin's
namesakes for their preference on color.
Finn wanted yellow, Charlie blue.
I recruited the boys and their sister on a beautiful fall day to paint
the exterior yellow and the interior blue.
I spent about $1,200 on purchased
items; dimension lumber, hardware, sandpaper discs, roofing, and chinking. I don't choose to contemplate the hours
invested, but it was truly a labor of love.
After I described the time
involved, a pun-loving friend asked, "Did you keep a log?"
Now Finn and Charlie's Cabin
keeps Fort Waverly and the unnamed teepee company.
Miscellany
Once upon a time there was a little boy who persistently
begged his parents to get him a dog.
His pleas were continually spurned. "Aaron, we are not getting you a dog."
Later neighbors noticed that the little boy had tied a piece
of twine to a brick, and he would drag it around their cul-de-sac. This continued for a few days, until
the parents finally relented. The
boy then replaced his brick with a puppy, a just reward for a brilliant ploy.
Thanks to Mary Sneed for sharing this story about her son.
OPWA
Thanks to Jeff Zimmerman for inviting me to speak at
the Shawnee Kiwanis club about my book.
Special thanks to Jim Tavary for placing my largest book order ever to
share with his board, medical staff, and other denizens of Wickenburg, AZ so
they might learn more about their neighbor, Art Ditto. Thanks to all who have shared kind
words about the stories. Copies remain available on Amazon or through my bustling fulfillment center. $12.50/copy plus $3 for shipping, no shipping for orders of 3 or more.
Sales totals are now at 676 copies for OPWA and 1,545
for NNAOPP. I remain 779 short of
"Beating Melville."
Happy New Year to All,
Your obedient servant,
Chuck
Charles A. Wells, Jr.
3317 W. 68th Street
Shawnee Mission, KS 66208
816 289-1924
Author of: Ordinary People Who Aren't: An Anthology and
Nude Nuns and Other Peculiar People
Follow my blog at: http://www.ordinarypeoplewhoarent.blogspot.com
Available at:
Rainy Day Books, 2706 W. 53rd Street, Fairway, KS
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