Log cabin
#1
I think I have watched every episode of "Barnwood Builders". That's a show where they take down old log cabins and barns, and rebuild them somewhere else. I was looking at Deano's barn and got a thought, "I've seen barns like that on that show". I don't know where a log cabin would fit on my layout, (I already have a barn), but I sure would like to scratchbuild one. I have surgery coming up next week and I'm not suppose to be active for a few weeks after that, so I think I'll have the time to do what I'm thinking.

Just curious, has anyone done anything like this, or are there kits anywhere for log cabins?
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#2
Don, I did not build this and I don't know who did, It was in a bunch of boxes I picked up from a Craigslist ad about 6 years ago. I haven't found a place for it but I think it is nifty and made from toothpicks.  I have no idea how it is assembled but looks like some kind of epoxy inside                     
Charlie
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#3
Charlie, that cabin uses round logs and whoever made it was too lazy to notch the ends, so you're right they look like toothpicks. What I want to do is to replicate hand-hewn logs with dovetail notches on the ends. If I did, the only way I can stack the logs would be one course at a time. I though that I could strip balsa wood into rough uneven logs. I downloaded a few pictures of what I would like to do, but I might have a copyright issue so I'm passing on posting them. Most cabins are small, 20' x 30' is common so I'm looking at around 1.5" x 2.5".There are a couple of log cabins up in Prescott, there is also a train show up there this weekend so I can take a few shots and measurements if I decide to go up there. Uhh, there is also a gun store that I go to frequently so for some reason, Prescott is calling Welcome
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#4
Don is this close to what you want? Theodore Roosevelt Maltese Cross-Ranch Cabin, Roosevelt State Park (moved from ND, Medora Vicinity), Bismarck, Burleigh County, ND (loc.gov) if so i can supply you with 8 to 10 inch logs.
Jim
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#5
Anybody remember Lincoln Logs?

Charlie, those small "logs" look like skewers...I bought a package of them years ago for some now forgotten project...might have been for telephone poles or maybe fence posts.

That large log at the eaves should have been place on the ground as a mud-sill.  Our garage, in the backyard, had mudsills, but they're pretty-well gone, not surprisingly, as the structure is over 180 years old.  They were rough-hewn squared logs, about 12"x12" in size.

A properly-sized needle file would likely make easy work of creating notches for interlocking the logs together....the deeper the notches, the less chinking required.

My grandparents, when the came to Canada, got a 300 acre land grant from the Federal government, on the condition that they would clear some set amount of the land and also grow crops, so that they could feed themselves.  They also had to build their own house, which was, of course, a log cabin.
Among their options, one of their choices was to grow peanuts, which apparently did work.  I was somewhat surprised by that, as the location was in Golden Valley, near North Bay, Ontario...not exactly what we'd call the far North.

Wayne
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#6
(08-02-2022, 11:59 AM)jim currie Wrote: Don is this close to what you want? Theodore Roosevelt Maltese Cross-Ranch Cabin, Roosevelt State Park (moved from ND, Medora Vicinity), Bismarck, Burleigh County, ND (loc.gov) if so i can supply you with 8 to 10 inch logs.
Jim

Yeah, typical hewn logs, here's a couple that Barnwood Builders worked on:

[Image: 86b3d5f511b5d5393403e6cf39902a56--log-ca...cabins.jpg]

[Image: 44740210520_6cc1113365_b.jpg]

What's the width of the logs you have? I'm looking for something between 0.1 inch and 1/8". That gives me 14 to 20 scale inches which is typical for the era.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#7
Don, these are available from Walmart https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wood-Craft-Ma.../796455269  In N scale they are rough enough to be hand hewn. I bought serval packs when they were 2 bucks each.  You could also cut the heads off wooden matches and probably save money. They do stain easily. 
Charlie
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#8
(08-02-2022, 03:24 PM)Charlie B Wrote: Don, these are available from Walmart https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wood-Craft-Ma.../796455269  In N scale they are rough enough to be hand hewn. I bought serval packs when they were 2 bucks each.  You could also cut the heads off wooden matches and probably save money. They do stain easily. 
Charlie

Good thought on both counts Charlie, wooden matchsticks might be more useful providing I cut the right end off.. Icon_rolleyes The thing I need most is inconsistency of shape. Those hand-hewn logs are not uniform by an means. Also whatever I use, the fun will be in putting in all those dovetail  notches.

Let's see what Jim has, won't need too many 10" logs. Longest I'll need will be around 3".
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#9
Don let me check in yard but i could probably send you around 100,000 n scale feet of them .
Jim
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#10
Thanks Jim, with 100,000 scale feet I could build a village. Icon_e_biggrin .  8 to 10' actual would be way more than I'd need, even if I decided to put in rafters, 12' if I go two stories.

My calculations, assuming an average of 14 to 16" wide log with 2" of chinking, a 20' x 30' cabin would require six courses for a single story and use less that 1,000 linear feet of logs for the frame. Add another 400' for rafters and some waste, 10' actual that is around 1/8" round would more than do the job.

I'm thinking, at N scale, hand-hewn logs would look pretty smooth, even close up.  Even a gouge of 1/2 to 1" deep in the side of a log would be well under one-thousands of an inch, nary detectable with the human eye. The only thing that would show would be the irregular widths of the boards.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#11
Don i did some tinkering and your right about looking smooth even in ho they don't show much relief, so my suggestion would leave facing side of logs with bark on them and flatten top and bottom to achieve the two-inch spacing using n scale around 14-inch logs. my log chopper is set to cut 22 ho logs (easy to change) so what length would you like the logs cut to 6 inches is max on my log chopper.
Jim
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#12
(08-03-2022, 10:32 AM)jim currie Wrote: Don i did some tinkering and your right about looking smooth even in ho they don't show much relief, so my suggestion would leave facing side of logs with bark on them and flatten top and bottom to achieve the two-inch spacing using n scale around 14-inch logs. my log chopper is set to cut 22 ho logs (easy to change) so what length would you like the logs cut to 6 inches is max on my log chopper.
Jim

Jim, 6" would work fine, I figure 1.5" + 2.5" would give me front and one side with some waste. 12 pieces would get me the four walls 8' high. 22 pieces would allow me to go two stories if I wanted to. My thought though is to flatten the outside like in the photos that I posted. In some cases that I've seen on the show, they leave the bark on top and bottom since it's covered by the chinking. I've watched those guys drawing off the bark on logs that they just took down. Whatever I wind up doing, I'm getting excited about it, should be fun....

You should have my address, but  let me know if you don't. I thank you in advance good sir... Worship
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#13
Don having a hard time finding straight twigs in the .100 to .125 range can find more in the .130 to .145 range .
don't ask me why I'm using bold type it just does it and I can't stop it 
Jim
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#14
(08-05-2022, 12:57 PM)jim currie Wrote: Don having a hard time finding straight twigs in the .100 to .125 range can find more in the .130 to .145 range .
don't ask me why I'm using bold type it just does it and I can't stop it 
Jim

Jim, took care of your bold type, you might have hit <ctrl+b> somewhere along to line. Next time that happens, select all the text and hit "B" in the upper left corner.

I think that up to .145 would be acceptable, that would give me enough to get flat edges for chinking and still have 14-16" boards. Just came up with an idea of how to get the chinking in. I'll test my theory first, but I could butter a sheet of plastic with joint compound and press it on the backside so it squeezes through the boards, then remove the plastic when it dries. Trying to do the chinking from the front can get messy. Stooges8uq

Go ahead with the larger diameter, I can always make them smaller, hard to make them larger...
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#15
This should be a fun project Don!
Mike

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