Found

My daughter was asking if I had a drawing pad she could borrow.
I said yes and went to find her one.
Found an old pad I had not used for a very long time.

Inside was this sketch I did of one possible configuration of what I now call the Pitt's Blacksmith shop.

Needless to say it didn't turn out anything like this sketch.

In this sketch it looks like I was planning on a very large wood shed.

Often when working on one of my building projects I will find time to do a sketch of what I hope it will look like. Sometimes I do this while taking a break from the project, other times it will be when bored at some other time in my day.

I have found I have done a sketch for most of my cabins.

This one dates back to about 1994 I believe.

My last sketch was for the Adirondack project.

Cleaning up . . .

 As I near the end of the Adirondack project I have started cleaning up the logs I have left over to see if any are usable for more than firewood.

Most have long, deep sections of bad wood. Some just have bad ends.
Some, actually most have only small areas of good wood.
But it is amazing after 150 years or more of being down and shaped how good some of the wood still is.

I still have one more big pile of
logs to go through and I hope I have enough for one small project of some kind.

As I go through the logs if I find any features I think are worth preserving I am cutting them out and will put them some where safe.

Some of the logs having some neat and well done notches that are worth keeping and using as a 'teachable moment' for anyone interested.

And for the most part I can remember where these logs were on the original building and how they were used.

This is a notch in one of the cap logs (the last log to go on).

 Another view.

 And this is that section cut out. I will clean it up and put it where people can see it, but where it is protected from the weather.

 Another view showing the other side.

I am also going to explore some of the old nails and see if I can find both hand forged and cut nails.

A little more done on the Adirondack Shelter.

 With a nice cool misty kind of day for early Sept. I got out to the cabin for a while.

The morning found me cleaning the inside of the main cabin to get ready for fall/winter/spring use.

Twice a year deep cleaning whether it needs it or not.

 No, I didn't get to take a nap here today.

 This is about where I left off on the shelter a couple of weeks ago.

Like I said, I had gotten the two short sides done with stones I had gather at a nearby creek.

 The back required a little more work because the spaces between the logs was a lot wider.

 Instead of being able to just use rocks between the logs here, which would have required long narrow rocks, I used bricks in the same method.

I then went and placed some nails in the logs around the bricks and filled the large openings with smaller stones.

Lots of stuff for the chinking to hold onto.

 The two lower rows were not quite as wide so I was able to mix stones and bricks.

Had to also work around the 'faux' joist logs.

So much to see. . .

Well they say every picture tells a story.

As does this one. . .

Three women, all in long dresses.
The youngest looks dressed for school or something.
The one on the steps looks dressed for work.

The one almost off camera to the left has an even longer dress on, and maybe a little more dressy.


The shingled roof is well done. Shingles even and neat and in good repair.

The fire place built of probably nearby rough stone. Not a neat stone finish like a mason would do. More like it was built by the cabin builder.

No windows can be seen, but that doesn't mean there are none on the other side.

No chinking between the logs. Just boards covering some of the gaps. What ever was out side could come in. Small critters, the weather.

There is an upstairs. Probably a sleeping area.

The logs are close to the ground which means they won't last long. Maybe one or two have already failed because you can see some vertical boards covering an opening on the right front.

A home or a school?

While about the same size, this photo says different things.

Glass in the windows and curtains.

The logs are up off of the ground and well protected. Probably a warmer climate otherwise the floor would be really cold in the winter with in being so open.

With the open window on top of the side, it looks like it should have an upstairs, but no floor joists are visible from the outside. A more 'modern' joist system could have been added later. Just ventilation?

You can see the first floor joists under the windows. Flat hewn logs with the hewn sides up.

A room or two has been added on the back. A kitchen or bedrooms?

Two kids, in overalls. Probably a farm, maybe even sharecroppers.

Looks like another log building in the back ground.

A much neater house.

While in the top photo you can't imaging spending any more time inside the you absolutely needed to.
In the second photo you can imagine the inside being a little more cozy.

Under 'Log Cabins I have known' and More done on the Adirondack Shelter

Usually in the summer I don't get to much done on the cabins. The heat and bugs make it just a little too unpleasant to work out there. I do basic up keep and yard work and just generally keep an eye on the place.

But. . .

I did get to spend a week up in Maine in August and brought back some pictures of a writers cabin up there that I have posted about before. Hopefully a couple views I have not posted before.

This cabin belonged to Edmund Ware Smith.

Here is one previous post about him and the cabin.

And here are more recent photos.

 This is the first view you get when you walk up to it from the direction of where I worked.

 This view is close to the view in the old photo from the newspaper in the earlier post.

 I don't know why they have never rebuilt the porch on the lake side, but it sure would look nice if they did.

This past Saturday I got a chance to do more chinking prep out at the cabin on the Adirondack shelter.

Placing stones between the logs to hold the chinking or dabbing.

 This method of applying stones between the logs to hold the chinking or dabbing is a method that would or could have been used on early cabins. I have found it on several I have worked on.

I like it because not only is it a natural material, it also helps support the logs and the cement I use for chinking really binds to it.

Also, better than the modern wire and nail method, which is strong and secure, the stones between the logs makes it easier, if it ever gets moved again, to take down and reuse.

 Like fallen dominos.

 I got the two sides done and just need to return to finish the back three rows.

 Closer look.

From the inside.

This big guy greeted me when I arrived.