# Log work Pictures



## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

So I dug out some old pictures and scanned them to share.
This was one of those jobs that was truly fun. It was house that I built for a good friend that was right across the street from me at the time.
He was out of town most all the time, left me with his check book and let us go. 
The guy with the beard is Bob. The mock up took place in his "yard". Never could have done it without him and his endless array of stuff. He is one of those guys that you want on your team no matter what you're building. Great guy!
I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. I hope this is of interest here.


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

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few more pictures


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## Big Dave (Sep 16, 2006)

Very cool. I would love to work on stuff like that. This is the only thing I have that would compare in difficulty.


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

Thats cool Dave,
I know you would have loved that Woofer for that handrail job. 

How did you jig the drilling on the raked handrails?


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## Big Dave (Sep 16, 2006)

I have a drill press with a long table that I set up. The head tilts from side to side so I can drill on an angle instead of angling the table. It's just a matter of marking and drilling. 

The rails and spindles already come with tenons on the ends. I just have to put a new one on if I have to cut something to an odd length.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

I think both of you did an outstanding job. The closest I have ever come to that was a split rail fence. LOL No where close to the craftsmanship of what yall have done though.


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

Tilting head drill press huh? That would work good.

I have not had the luxury of store bought parts. All the parts you see in these shots were harvested locally in southwest Colorado. The big center log was a standing dead spruce on National Forest land. A good ol boy, that is no longer with us, brought that in and 5 others on that flat bed trailer by himself. All on a firewood permit. No crane or forklift just him and his pickup. I bought it from him for 100 bucks.
Wait a minute, I guess I did have the luxury.:laughing:

I hope we see some more pictures.


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## Big Dave (Sep 16, 2006)

Go to my website and you'll see everything I've ever done worth taking a picture of. I'm supposed to go out to western Oklahoma in a couple of weeks for another wood counter top job. I'll post pics when I get it done.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Back in the late 80's I built an atrium bar for the lobby of a hotel. The pictures are from old 35mm prints that were laser printed, and kinda grainy.

The beams on this structure were all Red Oak, and the height was around 30'. You can see in the first picture how small the people at the bar are in comparison to the woodwork.
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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

Handyman said:


> I think both of you did an outstanding job. The closest I have ever come to that was a split rail fence. LOL No where close to the craftsmanship of what yall have done though.


Well thats ok, lets see the photos of the fence. This is no competition, just playing in the sandbox with our toys. :smile:

Cabinetman,
Too bad the photos are grainy but we can certainly grasp the scale of the job. Very impressive.:thumbsup:
Did you mock it up elsewhere?
Tough to see but are they all dimensional timbers on top of the log posts? Do you remember the sizes of those beasts?
Is it still there?


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## 42Hickorysouth (Nov 24, 2008)

You guys are not right, I would never have attempted this sort of project. It looks great. I'm sure if I tried to do something like this we would just end up with a bunch of fire wood.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Gus dering You asked for it, so here it is. I traveled to Houston Tx. to build all the fence in these pictures. There is 900ft of 7ft Privacy fence and about 150ft of split rail fence. While privacy fence is my business, this was my first split rail.


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

Handyman,
Sorry I didn't respond earlier.
The fence looks great. 
Did you split the parts yourself? I always wanted to try that.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Nice work gentlemen.

Splitting cedar rails is very easy Gus. All you need is some wedges, some axes, a mallet, and a shake fro if you can find one. The shake fro is really handy. Oh , you also need some fairly straight grain cedar.

Gerry


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

In one of the pics of the round house you show what likes a guidance frame for a chainsaw so that it is almost like a band saw.

Reminds me of the thread we had on guided cicular saws.
Any more details of this chainsaw equipment.?
johnep


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Gus Dering said:


> Handyman,
> Sorry I didn't respond earlier.
> The fence looks great.
> Did you split the parts yourself? I always wanted to try that.


Gus I took the easy way out and drove 1 hour west of Houston Tx, and bought the rails and the post. The rails had the tenons already cut and the post already mortist. I couldn't get over how light weight the wood was. I could hold a 6x6x8 post in my hand with my arm straight out. I loved building it. Split rail fences is popular north Houston area know as "The Commons". it is an equestrion residentual few hundred acer subdivition. Here in Louisiana you just dont find split rail fences. I realy think it's a Texas thing.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Handyman said:


> Gus I took the easy way out and drove 1 hour west of Houston Tx, and bought the rails and the post. The rails had the tenons already cut and the post already mortist.
> 
> Awwww. That's cheating.
> 
> Gerry


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## Gus Dering (Oct 14, 2008)

johnep said:


> In one of the pics of the round house you show what likes a guidance frame for a chainsaw so that it is almost like a band saw.
> 
> Reminds me of the thread we had on guided cicular saws.
> Any more details of this chainsaw equipment.?
> johnep



That is an "Alaskan Chainsaw Mill". It's intended use is to make boards. We used it as a way to guide the saw along the jigs we needed for all the various cuts. You may notice we clamped some square tubing to it to produce some ears on the mill to ride on the wood rails of the jig.
Anything we had on hand was in play. There were times when we thought we were in over our heads. I guess thats what makes for a good story of any kind. 
Remember that time when we played it safe and didn't do anything? Not so much.:no:


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## bess (Dec 19, 2008)

Man, I love your work! I am far away from where you live, but honestly, I love your work. Those round constructions are something of great difficulty! My respects, guys!


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## jana88 (Jan 13, 2009)

Wow I love the design. I wish to create something like that.


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## doubleaction (Nov 4, 2006)

I wish i lived closer to you big Dave i would come work for free just to get the experience. You do fantastic work.


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## Big Dave (Sep 16, 2006)

doubleaction said:


> I wish i lived closer to you big Dave i would come work for free just to get the experience. You do fantastic work.


Thanks for the compliment. There are times I would love to have the free help.:laughing:


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

doubleaction said:


> I wish i lived closer to you big Dave i would come work for free just to get the experience. You do fantastic work.


 Me too!:thumbsup:

Gerry


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## bramclean (Jan 13, 2009)

You guys did an amazing job with this. my dad has done some masonry work on some log cabins and it is definitely something I really like. I Love they way it looks.. Must have taken a lot of time and patience.


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