Construction Of A Country House: Marking And Laying Logs (Himself A Builder - 2)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

My own builder

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

The foundation is ready, we are building the walls

So, in the previous publication, two options for foundations were considered, which are quite suitable for a small temporary hut, the description of the construction of which we will deal with now.

The dimensions of the building can be any, at your discretion, but for an economical cutting of material (boards, beams, logs), I recommend taking into account the generally accepted standards of lumber - 6 meters. This attitude towards construction will help save a lot of money. Although at the present time almost any size of boards can be found at timber trade bases and in stores. And, nevertheless, we will `` dance '' from the rational.

Consider a temporary hut with a gable roof, measuring 3x6 in plan

This will require the following tools and accessories:

1. Two stairs.
2. Spirit level.
3. Carpenter's ax.
4. Plumb line.
5. Building level (a 300 mm long level will be enough, but larger sizes can also be used).
6. Carpenter's square with a working part width equal to 40 mm.
7. Chisel with a blade width of 40 mm.
8. A hammer.
9. Chopping cord.
10. Two tape measures - 10-20 meters and 5 meters.
11. A carpenter's pencil, preferably an ink pencil that draws well on damp wood.
12. A little bit of blue powder.
13. A small piece of foam rubber.
14. A hacksaw with large teeth.
15. Bow saw or `` Friendship-2 ''.
16. Triangular or rhombic velvet file for sharpening saws.
17. Fine-grained abrasive stone for sharpening axes and chisels.
18. Construction staples - 12 pieces.
19. Nails of various sizes from 70 to 150 mm.

Having a universal chainsaw will make your life much easier and speed up your work. An incredible amount of gasoline-powered tools is on sale now. I myself have successfully used the well-known brand Stihl for a long time, but this is a rather expensive technique, although very reliable. Prices for non-professional models of this company are more acceptable. With respectful treatment of such equipment, it will be enough not only for a temporary hut, but also to build a house. Both to myself and to neighbors. And make money for bread and butter. But the owner of the chainsaw must have one!

It is understood that the foundation is prepared in advance and can withstand a certain load. And its external dimensions correspond to the dimensions of the prepared material.

We select the most powerful logs available, two of each size - 6 meters and 3 meters. You should pay attention not so much to the butt of each of the logs, but to the top, which should be of a sufficiently large diameter.

We lay the logs “hump” upwards on the lining, in which we first cut out shallow “bowls” that serve for greater stability of the processed material, and securely fix them with construction brackets (see Fig. No. 1). To paraphrase a well-known writer in the past: `` The brace must be hammered so that later it will not be excruciatingly painful … ''. And this, believe me, is justified, especially at the height.

Picture 1

Before proceeding with the marking, it is necessary to check in advance the error of the building level, preferably at home. To do this, you need to attach the level to the wall or door, setting its vertical plane along the air bubble in the tube, then draw a line with a sharply sharpened pencil. Next, you need to apply the level with the same vertical plane, but its opposite side (turning the level 180 degrees) to the middle of the previously drawn line and also set a new vertical along the bubble, then draw a second line. If the lines coincide - fine, if not, then halve (vertically) your drawing and get the level error in this plane (see Fig. 2).

Picture 2

Perform similar actions with the horizontal plane (see Fig. 3).

Figure 3

If your building level allows you to enter a correction, do it, and then fix the screws with nitro varnish. If there is no such adjustment device, you will have to make adjustments to the markup every time, which is very inconvenient in work - it is better to buy a new level by checking it in the indicated way right in the store. At the same time, do not pay attention to the sellers' dissatisfaction: they must sell serviceable devices, the permissible error of which is indicated in the attached passports.

Figure 4

So, we came directly to the marking of the end of the log (see Fig. 4). You should start from the top:

1) Using a small tape measure, find the center of the log, set a point and draw a vertical line by the level 1.

2) Divide it in half and draw a horizontal line 2.

3) Putting the same distance from the center to the right and left, draw two vertical lines 3 and 4, which define the paw. You must calculate the size of the `` paw '' yourself - it depends on the diameter of the top of the log, preferably at least 120 mm, and the larger the better.

4) Further down the level, we connect lines 3 and 4 with a horizontal line 5.

5) Again, we draw line 6 along the level, its length is 100-120 mm - more is not needed.

6) From the end of the log, set aside 200 mm on each side and make marks.

7) The distance along the bottom of the log directly depends on the size of the foundation pillar.

It is convenient to mark the `` paw '' simultaneously on two logs (of the same size). They should not be subjected to concussion until the end of the full marking, and even more so, you should not take a smoke break on the logs.

Similar markings should be made at the opposite end of the log. The size 7 of the top should approximately correspond to the similar size on the butt of the log.

Further, according to the marks set aside from the end of the log, we make cuts to the required depth, corresponding to the markings on the end, and carefully chop off the excess wood with an ax. It should be borne in mind that a chip is far from always obtained by marking for `` finishing ''. Therefore, I recommend that you first make a preliminary cleavage above the markup and make sure that the knots do not interfere with your actions. With a chainsaw, everything is accelerated many times over.

We carefully lay the prepared logs on the foundation. To facilitate this work, it is necessary to securely drive construction brackets into the upper part of each log, each at a distance of 300-350 mm from the end (see Fig. 5).

Figure 5

It will be useful for your household to have a durable cloth belt. In my practice I used a towing strap for passenger cars. Cargo parachute lines are very good for this purpose. The belt is about 5 meters long folds in half, the ends are tightly tied with a strong knot. On the opposite side, a noose loop is made, which, passing under the hammered bracket, reliably grabs the log. Pulling the logs follows the top - it's much easier. Use for this operation as rollers for cutting logs and poles, and if necessary, and wagu. Do not rely only on your strength and dexterity - use the laws of physics, this will greatly facilitate your work.

The logs, one relative to the other, should lie on the foundation in a scattered manner, in other words, with a jack (see Fig. 7).

So, six meters are on the foundation. Prepare in a similar way and three-meter. Leave them on the linings for now.

Now you need to place the long logs correctly. To do this, set the diagonals using a large tape measure (see Fig. 6).

Figure 6

According to fig. 6, D1 = D2; A1 = A2; B1 = B2; A12 + B12 = D2; and the square root of D = the size of the diagonal.

After aligning the logs according to the setting data, circle their location with a pencil on the foundation - in the future this will come in handy more than once. And only now, not forgetting to drive in the staples, we set the three-meter mark to the six-meter mark - top to top, butt to butt (see Fig. 7), then we shift them half a meter from the ends.

Figure 7

We continue to mark the six-meter mark. It is understood that the operations for marking the ends and chipping of excess wood you carried out efficiently, and the vertical planes correspond to the vertical in level, however, as well as to the horizontal. Now you should make the markup directly `` paws ''. To do this, mark the workpiece in accordance with Figure 8.

Figure 8

The right “paw” is absolutely identical to the left one, but the markings are “mirrored”.

The plane B1-B2-D2-D1-B1 - always looks inside the building, and accordingly the plane A1-A2-C2-C1-A1 - looks at the `` street ''. B1-D1 is always larger than K1-C1.

In the future, the details directed outward (in order to avoid confusion), I recommend to designate the letter `` U '' (street). The size A1-A2 = B1-B2 should be about 3-5 mm less than the section of the leg of the upper transverse log.

According to the markup, we got a `` paw '' with the following coordinates:

1. End face C1-K1-B1-D1-C1.
2. Right lateral plane D1-B1-L-D2-D1.
3. Left side plane C1-K1-K2-C2-C1.
4. The upper plane is K1-K2-L-V1-K1.
5. Lower plane C1-C2-D2-D1-C1.

When viewed from angle B1, points K1, B1 and L should be on the same line. When viewed from angle K1, points K2, K1 and B1 should also be on the same line.

Checking the correct paw markings is a simple but very effective technique. After removing excess wood from the workpiece, the working plane of the level is alternately applied to points K1, L and B1, K2. If there are no dips and bulges along the indicated lines, the marking is optimal. If there are defects, they should be eliminated, otherwise errors will build up on the upper logs.

So, the marking is done, it's time, brothers, to take up the ax!

The wood should be chopped off according to the markings only from the corner diagonally of the upper plane of the `` paw '', after having made it with a hacksaw along the markings A2-B2 and K2-L. In our case, from the angles K1 and B1 alternately. Do not rely on the accuracy of the strike when doing this. Use a hammer or a second ax as an auxiliary tool.

The woodcut is carried out with an ax. Axes are available with straight or rounded blades. The ax handle is made of hardwood - hornbeam, ash, maple, beech, elm or birch. The wood of the ax must have a moisture content of 12% and must not have cracks, blueness, rot and knots with a diameter of more than 6 mm. The hatchet is impregnated with oxol linseed oil with the addition of 10-12% ocher, polished and coated with colorless varnish. Axes are made of high quality heat treated tool steel. Axes are available in weights from 1.65 to 2.17 kg.

After the corners have been chipped off, you can work directly with an ax. Do not hit hard - they are inappropriate here, make the most of the weight of the ax, and the blows will be accurate. Use the `` saber '' strike technique for any thrusting with an ax - hit with a guy. Then the impact energy will be maximally used for wood processing, and you will not beat off your hands. Do not forget to leave small cracks, otherwise the moss will have nowhere to put (just kidding).

Having restored the position of long logs on the foundation according to the marking, we proceed to work on the three-meter marks.

Your indispensable tool - the building level - can be executed in different formats. Let's consider two of them - the length may be different, but the most compact one is three hundred millimeters. Its height can be 40 or 55 mm. I recommend that you apply centimeter markings every 5 mm on the upper working plane. This will give you convenience in your work and therefore save time.

So, we set the transverse three-meter logs at the level (vertically along the A1-C1 edge) on the prepared lower ones and securely fix them with brackets. The corners of the staples should be clearly 90 degrees. Displacement to either side of the right angle will lead to turning out of the log to be fixed, therefore, the staples must be prepared in advance and very carefully and, if necessary, sharpened.

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My own builder:

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6