Log Cabin - Part 1

Another project that I completed recently was to restore my Dad's Log Cabin. He made it for me in 2009 when he was in his 92nd year. The above photo shows it standing in a small clearing beneath a  small pine tree soon after he gave it to me. My friendly Robin took to it immediately. 

So it stood outside in all weathers for over a decade and was now looking very much the worse for wear. As can be seen from the photo's, the 'logs' on the roof had rotted away and the wood underneath was far from good.

It had been suggested to me that it would be easier to build a new cabin from scratch, and it would...... but that's not the point. I wanted to keep Dad's cabin going as long as possible. It's not about the cabin per se. 

When I was packing our belongings at my last house I knew that one day I would be wanting to do this so I pruned my old Pear tree to get as many long straight branches as I could. It is the tree that supplied my father with the wood he needed to make the cabin in the first place. The furniture removal men couldn't believe it when they found a bundle of branches amongst the packing.  :lol:  

Having stripped the roof of the old rotten 'logs' the next job was to make the new ones. 

I cut 8" lengths of branches, finding the straightest pieces I could. One end of the branches was too thin, and the other end too thick, so only the middle section was usable. 

Next I had to split them all in half along their length and that proved much harder than I'd expected. I discovered that Pear wood is very hard (harder than cherry) and difficult to work with. The only way I found of splitting the branches was to use a very sharp knife and knock the blade down through the wood with a hammer. Annoyingly the knife blade often followed the grain so I didn't get an even split. 

Being unable to use the thinnest and thickest ends of the branches, and with the uneven splitting too, I had a lot of wastage and was worried that I may not have enough wood. My Apple tree began to feel worried too.   :lol: