Last November I dropped a tree off my land in Wyoming to build a set of log stairs leading to the deck. A couple of years ago the Shall Creek fire came through and burned a good portion of the timber on my land. It was a great thing as it helped clear out a lot of the old blowdowns and cleaned out a lot of the beetle kill. The fire burned so hot and fast that on the beetle kill it really just takes out the needles and burns the bark then moved on. Leaving good solid standing wood.
All the logs for this project came from the same tree. After dropping it I debarked the logs on site and cut it into 6' sections. When I got them home I peeled the logs down to clean wood with draw knives.
Once the logs were peeled I used a portable sawmill attachment for my chainsaw to split the tread logs and flatten one side of the stringer logs.
The logs used for the treads were all at least 13" in diameter so after splitting, I cut the front and back edges off to prevent splitting at the edges and leave a solid face for the tread. Final tread width was 11". I then cut the treads to final length of 4'.
I attached the treads to the stringers with 12" lag bolts and countersunk the bolt heads. I then cut and shaved wooden plugs from a small diameter tree to cap the bolt holes. This leaves the appearance that the treads are attached with wooden dowels.
My father came up this weekend and helped me get them installed and stained. I went with a lighter stain as I like this look better than the darker stain on the siding logs. The finished product.
This was my first log project. I am not sure what I will work on next. Maybe a log bed.
All the logs for this project came from the same tree. After dropping it I debarked the logs on site and cut it into 6' sections. When I got them home I peeled the logs down to clean wood with draw knives.
Once the logs were peeled I used a portable sawmill attachment for my chainsaw to split the tread logs and flatten one side of the stringer logs.
The logs used for the treads were all at least 13" in diameter so after splitting, I cut the front and back edges off to prevent splitting at the edges and leave a solid face for the tread. Final tread width was 11". I then cut the treads to final length of 4'.
I attached the treads to the stringers with 12" lag bolts and countersunk the bolt heads. I then cut and shaved wooden plugs from a small diameter tree to cap the bolt holes. This leaves the appearance that the treads are attached with wooden dowels.
My father came up this weekend and helped me get them installed and stained. I went with a lighter stain as I like this look better than the darker stain on the siding logs. The finished product.
This was my first log project. I am not sure what I will work on next. Maybe a log bed.
