(part 2 of 6)

The first step was to clear a large enough space in the bush.  Next, I had to cut down a big poplar that the beavers had started upon over the winter:


because, if they came back to complete the job, it would have fallen exactly on the site of the new shed:
 
I tied a rope high up the tree:

   
Then, while I sawed it down, my brother John persuaded the tree to fall where we wanted it:

 
The tree ended up falling exactly where we intended it to.
   
Less than an hour from the time we started to take down the tree, the bulk of the wood from it was sawn and piled:

(part 4 of 6)

Here is a series of photos taken from the about same spot as the work progressed over the week:

(part 6 of 6)

I didn't spend the whole week working.  For instance, John and I worked our way over several beaver dams into a nearby lake with no cabins and good fishing.
 
 
 


Thread to be continued next spring when I get back to the job. ...

Thanks Greg.

You are certainly correct about the nearness to bedrock.  Pellow's Island is essentially a chunk of granite sticking out of the surrounding water and with a bit of soil in places that has collected over the years since the last ice age (about 10,000 years).    The deepest hole I dug was just over a metre and shallowest was only about 40 centimetres.

Nice Island, and I really like the design of the shed with the roof/windows... seems like good fishing up there too.

Shawn

Nice Island, and I really like the design of the shed with the roof/windows... seems like good fishing up there too.

Shawn

Thanks Shawn,  I built the shed in 1991 and it has worked very well.  As well as the bank of windows, there are two skylights.  Furthermore, the ceiling and walls are painted white.  This gives me lots of light even on the darkest days -which is just as well, since there are no electric lights in the place.  Also, this maximizes the amount of wall space without windows.

And, yes, the fishing is good    -but not nearly as good as it was 60 years ago 

Frank,

Thanks for taking the time to give us a brief history of your beautiful home.  As I said before, how fortunate you are.

Neill

Quote from: Frank Pellow on October 21, 2009, 08:24 PM

Saunamokki: (Attachment Link)

The name of this cabin reveals that you have Finnish heritage somehow, do you happen to know? Saunam?kki is definitely a 100% Finnish word...  Your last name just does not have the direct Finnish link.

Well spotted!



I have no Finnish ancestors, but I do have some ancestors from Norway a long way back.

What I do have is lots and friends in Canada who originally came from Finland and a few friends who still live in Finland.  Many many people came to Northern Ontario from Finland in the period between the two world wars.  When I was growing up in Hearst Ontario at least 10% of the families had come from Finland.  The Finnish culture was very strong and plays, movies, and meetings were often conducted in Finnish.  We did not have running water in our apartment, so twice a week my Dad took my brother and I to a nearby communal sauna.  The influence was particularly strong on the lake where our island is.  About half the camps were owned by Finnish families and every one had a sauna (wood burning, of course).

I have only visited Finland briefly but, when I did, I felt very welcome and at home (even though I cannot speak the language).

(part 2 of 2)

The first task was to make a beam between the two front posts.  The beam is made by lamenating two 16 foot long 2x10 pressure treated spruce boards.  Because I am working by my self, this requires several small careful steps.

Here I have hoisted on of the boards into place and am drilling a pilot hole before spiking it into the post:



Here is the second 2x10 that is going to make up the beam being raised into place in one of several slow careful stages:



Once this was in place, I hammered it together with the first 2x10:



I work differently up here than when doing construction with readily available electricity.  For instance, it was faster to cut this 4x4 by hand than to go and get a power saw, connect it to my generator, start the generator, then turn it off when the sawing task was completed:



The photo below shows the frame for the north wall being assembled.  


 
I anticipate that the front panels of the shed (more on this below) will usually be off, so there will not be much need for windows.  But, sometimes the panels will be in place, so I am going to install small windows near the top of the north and south walls.  There are two very old windows that Chum Trowsse gave me about 15 years ago that will do the job nicely.  The windows are at least 50 years old and have not been treated well but, after sanding off the surface dirt, cracked paint and a bit of rot,



I found the underlying wood to be sound.  I will need to re-putty the glass.

It was a beautiful day and, after sanding, I decided that I wanted to enjoy the sound of nature rather than the sound of a generator and power tools, so I cut all the remaining 2x4s for the wall frames using a miter box and a hand saw:



The work on the rafters is more complex than the simple framing of the walls, so I resorted to the use of power tools and the noisy generator.  To make things worse the weather turned cold (high of 15 Celcius) and wet.  With the cold and wet, I wasn`t spoiling the tranquility.

Here, I am cutting bird`s mouths in the rafters with my jig saw:


 
I found it easier to cut a bevel on the edge of a couple of 16 foot long 2x6s by simply following a line with my Festool track saw, rather than setting up and supporting the saw on a rail:
 


By this time I was having problems with my Festool circular saw stalling frequently.  I moved my cutting close to the generator rather than using extension cord thinking that that might be the problem.   In the end, that proved not to be the problem (see the thread: http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/questions-about-the-brushes-on-my-ts-75-circular-saw/ ) but, with several interuptions, I was able to gett everything cut with the saw that I needed to

On the front of the shed, I am placing three 4 foot by 8 foot removeable panels.  The frames for these panels are left over from the stage props that I made for a play they a number of friends and I put on in Hearst last summer.  I made all the props for a stage setting that was supposed to be our old grade 5-6 classroom:

       

Here one of the frames is being augmented with a 2x4 before nailing a number of 1x6 vertical siding boards to it:

   

Frank -

More storage space never is enough....but it's great building it anyway!

I'm really perplexed at the butt angle of the tops of your roof trusses (pic with caption "After Day 6").  To me, you have cut them opposite to the angle I would have chosen to attach a headerf ??

Frank,

Reading your posts and seeing your pictures of what you do in a remote location by yourself reminds me of a book I bought several years ago.  The title is "Working Alone - tips and techniques for solo building"  The author is John Carroll.  Just as I think that this book is a must read for anyone involved in building - either as a D.Y.I or a professional, so do I think that your posts are a must read.

Peter

I saw the first 9 pictures, and thought it was an impostor!  I see no blue and green throughout your work area.  They have been such regulars in Frank Pellow pictorials.   But, luckily you posted a shot of the drill, so...

This framing job is amazing Frank, especially so since you're doing it alone.  You are a powerhouse worker.  I wish I had your energy and time.

Thanks Mr. Junkie, and you will see a lot more blue and green tools in the photos that I just added to the thread.

Great presentation Frank, you always do a wonderfully entertaining job!

Great project Frank. Reminds me of the many semi rural shed locations my family had over the years, out in the back nine built with hammers and chainsaws. Your method is much more....... *ahem*, ...... precise . A lot of quadrilateral pole barns rotting out in the forests of Vermont.  

I'm curious why you laid the floor joists in flat? To keep the floor height low? Does it not give you quite a springy floor?

Thanks Eli.  

You guessed the reason for laying the joists flat.  I wanted to keep the floor as close to the ground as I could.  The floor feels very solid and I don`t notice much spring (yet  )

Thanks Richard and, yes, you have the correct location.  I have found our island on Google -but you can't see much detail.

The trip is long but, in spite of that, I make the round trip four or five times a year.  I have only once done it over a weekend (a long weekend) but I was younger and more foolish then.