Pole shop and shed building

[mark02tj]

That is really cool, Glassback!! I've got a bunch of ash trees on my property that need to come down and I'd like to do something like that with them. I'm thinking about some sort of "fort" for my step-son.

Did you use a regular chain in your saw when making the "beams" or did you get a "rip chain" for it?

Post more of the pics. They're great!!

 

[EddieWalker]

Great project. Love using logs for stuff, I've just never been as ambitious as you to use them for all of the framing. Did you get a ripping chain for your chainsaw? I used something very similar to cut the logs for the trusses in my house and the regular cutting blade I had in there didn't work like I had hoped it would. I was told that I had the wrong type of chain, and that I needed to get one specially designed for ripping. Next time I try this, that's what I'm going to do.

Eddie

 

[s219]

The rip chains will help a lot, for several reasons. First, the angle is normally 0-5 degrees, which is better for rip cuts that produce sawdust instead of chips. And many rip chains are setup with asymmetric cutter shapes so that the cutters work in tandem, doing a right, then left, then center cut to clear the kerf. Much easier on the saw than a single cutter clearing the whole kerf. You can certainly re-grind the angle on a regular chain to 0-5 degrees (good way to use up a spent firewood chain) but it would be harder to grind the cutters asymmetrically.

The downside to rip chains is that they are difficult and unsafe to use freehand, and you really need the saw mounted in a jig to be safe and make a nice cut. Otherwise they will wander and kick. I have an Alaskan rig made for ripping beams, and it was only about $80. It comes with guide rail that you can screw to an LVL or glue-lam beam to be your reference edge. Screw that board to the log, and then the saw bar dangles over the edge and makes a cut 90 degrees to the board. Keep rotating and repeat if you want all 4 sides squared, otherwise you can just stop with that first edge if it's enough.

The Alaskan rigs made for ripping boards are more expensive and clunkier to use, usually $200-300 or more. For that, I still make the first cut with the beam jig to get a nice flat starting surface.

 

[Glassback]

Did you get a ripping chain for your chainsaw? I used something very similar to cut the logs for the trusses in my house and the regular cutting blade I had in there didn't work like I had hoped it would. I was told that I had the wrong type of chain, and that I needed to get one specially designed for ripping. Next time I try this, that's what I'm going to do.

Eddie

I didn't get a ripping chain but I did read about it. I know there were a bunch of comments in the customer review part of northern tool where I bought the beam machine from. They said a ripping chain is the way to go. My regular chain did fine but I'd probably try a ripping chain if I was doing a lot more of this. I'd guess it would be much faster and probably better cuts too. The floor deck was all I needed to rip. Everything else in the building is poles.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Neat project, its nice to be able to build something for very little out of pocket.


As for the ripping chain, it will not make the cuts any faster, just produce a smoother finish. The ripping chain is mostly intended for folks using chainsaw mills to produce lumber for woodworking, etc. This has been my experience after doing quite a bit of milling with an Alaskan chainsaw mill. About the fastest you are going to make cuts is with a new Stihl full-chisel chain right out of the box.

 

[Western]

Going to look real nice! How durable is that wood?

 

[timswi]

There are zoning permits, but that's about it. There's no building inspectors or code enforcement up here. You just can't build too big or too many buildings for your size property. If you want to spend your resources building something that's gonna fall down in five years have fun! There are plenty of examples of that up here. Even when we built our house there was no structure, plumbing or electrical code inspection. But the mortgage company sent someone out to make sure I wasn't building something that would fall apart!

I had almost that when I built my house in the early 2000's..now they use the national codes...Was nice then though.

 

[Glassback]

After I cut all of the floor logs I moved them to where the building was going to end up. There's plenty of 100+ year old barns up here sitting on rocks so that's what I went with. The front corners are on two large rocks that are in the ground. The right front corner required a rock "shim" to get level. I squared off and staked the back two corners then moved two large rocks into place. I used a hammer drill to drill a 1/2" hole a couple inches deep in the rocks. I cut a 6" piece of 1/2" rebar and dropped it in the hole. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the sill and placed it over the rebar to peg it in place. I also shoved rocks under the middle of the sills for support. I was going to use a truck jack to adjust and shim when frost heaves move stuff around but the "footings" haven't noticeably moved in two winters.

I ran string to make sure the top of the floor joists were mostly level for the plywood deck, shimming between the joist and sill where needed. The floor joists are pegged to the sills with steel rod. I'd pre drill a hole then hammer a cut piece of rod in place. The green beech logs were heavy, hard and difficult to work with. I salvaged 1/2" rebar, galvanized fence rods, threaded rod from wooden spools for wire, and anything else I could cut into big nails.

The plywood deck is all used salvage stuff. 2x6s left over from the house construction were ripped in half to be nailers for the pine siding. The bottom nailers are screwed to the plywood deck and the poles were butted up against the nailers. The poles are toe nailed onto the deck. I used 2x4s as temporary braces to hold stuff in place while I set poles and did the bracing. There was a lot of carpentry fudging going on. To get the top plate level-ish I used a bow saw and hatchet to notch the thicker end of the plate where it sits on the pole. The hatchet was one of my favorite tools on this project. It quickly chipped out a section when I had to remove some wood to level something or to make a flat spot in the side of the pole for the corner braces. Working with the balsam fir was much easier!

The poles are predrilled and pegged with rod wherever they come together. The braces were nailed in with a few big nails at each end. The poles for the shed part are also on big rocks moved into place. The poles were pegged to the rocks with rod like the sills.

 

[Glassback]

Going to look real nice! How durable is that wood?

As long as I keep things dry I hope that it will out last me! All of my rock "footings" have the sills and poles at least 8" from the ground. I also kept my overhangs wide to protect everything under them.

 

[Glassback]

I made the rough opening for the door and windows out of 2x4s. Nailers for the siding were put up and checked using a plumb bob. To keep the nailers aligned vertically I would either shim or use the hatchet to notch out the poles. Being out a 1/4" or so was fine. The shiplap pine siding could flex over it. The framing was pretty stable before but the siding really locked things in. The windows were salvaged from the dump.

I saved the straightest poles for the roof rafters. The purlins still required shimming or minor notching of the rafters to even them out. The roofing for the shed part was made up of cover sheets for the corrugated metal roofing used on the house. I had to buy the rest of the roofing but it came precut to length which was nice. I made the rake edges pretty wide to keep things dry. The roofing panels were 36" wide after overlapping so I made the roof 15' wide so I didn't have to rip any panels. It's amazing how strong the corrugated roofing is. There's at least 18" of eave overhang off the shed side and I can stand on it.