Log Cabin Siding

There are at least two ways to construct the sides of a log cabin birdhouse: You can mill each log individually and construct the building one piece at a time, or you can cheat. I decided to go this latter route and built each wall as a single unit. This is a relatively simple table saw process.

To prevent weak cross-grain problems at the corners you want the grain to run horizontally. So start out by edge gluing two 24-1/2″ lengths of Install a 1/2″ dado head in your table saw to create the interlocking corners where the logs meet. The Full-size Pattern provides the key details and dimensions. Transfer them to your work pieces and use your miter gauge to keep the sides at 90° to the blade while you form the notches on two sides at a time, as shown in Figure 2.

A Shingled Roof

If you’ve built a dollhouse, you know how long it takes to cut and install shingles. I figured out how to get the same effect using a dado head in my table saw. The resulting profile is shown on the Full-size Pattern.

Begin by installing a 1/2″ dado head in the saw and setting it to a 10° angle. As you’re using nominal 1 x 6 stock, set the fence so it is 5-1/2″ away from the farthest tip of the blade: this will line up your first cut with the outside edge of the board. Adjust the cutter height so the lowest point of the angled cut is flush with the top of the saw table.

After a test pass on some scrap, make your first cut in an 18-1/8″ long piece of stock, which you can crosscut later to yield both sides of the roof (pieces 2).

After each cut, reset the fence so the next cut just touches the first. Continue until you complete all seven rows of shingles (see Figure 3). Since the angled cut is a hair shy of 3/4″, you’ll be left with an attractive ridge cap. When you’re done, replace the dado head with a standard blade, set the angle to 45° and trim both edges, as shown on the Full-size Pattern. Set these pieces aside while you finish milling the sidewalls.

Assemble and Trim the Walls

As this cabin is destined to become home to a family of chickadees, the front doorway must be sized accordingly. Choose one of the four sidewalls as the front of the house, then refer to the Full-Size Pattern to locate a 1-1/8″ diameter hole near the top. Clamp a piece of scrap to the back face while you drill the hole, to prevent tearout.

Test fit the four sides together. They shouldn’t be overly tight: in fact, a little play is a good thing as the house will expand and contract quite a bit outdoors.

Glue the sidewalls together with waterproof polyurethane glue. Try to keep the glue toward the inside of the house, as it expands as it dries and is difficult to remove from the intersecting log corners. Gently clamp the assembly, making sure it’s square as you apply pressure.

After the glue dries, raise your table saw blade to its full height and set the blade angle to 45°. With the birdhouse clamped firmly to an auxiliary fence on your miter gauge, trim the front and back gables to 45° (refer to the Full-size Pattern). A 10″ saw blade won’t be tall enough to cut all the way to the peak. Simply reset the saw blade back to 90° and, with your miter gauge set at 45°, complete these four cuts (Figure 4).

Attaching the Roof

To preserve the delicate edges of the roof, I decided to forgo clamps while gluing the two slopes together. Instead, I made a hinge along the peak with masking tape, applied polyurethane on its underside with a pencil. Then use a sharp knife or a carving bit in a rotary tool to score shallow V-grooves just inside the pencil marks. These will prevent the glue from squeezing out on the visible side of the walls. Gently clamp the roof in place, using glue to secure it. When the glue dries, use a chisel to clean up any squeeze-out on the inside faces to ensure a toxic-free environment.

The Floor is a Clean-out

Trim the floor (piece 3) to the size shown in the Material List, then reset your saw blade and chamfer its front edge to 10°. The door is 1/8″ shy on the sides to provide both ventilation and drainage.

Install the floor with a galvanized T-hinge (piece 4), setting the hinge so its flap is flush with the bottom of the back wall (see Figure 6). Doing so will automatically place the floor about 3/4″ up from the bottom or the sides. This prevents moisture from wicking up into the house. Predrill for the hinge screws (pieces 5) to help prevent splitting the cedar. Cut the cleat (piece 6) to size and secure it with a single stainless steel screw (piece 7). To clean out the house, simply remove the screw, and the floor will swing down automatically.

Wrapping Up

Sand the birdhouse thoroughly before applying a finish to the outside only. Wood preservative usually used on decking is a good choice, as it’s specifically designed for rugged outdoor use. Oils are not a good option as they may be harmful to the birds, and varnish will eventually flake and wear off. Be prepared to recoat the house once a year.

If the finished house has a dark hue, make its home in the shade of a deciduous tree to prevent overheating in late spring and summer when the chicks are young. A round galvanized pole attached to the back wall with pipe clamps is a sound, predator-safe (as in squirrels and cats) approach. I don’t recommend suspending the house, as some species won’t nest in a swaying birdhouse.

You may install your birdhouse in any season, as birds need a safe refuge at several different times of the year. And if you give it to someone as a gift, you’ll be doubly rewarded as both your friend and the birds will be delighted with their new birdhouse.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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We sat down recently with Working and asked her about her plans for the Ranch program, and her observations on general trends in the world of woodworking.

Background Check

With an MFA in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design, Working has taught at RISD, the California College of Arts and Crafts, and Laney College in Oakland. Before that, she owned and operated a successful furniture design and fabrication business in the San Francisco Bay area, which she ran for more than 10 years. More recently, she exhibited with woodworker Stephen Proctor at the Tercera Gallery in Palo Alto, California, and her work will be featured in an upcoming book on contemporary furniture by Michael Hosaluk, being published this fall.

Mixed Media

While she definitely has her own agenda for the future of the woodworking program, Working also recognizes the value of what she is inheriting.

“I think Gail Fredell (the former director) built a strong wood program at the Ranch during her tenure here”, she said. “I’m fortunate to be in a position of building on that very sound foundation.”

A strong personality with a lot of hands-on experience, Working will undoubtedly leave her own personal stamp on the program. With her background in mixed media, it’s no surprise that she envisions a certain amount of experimentation in the woodshop.

“I personally work in a wide range of media, and I see more and more woodworkers mixing media in their work … adding metal, paint, textiles and so on. There is also a lot of interest in developing and inventing sustainable materials and methods of work. For example, there seems to be a lot of interest in creative uses of recycled materials, salvaged woods and certified woods.

And there is a desire for information about sources and characteristics of the new, ecologically sensitive materials we are seeing in the industry, such as sunflower board and wheatboard. Plus, of course, there is a huge amount of interest in non-toxic, environmentally sensitive methods of finishing.”

A New Outlook

New materials aren’t the only trend Working sees in the woodshop. Perhaps it’s that global economy we keep hearing about, or the blossoming of the Internet, but she definitely notes a change in attitudes … a desire to break down barriers and explore new methods.

“Along with what I think is a related interest in hand tools and pre-industrial techniques” she says, “I think America’s woodworkers are now more curious about non-Western methods, techniques, tools and design philosophies.

“I believe people who are interested in woodworking are generally pretty soulful: they’re looking for that hand-body-spirit connection that David Pye describes so eloquently in his essay “The Workmanship of Risk”: Whether they use machines or hand tools makes little difference. The risk remains, and the search for a voice.

Hands-On Solutions

While the Ranch is a very progressive, innovative campus with significant past successes, woodworkers generally have a reputation for being a little conservative. Given their somewhat tenuous reluctance to experiment, how does Working see her role in encouraging mixed media in the woodshop?

“I’m committed to developing workshops which address this” she says. “As director, I will actively encourage investigations in mixing media, in cross-cultural fertilization, and in environmental education and research. The workshop we had this summer, Incorporating Metal and Wood, is a good example. It focused on low tech metalworking techniques (really, almost 19th century methods), which could be all be done in a basic garage or home woodshop with minimal tooling. To tell the truth, that workshop was a lot of fun.”

Mixing the Old with the New

Working is obviously excited about possibilities for change, but she also is a strong believer in preserving the traditional way of doing things. The Ranch has, for almost half a century, passed along the accumulated learning and wisdom of some of the planet’s premier woodworkers. The students and faculty have always had a strong grounding in traditional methods.

“We will always offer good, solid basics in the techniques and joinery of woodworking,” she told us. “After all, you have to know how to construct, before you can deconstruct! But we will try to stretch the imagination, and expand the language. For example, next summer, the Ranch will offer a workshop with Osumu Shoji, master woodworker and teacher, who is the Director of the Shinrin Takumijuku School of Woodworking in Japan. That would make an interesting story: perhaps the Journal can visit again while he’s here?”

(Ed note: we’d love to!)

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Retailing for a hair under $300, the Accuscan meter delivers a powerful punch in a small package. An easy-to-read analog (needle) readout reduces errors while the meter measures moisture in a board from 6 percent all the way to 40 percent. It also has a color-coded reference scale to take readings in other building materials up to 3/4″ below the surface. Built-in battery and calibration checkers make sure that readings are always accurate, while a 1-year warranty and a rugged carrying case help ensure long life. The Accuscan also comes with a comprehensive species adjustment chart, to keep those readings right on the money.

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I say solutions, because there are two sets of knives in the 2030S: one for planing and the other for jointing. The jointer is the simpler of the two: just loosen a few set screws and the two-sided, disposable knives slide right out (Figure 1). Installing replacements is just as easy Ð in fact, it’s pretty much impossible to get it wrong. The knives just slide into place, correctly aligned and ready to go as soon as the set screws are tightened. Makita has even built in a drum lock that radically reduces the chances of injury (Figure 2). Just rotate the drum by turning a knob on the exposed end of it: as you do so, a pin slips into place and locks the drum securely while you work.

The only problem I had with this process was figuring it out: the instruction booklet that came with the machine described a much more complicated method that involved using magnetic holders. A pair of holders were included, but they were designed for setting the planer blades. This operation was a little more traditional, but still relatively simple. It was made easier by having such open access to the set plates and knives: the top of the machine opens up and totally exposes the bolts and drum.

Is this a Benchtop Unit?

The top surfaces of all three benches in my shop are 36″ off the floor, the same height as the top of my table saw. If I were to mount the 2030S on any of these benches, the jointer bed would be 53″ high Ð way too high for comfort. The bottom of the planer knives would be two inches lower, which is still a very uncomfortable height. I mounted the unit on a 24″ high stand, which made it just about perfect for my 6′ 2″ body. At that height, the jointer bed was 41″ off the floor, and boards being fed into the planer were just above my waist at 39″.

Getting Set Up

It took about fifteen minutes to remove the factory pallet and plastic that surrounded the unit, and another ten to bolt it to a stand. Installing the crank handle for the planer was a matter of tightening one screw: with that done, I was ready to insert one of two included plastic safety keys and go to work.

The one thing that struck me immediately is how fast the planer table moves vertically. One turn of the crank raised the bed 3/32″, an unusual fraction and one that took some getting used to. Most of the machines I’ve operated in the past have adjusted 1/16″ on a full turn Ð a much easier measurement to keep track of. I discovered on the very first board that the factory calibration was right on the money. That may not sound like a big deal, but I can’t remember a single other machine, gauge or fence in the shop ever being true and accurate right out of the box.

Infeed and Outfeed Tables

Planing long boards safely with a benchtop planer is a two-man operation. Realizing this, the engineers at Makita have added a pair of rollers on the top of the planer housing. The outfeed man can just roll the board back to the infeed man Ð a big improvement on the usual cumbersome exchange.

Long boards were also a consideration in the jointer design. Here, a removable extension table can quickly be locked in place to extend the outfeed table to 30-3/4″ long. That extends the overall bed length to more than four feet, a pleasant surprise on a benchtop unit. Unfortunately, the extension requires support, so it can only be used when the machine is mounted on a bench: the stock machine stand I used offered no support options.

The Jointer

I had a couple of minor reservations about the jointer tables. Being used to a heavy ground cast iron bed, I was a little dubious about the 2030S’s honeycomb base metal frame and its thin, polished steel tops. However, neither seemed to affect the quality of the cut in any way, but a slight wiggle in the infeed table was annoying. The jointer fence was the only real disappointment I experienced in this rather thorough shop test. At 90¡, the fence adjustment across the knives was only 1-3/8″.

So, at its most extended, it still left 4-5/8″ of the knives exposed. That means an operator can’t use the fence to extend the cutter life: as most jointing is done on 3/4″ stock, many woodworkers like to adjust the fence across the knives in 1″ increments to preserve sharp edges as long as possible. It also limits your options when dealing with nicks in the knives Ð you can’t use the fence to work around them.

The fence also fell short of the mark when being set at an angle. This was a very elaborate process. Adjusting the angle requires loosening two hand screws and four bolt heads, then tightening all six when the desired angle is set.

The bottom of the fence isn’t beveled, so at 45¡ there is a 7/16″ gap between the fence and table. And the fence doesn’t have a bevel scale, so you have to set the angle manually with your own protractor, jig or gauge.

Ease of Use Built In

The net weight of the 2030S planer-jointer is 97 lbs. That means it’s a two-man job to move it around. So, for those jobs when you need to bring the planer to a job site, Makita made removing the jointer very easy: just loosen two knobs and lift it away.

That same attention to detail is evident in all aspects of maintenance with this tool. Access to the replaceable carbon brushes couldn’t be easier Ð they’re right under the lift-up hood. Access to the chain that drives the feed rollers is also a snap, and the only maintenance required is periodic lubrication with machine oil.

Dust collection is also easy with the 2030S: a built-in exhaust port can easily be tapped and connected to an individual shop vac or a central dust collection system.

Overall Impression

The active part of this shop test consisted of running a number of rock maple and walnut rough sawn boards through the 2030S. Results on the 12-9/16″ planer were quite impressive. Thanks to the 9,000 RPM no-load speed, mill marks (using a fresh set of knives) were virtually invisible. Well-designed feed rollers and generous tables meant that snipe was almost nonexistent.

Feed rate on this model is energetic (34.5 ft/min), but not overly so. Our boards came out with a thickness so uniform that even a 1 mil (1/1000″) gauge couldn’t find any deviation. After about 100 lineal feet of stock, there was no perceptible wear on the knives. Even the noise levels were quite comfortable, a surprise considering the nature and history of similar machines.

My overall impression of the 2030S is that it is a well-designed machine with several innovative features that more than make up for its one design flaw (the jointer fence). I liked all the new twists, from rollers on top of the unit to great access for maintenance, locking knife drums and simple knife replacement. This is a safe machine for beginning woodworkers and a welcome addition to any advanced practitioner’s shop.

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Mark harvests straight Norway logs from a commercial tree farm a few miles north of the shop. He likes to do this in fall and winter, when humidity levels are low and insect activity is at a minimum. He looks for tall, straight growth that will yield two or three eight-foot logs. Trunks must be a uniform diameter throughout the length of the log, so he looks for trees that have grown close together and have had to compete for sunlight

The logs are brought back to the shop for peeling and air drying. Their bark is peeled outdoors with a drawknife, then they’re stored vertically indoors until they’re dry enough to use. As most pieces of log furniture call for several small elements (handles, bracing etc.), almost every piece of the tree is used in the building process. Then the residual bark and needles are simply returned to the soil.

Not Just Logs

Jerry and Mark started their business in April ’96, in rented space that they quickly outgrew. In the spring of ’98, they purchased the Dresser building, a superb commercial site on a main tourism highway. Since then, The Pine Mill has expanded its offerings to include picture framing, a service that naturally complements their log furniture line. Aside from traditional frames made with premanufactured stock moldings, Jerry and Mark also frame a wide variety of stock wildlife and customer prints using more natural materials like pine saplings and recycled barnwood. Picture framing has quickly grown in popularity with their customers, and now comprises about 20 percent of their trade.

Learn as You Go

When Mark and Jerry first began building with logs, they discovered just how much they didn’t know. Over the years they’ve learned that cutting a better dado is a matter of using an old-fashioned pullsaw and a chisel (instead of resorting to a radial arm saw). Despite the fact that their shop is relatively well-equipped with power tools, they still do most of their work by hand. Jerry says his customers appreciate that rustic, craftsmanlike approach to building.

The years have also taught them a lot about their customers. It seems that most people like furniture built with larger logs, and opinions are pretty much split as to whether the logs should be straight and clean or uniquely natural. After several experiments, they have decided that water-based brushed finishes do the pine the most justice: they dry quickly, develop a sun-dried patina in a short period of time, and are easy to apply.

While many of their pieces are speculative and destined for the showroom, some of their best work has been custom built. For example, one of their earliest commercial jobs was an order for ten different beds and nightstands to furnish a new bed and breakfast in nearby Duluth, MN. They’ve also done their share of coffee shop bar stools and tables, along with numerous residential pieces.

Expansion Planned

The future looks pretty rosy for these old-fashioned woodworkers. They plan to expand the current shop this year, giving themselves a larger workshop, more log storage and an expanded showroom. They’re also planning to hire their first employee this year, but they both insist that won’t change the shop’s intimate character. All in all, this is one family tree that seems to be growing straight and true.

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