Yikes - that is determination!  Stay warm my friend. 

John, I hear you on the sap wood.  Have you thought about trimming a slice off the upper edge of the stringer to expose more heart wood?  I wouldn't think you would lose that much strength.

Poppy

I couldn't remove that much and still have the log look.  If you recall the photograph I posted earlier you can see that it pretty much encompasses the total circumference of the round face.  It is just something that I will have to live with to have the half round stringers.  The flat side of step face is less noticable as this face reviels the heart wood. 

I was going to comment earlier on how nice the logs looked. Ours tend to grow like weeds for about 25 years and then they hit the bones of the mountain, growth rate drops in half from then on. In a small to medium sized log I would have more sapwood than that. Those had nice moderately slow uniform growth.
This does lead to a question  . How long does a typical white pine cell live?

Quote from: Don_P on December 30, 2009, 10:44:23 PM
I was going to comment earlier on how nice the logs looked. Ours tend to grow like weeds for about 25 years and then they hit the bones of the mountain, growth rate drops in half from then on. In a small to medium sized log I would have more sapwood than that. Those had nice moderately slow uniform growth.
This does lead to a question  . How long does a typical white pine cell live?

Don  I am sure you probably already have that answer and it would be interesting to know.  I have several on the farm that are above 36" -48" which I should really probably fall and salvage the lumber but I hate to do that to a beautiful tree.  Each year I can notice another one biting the dust.

I promised some pictures so the inquiring minds can take in the whole process. I applied two coats of poly to the stringer and the steps in the last couple of days.  One nice thing about doing the tenon steps is that you can finish all four sides at one time unlike convientional treads where you can only finish thee sides and have to wait for the drying time to get the remaining side.  I used saw horses to support the treads and spaced them to accept the tenons only.  That allowed me to rotate the steps 360 degrees to finish all four sides at one time with both the stain and the poly. I will allow the poly to set up this weekend and give the final sanding and re-coat on Monday.  

As you can see the stringers turned out somewhat dark due to the sap wood.  Although they are not quite as dark as pictured they are darker than the hardwood side.  But " It'll be ok buckwheat".

I need to post a picture of the saw horses again that I made.   They are amazingly lightweigth but strong as an ox.  I would imagine that these stringers are close to 500 pounds together.  They are really simple to make and during the winter months when construction is at a halt for alot of the builders I think it would be an welcomed addition to your tool assortment come spring.  Enough rambling here is what they look like.







I went ahead and modified the post to include the saw horse pictures.  If anyone is interested I have some measurements and diagram that I drew up if I can find it.  Standard 1X4's, 3/8" plywood gussets, drywall screws, glue and door hinges.  One nice thing is when collasped they are only about 2" thick and can easily hang on the wall or can be transported without taking up valuable space.

Looking good, those will be a real showpiece.

Count the rings of sapwood, that's the lifespan of that tree's average cells.
The heartwood is dead and backfilled with the by products of the sapwood's metabolic processes.

Quote from: Don_P on December 31, 2009, 04:49:11 PM
Looking good, those will be a real showpiece.

Count the rings of sapwood, that's the lifespan of that tree's average cells.
The heartwood is dead and backfilled with the by products of the sapwood's metabolic processes.

  I was aware that the rings represented the age of the tree but I don't understand " tree's average cells".
Do you have any idea of the lifespan for a white pine? 

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/4h/BIGTREE/TreeAge.htm


Pine, White     Pinus strobus     200 yr average     450 max

I was calling the tracheids "average" cells since they are the majority of the wood. They live on average about 12-15 years, the number of rings of sapwood.

The tree has what is termed a moderate lifespan, a couple of hundred years under favorable conditions. I've heard stories that several trees with the king's mark were still found standing in the 50's. The king didn't mark anything under 24"... makes for a good story anyway, no idea if it's true. From that time period, if you've never studied it, look up the pine tree riot. If a tree is in decline and can be utilized it's usually a pretty easy call for me. The borers hit pine pretty quick once it is dying or dead. The sunlight then hits the forest floor and provides opportunity for the next generation. Pine is considered "intolerant" (of shade) so needs plenty of sun to make a good tree. If the tree is a fine example of the species or home to someone I'll usually let it seed or shelter till it falls apart. I've been limbing ours up to about 16' and need to go through now and cull the weaklings. In another area the opening created by some treefalls during Hugo regenerated into a doghair thicket of white pine. I've been going through it selecting the best and trying to space them so that the remaining trees will be good ones.

Duuuude, you do nice work !!

Well I guess this is where you say " all your hard work has paid off".  Got the stairs assembled and installed today.  No small task but with preseverance and few choice words they went together.  



The above photograph was a little dark but contained the majority of the length.  Here is another one that is lighter and has my good buddie "Carl" who helped me get them installed.  He is a retired stone mason and has worked hard most of his life but can still outwork me at 73.



A view of the treads leading up to the loft.



I still have to stain the lag bolt holes in the side of the stringers, sand and re-coat the outside of the stringer.  But all in all I am quite pleased with the finished product.

Fan feaking tastic John. I love it! 

What?  No balustrade?     Niiiiccce.

One thing at a time Jens. Besides I haven't gotten the material yet. Hopefully rustic railings as soon as I can afford a tenon cutter or develope something to use in it's place. 

All your hard work has paid off. 

Wow, looks great!  That's one solid staircase!   

QuoteDuuuude, you do nice work !!

Couldn't have said it better

It pays to be stubborn. You could rent the upstairs to an oliphant and not be concerned about those stairs.  They are quite attractive....and fit the setting very well.   Gold star!

Today was sort of like the "morning after". Clean up and it was definitely needing it.  With the chainsaw, planner, sanding, circular saw there was saw dust in places I didn't think to look.  But I had my two little helpers with me. No school again today. It will be rough on them when they do have to go back.  With Christmas vacation and the snow storms they haven't had school since 12/18.   My son basickly plowed the road from the State Route about 1-1/2 miles on his 4-wheeler to rid of us of the 3" of overnight accumulation before it was packed into ice. I don't think the temps went above 19F but he was relentless.  Pretty cosy after I arrived and cranked up the other heater and they (2)remained on High until I was able to raise it to 55F in about 2 hours.  I postponed putting the final coat of poly on the outside of the logs because of all the dust that was hanging in the air.  I did manage to sand the previous coat, stain the wooden dowel plugs and am ready for the final coat probably sometime next week.

Thanks to all the comments on the stairs. 

John that is a very nice staircase, very nice. You're probably proud of them and should be. 

That turned out nice I hope I can do as well
When ever I build something that big and heavy and it is place I allways think I will never have to move that again becuse it will out last me and the kids

One of a kind you should be proud

Wow.. cool escalera, John.

It's been a week or so since I posted my progress.  Most of this week was spent at the house working on the additional kitchen cabinet and cabinets for the loft bathroom.  I did occassionally make it to the cabin to pick up some tools that I needed.  The road is in pretty good shape and the higher temperatures have started to melt some off the road.  Today it was 40F outside and 28F inside.  I did however do some small things that didn't require a moderate temperature.

Here is the stand alone cabinet (16") that will go above the bar area.  There will be a shelf for a microwave and wine rack that will join that cabinet to the corner cabinet. Please excuse the mess.  That's another day.  I still have alot to do with making the glass front door for the upper cabinet and drawers and doors for the loft cabinets.  I will have to pick up some more material before then.



Here is a picture of the carcus of the cabinets that will go under the shelf in the loft bathroom.  They will have two drawers each on the left two sections and a double door on the right section.  These will have to go in before the commode and sink to have clearence to fit in the space.  The second picture is that space.  I am not sure what treatment will go on the shelf top.  My original plan was tile but I am udecided.

That's not a mess, John.   I can show you a mess..