Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

Redoverfarm · November 14, 2009, 02:11:53 PM

Glen here is a few of the old feed sacks. They are not in the best of shape. If I can't find some in better shape I will just frame these and hang them in the cabin. Still looking for some decorative ones that they used to make dresses out of . The material is more like heavy sheet material in those.

rick91351 · November 14, 2009, 02:26:55 PM

Glenn and John:

Catching up on some threads and posts. New burlap sacks are available from Lehman's $2.75 a piece - minimum of three.

The last I checked you could still buy burlap wool sacks. They are like a burlap bag only size XXXXXXXXXXLARGE. They will hold 300 lbs of packed wool. By the way they made great archery targets when stuffed with plastic sheeting and hung from down to proper level from a tree, bushes or mama's clothesline.

rlr

November 14, 2009, 05:20:10 PM

QuoteStill looking for some decorative ones that they used to make dresses out of

My Dad has talked about those during the depression, he said they took special care of them and if he tore one they caught heck, that was somebody's dress or shirt. I outfitted the speakers for my sister's college bluegrass band with feedsack covers, looked pretty good. Still have one of my grandmother's quilts the material came from all kinds of sources back in the day. I remember waking up one morning in my pallet on the floor, we had been studying the war I guess. There in one of the patterns was a bunch of swastikas. I quizzed her about it, she said it was a popular folk symbol way before adolf adopted it and that quilt predated him.

glenn kangiser · November 14, 2009, 09:20:41 PM

Not many around anymore, John. I tried to get my wife to let me cover the insulation in the log spaces above the girders with gunny sack advertising having insulation behind them. She didn't like the idea so now she just has to look at the insulation.

A similar swastika symbol was used by the Native Americans and depicted rolling logs as I recall. I believe it was reversed though. There are some in some old pix in Yosemite that have sometimes been an issue until the history of them and the reversal is explained.

Don_P · November 14, 2009, 10:00:01 PM

Yup, they did "spin" backwards. That's cool, I never knew what they were supposed to symbolize

.

November 14, 2009, 10:05:58 PM

No, Glenn wanted to put the gunny sacks above the shower to replace the plastic wall we still have up there & he wanted to take the tin rounds that were can opened from big cans & put them on the ceilings & over the insulation...

I told him the gunny sacks would mildew in the shower & get spider webs & NO WAY was he gonna put a bunch of can lids on the ceilings - he can put decorative tin but I don't consider that decorative

Sassy · November 14, 2009, 10:08:23 PM

The Swastika symbol has been used for 1000's of years - the East Indians use them & you can see them in some of the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

glenn kangiser · November 14, 2009, 10:15:13 PM

Sassy remembers things the way she wants to....

The tin can lids are a traditional knothole covering in the sticks. Well nailed around their perimeter they are perfect additions to an old time style house.

The gunny sacks were for the insulation covering. She has fantasies about mold.... She will not shame me into finishing the shower before it's time.....

QuoteThe swastika was a respected symbol in many cultures, including those of Native America, long before it was co-opted by the Nazis. Native Americans called this symbol the whirling log or rolling log and it represented the four seasons, the four sacred mountains, and the four corners of the earth.

Sassy · November 14, 2009, 10:18:19 PM

Glenn has selective memory

November 14, 2009, 10:25:34 PM

Arrrrgh ... I am sure it was not the shower - the thought never even crossed my beautiful mind (thanks, Barbara Bush)....

glenn kangiser · November 15, 2009, 11:47:21 AM

My mom is here now and Sassy, trying to prove her point, of course had to coax an agreement out of her....

She says she never had a can nailed over a knot hole, but then after a bit she finally remembered one instance of it. I'm sure that was the one that made such an impression on my young vulnerable mind.... [idea]

glenn kangiser · November 16, 2009, 10:58:33 PM

hmm Where was I before I so rudely interrupted myself.....

Oh yeah... the fireplace is in. We have a convertible Franklin type/airtight stove that works pretty good. I put it on the floor about 5 days after I finished it. It did not fall through the floor or even dent it for that matter. I estimate this stove weighs around 400 lbs and therefore it is a point load of 100 lbs per leg ... yet it did not fall through.

I told Sassy she could invite some of her church friends over if they were interested in coming up afterward.

Response was surprising. I would have to guess that around thirty of them showed up. An impromptu potluck with tons of food and people here from about 1:30 pm to about 8:30 pm.

The little girls (3 to 4 Y. olds ) were competing to tell me stories - they had some tall tales to tell around the fire.

Some of the kids said it was the coolest and best house they had ever been in and some wanted to move in. None of the little ones wanted to go home. They like crazy people.

It all made for a great afternoon and evening. Too bad I forgot the pix.

glenn kangiser · November 17, 2009, 03:16:14 PM

The lady taking care of my calves called the other day and was wondering how my fence is doing. Not so well with the work in the valley last summer, so I guess now is time to get after it.

First small step for getting it in is to get the post hole digger on the Bobcat. I had an old one I adapted over to fit it. A used one is nearly $2000 so it is out of my budget. Gotta use what I have. In case it's too short it extends out about 6 feet.

Here is a pix.

Reckon that'll git 'er done, eh? ....

ben2go · November 17, 2009, 03:24:37 PM

That's a heck of a fence post hole.

November 17, 2009, 03:31:16 PM

Yeah - It's 20 inch diameter. I am going down to the local equipment rental - a small one-- to see if he has a smaller auger that will fit - that's quite a bit to backfill.

glenn kangiser · November 18, 2009, 11:06:22 PM

OK... Back inside, in the great room I had to trim a piece of subfloor wood to go around a tree trunk. I thought that would be a good opportunity for me to demonstrate offsetting and scribing to fit around an irregular shape.

First place the board on top of and parallel to the edge of the previous board that it has to fit next to. (Called offsetting) Then measure how far you have to cut it out to get it to drop into position. I found that 5 inches had to be cut in the shape of the tree to allow the board to set into place. I set the scribers (measuring compass) to 5 inches.

The board is held or fastened at the 5" position as the marking is done. It must be parallel to the board it must fit against but will be on top of it 5" back. Hope that makes sense.

In scribing the line it is important to keep the scribers parallel to the direction the board must move when slid into place. If not it will not accurately replicate the shape of the object on the board.

How accurately that is done will determine how much cleanup you have to do when the cut is made and the board is moved into place. Many times on a larger cut such as this one it may be necessary to do a bit of trimming after the board is closer to position - after the first cut has been made. Since this is a sub floor, I get another shot at it so close is good enough. When closer you can reset the scriber if necessary.

Harbor Freight had this set and a 12" one combined for about $7.00. They paid for themselves already.

glenn kangiser · November 18, 2009, 11:30:28 PM

Note - I also cleaned out the chimney tonight - everyone up on that - thought I would just throw out a little reminder.

Also - found out the price for a used 12" auger like I need for the post hole digger ... $400 [panic]

Looks like I will have to take an auger off of an old trencher and widen it out from 10" to 12". [idea]

glenn kangiser · November 20, 2009, 10:43:52 PM

Today I had to saw some boards to continue working on the great room.

The sawmill is back together so I thought I would get some cut before today's rain.

This is about a 2 foot x 16 foot log. I trimmed the end and pulled off some of the bark before setting it on the carriage.

I leave them around 2 to 6 inches extra long so I can get a full common size board out of them even if the end is not totally square.

The larger logs need to be set pretty straight on the mill to clear the blade supports and carriage.

I will be able to get some decent sized boards for book cases and walls from this log. I changed the blade but pretty well used up the sharp on the second one today too. I guess I cut between 300 and 400 board feet of wood today. Mostly 1x material.

glenn kangiser · November 22, 2009, 09:48:20 PM

After scrounging and auger from my scrap pile (a part given to me by the same guy who had the $400 auger), a couple blown hoses and a couple trips to the engineer and fabrication shop -- (Oh yeah -- those are both me... )

..... I now have the post hole digger working on the Bobcat.

It is a bit slow as it was a digger off of a rail road pole truck and it wants more gallons per minute, but even though a bit slow at the Bobcat 30 gallons per minute, it is positive power at the slow speed (I would guess about 120 RPM) and it pulls most of the smaller rocks out of the ground or slides off of the big ones, but it does not stop.

I stuck it in the ground and sheared a bolt in the first hole so back to the shop where I welded up a 2" hex driver right on top of the auger as it was on the hex shaft. No more problem there. I put the first 3 RR tie fence posts in the ground and also got on up the hill and cleared the line to where the new fence will meet the old fence.... that also needs repairs.

I might get that fence in some day after all.

Redoverfarm · November 23, 2009, 06:45:24 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 22, 2009, 09:48:20 PM
It is a bit slow as it was a digger off of a rail road pole truck and it wants more gallons per minute, but even though a bit slow at the Bobcat 30 gallons per minute, it is positive power at the slow speed (I would guess about 120 RPM) and it pulls most of the smaller rocks out of the ground or slides off of the big ones, but it does not stop.

I might get that fence in some day after all.

But it does beat the alternative.

November 23, 2009, 07:49:57 AM

DIG MAN DIG!!!!

glenn kangiser · November 24, 2009, 02:15:43 AM

We poured near 120 cu yds. of concrete today at Mikes. I got that out of the way for a bit. Now I can get back to diggin' it, and all the associated fun stuff.

I don't even want to think about how much fun it would be to try this with a post hole diggers, shovel and other tools of mass destruction manually. I'm way too lazy for that..

glenn kangiser · November 24, 2009, 04:17:00 PM

Hmm - just found out it was 124.6 cu. yds - a record for our local concrete company (the smaller lumberyard one with Volumetric mixers)...and for me in a day.

Redoverfarm · November 24, 2009, 04:59:32 PM

Oh Glenn it was only 4.6 more yards. Another 30-40 minutes. Where can we see the fruits of your labor.

glenn kangiser · November 24, 2009, 09:38:07 PM

I know but I hate to be so inaccurate.

It did take around 30 to 40 minutes for the truck to make it to the temporary local plant and back for the 1/2 yard cleanup. We used an entire tanker (18 wheeler) load of Portland cement powder.

Here are the details.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2041.msg102299#msg102299