My 15.75 x 30 Jemez Cabin

Started by MountainDon, December 20, 2006, 02:03:09 AM

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MountainDon

Alas, no beer. No wine.  :( >:( >:(

Because of the problem I had with an infection after the work on my jaw the only way the trip was made possible at the scheduled time was to continue the antibiotics as a preventative/curative treatment during the tour. One of the antibiotics was Falgyl. That drug has nasty interactions when alcohol is consumed. You vomit. The wine tasting at a French winery was fine as long as I spit it out. That was okay, but I didn't think that would have been good form at a German beer garden.

So I passed on the alcohol. But I made up for it by trying different bratwursts.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

PEG688


Nice job on the foot board Don 8)  And the other stuff as well!
When in doubt , build it stout with something you know about .


MountainDon

Well, back to the cabin and the mountains.

I'm actually at the point where I did a small renovation on some work I did last year!  :)

I decided that the propane bottle storage was too high off the ground. Lifting the 40# cylinders, tare weight 95#, from the ground level to the platform was not something Karen could easily do. She did it once, but her look told me that she never wanted to do that again. I can do it, but looking ahead to who knows when, she might need to deal with moving a fresh tank into place herself. So a renovation was in order.

I have been a diligent follower of Glenn's Underground Cabin topic since waaaay back. I have learned a thing or two when it comes to fine woodworking as taught the Glenn Kangiser way!  I needed to shorten the existing platform a little and build a lower platform.

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Need I saw anything further?  I did use a newly resharpened chain. Beautiful cut!   I had a piece of 1/2" black pipe cut 18 inches shorter and threaded. That dropped the regulator to where either 20 or 40 pound cylinders can be used on the new platform.

Next I'm going to use some more scrap material to make a small ramp to make it even easier with a hand truck.


Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

Quote from: PEG688 on August 13, 2010, 02:58:59 PM

Nice job on the foot board Don 8)  And the other stuff as well!

Thanks,    I have ideas for using more 'scraps' for a headboard too.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

We also made some changes along the cabin end. This makes it easier, more comfortable, going up and down the small embankment along the power center and to and form the shed. I had the 2x left over material, tree log sections (brushed on some preservative)  and a pile of concrete form stakes....




Yes the wood posts are on the "wrong" side of the planks, but that's okay. I used several recycled long bolts and washers and through bolted them. And there is not a lot of dirt being held back. Mostly it's a water diversion wall/fence.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


PEG688

Quote from: MountainDon on August 13, 2010, 03:00:16 PM

I have been a diligent follower of Glenn's Underground Cabin topic since waaaay back. I have learned a thing or two when it comes to fine woodworking as taught the Glenn Kangiser way!  I needed to shorten the existing platform a little and build a lower platform.








  be careful what you learn in the Internet :o  Especially from Glenn  [shocked] :-X rofl
When in doubt , build it stout with something you know about .

glenn kangiser

Surely thou jests, PEG..... [waiting]

Good job, Grasshopper.  The student surpasses the master.  I like the form and the steady hand..... [crz]


Looks like the other one may be a bit shaky though Don.... :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Pritch

Naw, Glenn would have used a plasma torch and rested it on the propane bottles!    ;D
"The problem with quotes from the internet is that they're not always accurate." -- Abraham Lincoln

PEG688

Quote from: glenn kangiser on August 14, 2010, 12:16:25 AM


Surely thou jests, PEG..... [waiting]



  Correct, a good jest is better than a nasty joust eh?   [toilet]
When in doubt , build it stout with something you know about .


Texas Tornado

What do you use for a computer at the cabin?
How far away from cell towers?
Irene

MountainDon

#1085
Cabin to nearest cell tower distance = 1.75 miles
Cabin is at 8800 feet
Cell tower is at 10000 feet (Alltel)
Nothing higher between cabin and cell tower
= very good cell phone reception most of the time



Reasonably good over the air TV reception as well thanks to the altitude
(transmitters are approx. 36 miles to the south at 10,000+ feet)



Computer: Dell Studio 15 laptop, 2.2GHz
I do not have internet access at the cabin at present
Alltel data service is available, but not at the highest speed that is available further south

At the cabin I use the computer for handling images from the game camera and as a mapping tool with Topo! and my GPS as well as with Google Earth and the GPS. I also have a lot of reference documents on the hard drive, plus hundreds of GB's of MP3's. I also use two 1TB  WD portable hard drives for backups.

FWIW, Google Earth has a large cache on the hard drive (up to 2 GB, user selectable). If you mouse/travel over an area when connected to the internet you can use Google earth offline with the software using the imaging that is in the cache.

Pelican hard shell case for transporting the computer.




Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

glenn kangiser

....a guy jus' can't get no respect... [waiting]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Pritch

Quote from: glenn kangiser on August 16, 2010, 08:42:30 AM
....a guy jus' can't get no respect... [waiting]

I guess I should have said, "Naw, Glenn would have used a plasma torch and rested it on the propane bottles!  AND PULLED IT OFF!" 
"The problem with quotes from the internet is that they're not always accurate." -- Abraham Lincoln

glenn kangiser

ahhhh, that's better.  Did I ever mention about my old boss at the welding shop teaching me how to weld up log truck diesel tanks while the diesel was running out of the crack.  He said as long as the diesel was running out there was no danger of it exploding while I welded it.  [ouch]   :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


MountainDon

Little things....   :D

We finally received the shower curtain drop chains and rollers. That took an inordinately lengthy time. We got the credit card company involved when the getting the missing package problem resolved appeared to be at a dead end.

The reason the drops were needed is because standard off the shelf shower curtains are 72 inches and the ceiling mounted track was at about 94.5 inches.

The drops...  



Ready for use...



At rest in the corner.



We also laid some 12 inch pavers along the eve drip line, with some timbers to slow/halt erosion of the bank. I'm trying to get grass growing there, but our absence in July played havoc with that.




Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

More small stuff..... Let there be light!!  An electric light in the gazebo!!

This sure is more convenient than propane or liquid fueled camping lanterns. Quieter too. All weather resistant parts.



The power is tapped off the cabin exterior outlet near the porch.



PVC conduit and THHN/THWN wiring. Mostly buried. Legal depth, sort of.  ::)

One 23 watt CFL provides oodles of light to read by, all at the flick of a switch.



And the fire provides some warmth...




Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

 roflWe made it to the cabin this weekend. We missed last weekend  >:(  because of some issues with tenants in one of our rental condos. I'll never understand the way renters view property they don't own.  ??? But that's another topic.

It was nice to be there. I did a few small things. I had some T&G pine left over from many years ago and we decided to use it to finish the lower walls in the gazebo. It's only 5/16" thick, but as long as we don't rent it out there should be no problems with it.   rofl



I also gave the floor boards a coat of deck finish.



A sharp eye will notice two different patterns in the T&G. So what?   8)


This morning when we got up (7:30) and peered out the north window we discovered we had company.



That's about 25 yards away....




The game camera caught some videos of a buck (at the salt block). I may get around to posting one of them tomorrow.

We also spent a little time working on a trail across the SE slope.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

#1092
The weather was wonderfully sunny. When we arrived the PV system had already been in absorb mode for an hour or so. After we had lunch the system was in float. Since I had not done an equalization charge since spring I though it might be a good time. I checked the fluid levels and they were all still very good. I've not had to add much water since implementing the PV system. This would be the second time in a year and none of the levels were anywhere near the danger point of exposing the plate tops.

With a clear blue sky and a promise of at least a couple hours of good solar power I decided to equalize off the sun. Well, okay the generator was at home so there was not much choice. I shot a video. Depending on how noisy your environment is you can hear the bubbling. You can not smell the acid fumes, maybe a good thing.   ;D    Click the image to run the photobucket video.





Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

We hauled a hundred gallons of water up and dumped it into the cistern. I had not dipped the cistern for some time, all I knew is that there was still water in there, but no idea of how much. For some reason I had the nutty idea to shoot a video.  ???



As things turned out the addition of the hundred gallons brought the level up to full plus. The tank was full plus the manhole extension was full to the hose inlet port. We conserved better than I thought. We celebrated with a shower.   :D

Last winter I found that we should have buried the cistern tank a little deeper. In January or February the pump standpipe froze. Thinking about how to resolve that issue I came up with what I hope will be the solution. Nothing done yet, but it involves air pressure. I hope to have the idea turned into something to photograph by next weekend.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

And I messed up the dipstick video.... I guess I was a dipstick.   ;D   So nothing on that.... 
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


glenn kangiser

Cool, Don. Thanks for the vids. 

Hard to resist shooting everything around with the HF non-contact thermometer isn't it. :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

diyfrank

Could you explain an equalization charge and how it's different then charging?
Home is where you make it

MountainDon

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

John Raabe

Always great to stop in here and see this evolving cabin project. Love the night time shot of the gazebo. [cool]
None of us are as smart as all of us.

Tickhill

Thanks for our updates, especially pics and videos. I think I spent the first week on this website checking yours and Glenn's projects. I have learned a great deal and look forward to more. Thanks
"You will find the key to success under the alarm Glock"  Ben Franklin
Forget it Ben, just remember, the check comes at the first of the month and it's not your fault, your a victim.

Pray while there is still time