Posted: 1/23/2012 8:44:02 PM EDT
|
Well this is the homesteading forum.
My question for the hive: Before portable band saws, and the like, how did the "pioneers" or early homesteaders produce "dimensional" lumber for building? I know it was crude and far from a 1 3/4" x 3 3/4" board. The length portion is easy, two person saw, but actually cutting it down to building lumber is what I'm not sure about. |
|
There's a reason sawmills were among the first industries to take hold as an area was being developed. Without a mill, logs were individually sawn into boards by hand... grueling work.
My house is built from rough oak lumber milled on site. The studs measure a true 2"x4", not 1 1/2x 3 1/2". And those suckers are hard, after about 80 years of curing. We've remodeled several rooms, and we have to either pre-drill or use self-tapping screws to hang sheetrock. Normal screws will go in about 1/4" and then just snap off clean. I think a portable sawmill and the means to power it up would be an outstanding "post-collapse" investment. |
|
Quoted:
They just marked it and sawed it. Crosscut saws go against the grain. Everything was built to fit, it's not like they had to make everything conform to a 4' x 8' commercial product. And ripsaws cut with the grain (parallel to it). The teeth on a ripsaw are usually somewhat larger than the teeth on a comparable crosscut saw, and are sharpened to a much different tooth geometry. They are sharpened in the shape of tiny chisels and "scoop" the wood fibers out in relatively long ribbons, as compared to the much smaller sawdust produced by the crosscut saw's tooth configuration. The relative efficiency with which each type of saw performs its' respective task is really quite astonishing. |
|
I'm gonna go with "LOG cabin" for $100 Alex. There are always times when it is advantageous to have dimensional lumber. However, it can often be done without, if material conservation is not a large issue, until the mill arrives. Few notches, put it in place, more notches, interlock the next row. Once your mind goes beyond the common square shape / right angles. Many more options open up with natural construction. There are several hippie houses (lacking a better phrase at the moment), with great livability, that are built using more of the natural features, and less of stand alone home. I had the fortune of spending several years growing up in Germany. Houses that have with stood hundreds of years. Castles, and peasant quarters. Seeing thatched roof construction and other processes that seem to be unknown is the US. Certainly this would be a subject worth a few nights of study. Here is an interesting one, that I've seen mentioned here before. http://technology4life.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/the-house-in-the-woods/ |
|
Quoted:
There's a reason sawmills were among the first industries to take hold as an area was being developed. Without a mill, logs were individually sawn into boards by hand... grueling work. My house is built from rough oak lumber milled on site. The studs measure a true 2"x4", not 1 1/2x 3 1/2". And those suckers are hard, after about 80 years of curing. We've remodeled several rooms, and we have to either pre-drill or use self-tapping screws to hang sheetrock. Normal screws will go in about 1/4" and then just snap off clean. I think a portable sawmill and the means to power it up would be an outstanding "post-collapse" investment. That old lumber is also in my old house. Modern nails usually just bend...... |
|
DO WANT! |
