Cabin – The First Timbers Completed

These are the first two timbers completed and ready to put into place. They are 8″x8″x20 feet long.  You can see some of the mortises carved into them. The timber on the left is the north side sill. It has 5 mortises, one for each bent and one more for a door post. The one on the right has only 4 mortises.

After carving I put 3 coats of Flood CWF Urethane (5 coats on the ends). In addition to protecting them it will also slow down the drying and reduce the size of the checks (cracks) that will naturally occur. You can see some bark on these that remains. It’s difficult to find a tree large enough to obtain a straight, 20 foot long timber that is 8 inches on each side. You need a hemlock tree over 15 inches in diameter. I was able to make these work OK.

Here you can see the other end in better light. Also, note on the left side of the picture I have cut 3 of the  10 required floor joists.