Happy Thanksgiving!

[Panope]

Steve, wouldn't a laser level speed the process up a lot?? I get the idea of fitting each log to the one below, but do you ever plane/cut the top of the lower log so that you start out with a level surface? (Or at least a smooth one)

That would only work if the logs were first machined perfectly round. Otherwise the "flat" surfaces would vary in width and never match each other.

The Full Scribe method is like steak and lobster. Other methods are like McDonald's.

Steve

[BeauV]

Steve, got it. Thanks. At the moment, given we're finally getting rain and I can't do varnish work on MAYAN, I'm about to return to my outdoor table project. Cutting the tree into planks, aging them, cutting the straight edges straight (or close enough), and then using the hand power plane to smooth the surfaces and get the edges really straight, taught me to really rely on my laser level tool. It's just wonderful to see that little red light on the blade of the chainsaw

I can imagine that it would be MUCH better to scribe and shape the logs on a flat lot, or concrete pad, where you could keep things stable. Some of the videos I just watched of folks doing it in the woods on a slope were just nuts! Massive amounts of work because of the site and lack of any modern tools. I have the same amazement when I watch folks work on wooden boats without using any modern devices. If you get the boat's keel set level both fore-n-aft and side-to-side, it's amazing how fast you can work by just using the laser level to tell you exactly what the offsets should be. On my old IOD I was able to shape, fit, and mount apx. one 30' plank an hour. When visiting some wooden boat yards I watched as they could only do a plank a day with all sorts of stops and starts to measure, re-measure, re-re-re-measure.....

[BeauV]

Steve, wouldn't a laser level speed the process up a lot?? I get the idea of fitting each log to the one below, but do you ever plane/cut the top of the lower log so that you start out with a level surface? (Or at least a smooth one)

That would only work if the logs were first machined perfectly round. Otherwise the "flat" surfaces would vary in width and never match each other.

The Full Scribe method is like steak and lobster. Other methods are like McDonald's.

Steve

Sure, the scribe process is transferring the bumps and wiggles of the log below up to the one above. I get that. But if the logs aren't basically all the same size you'll have variation anyway unless you hollow the underside of each log to allow the one below to hide up inside the upper one. I didn't see any of that. I'll go watch more videos.

This is really fun! Thanks for the help in finding a new set of things to learn.

[Panope]

.......unless you hollow the underside of each log to allow the one below to hide up inside the upper one......

That is exactly how it is. Upper log is only touching lower log along 2 "points" (more like edges).

[Rob McAlpine]

We fly back the 28th. Probably too tight a schedule to meet.

Aww. Shoot! We'll be in the middle of moving right up until flying out but.... maybe!

To be clear, I meant we're flying back from France the 28th.

[Anomaly]

To be clear, I meant we're flying back from France the 28th.

Oh... I see [he says as it slowly dawns on him...], now I understand.

[Audrey]

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone. Had too much food and somewhere around 25 people over at my sister's place. Retired back to my parent's for billiards and brews. I get spoiled having my family so close by. Looks like everyone had a pretty good holiday.

[Tim Ford]

Yeah, same belated thing here.

I do have to say, however, there is a certain beauty in having all family and guests GONE.

[kimbottles]

Yeah, same belated thing here.

I do have to say, however, there is a certain beauty in having all family and guests GONE.

Yes, there comes a time we’re it is very nice to have just Susan here.

[Olaf Hart]

We will be GONE from Denver tomorrow, will miss the kids, grandkids and granddog....

[BeauV]

We’re rather different. We love having everyone here, and at various times almost all of our kids have lived with us for periods from 3 months to 2 years, grand kids too. We do have a spread out house, which helps let folks get away when they need to. We are also sailors, which tends to teach people to leave someone alone if they are sitting quietly in a room by themselves reading a book.

It had been too long since everyone was here, 3 days, so my lovely Admiral made prime rib for everyone last night; there were 14 folks ‘round the dinner table.

[Ajax]

Nope.

I enjoy the occasional entertaining and occasional overnight guests and I enjoy visits from my daughters but there's no way I'm letting my kids boomerang back on me. I like my home peaceful and quiet, just me and my wife. My home is very modest and not built for long guest stays or multi-family living and that was 100% intentional. My dog finally passed away a couple of years ago, now I'm waiting on my wife's cats to shuffle off their mortal coil and that's taking too long for my tastes.

When I helped my remaining home-bound 21 year old daughter land a job in gov't contracting that paid nearly as much as my wife makes with a friggin' master's degree in biology, I sat her down in the living room and with a totally straight face and I said-

"Anna?"
"Yes, dad?"
"Get out."

Now she knew that I was partially joking and we had a good laugh. She knows I have a brutal, brusque, totally inappropriate sense of humor, but there was a wealth of meaning buried in those two words.
Left to her own devices, she would have never moved out, never established her independence, or developed important life skills such as saving money, retirement planning, would sponge off of my health plan and any other resource that I might provide, basically indefinitely if I hadn't put a hard limit on her. She was timid, lacked confidence in herself and entirely too comfortable. I needed to make her uncomfortable.

Kicking her out was good for her. She was earning an insane amount of money for someone her age and I opened up doors for her that have led to several rapid pay and position increases and she was basically pissing it away. She had ample resources to strike out on her own even in an area as expensive as the DC capitol region. Now, she's married, saving money, doing great at work, she's a homeowner and a responsible member of society. There's very little chance that she's going to boomerang back to the nest, which is as it should be, as far as I'm concerned. She lives nearby, so we have plenty of family interaction, which is also as it should be.

My other daughter chose an artistic career path and makes far less money but she actually struck out on her own first to get out from under the "dad's roof, dad's rules" situation. She wanted her independence and privacy. She's single and rents a basement in Baltimore while she wraps up her degree. Considering her lower pay and living expenses, she surprised me by informing me of the very tidy sum she's saved up. She ain't coming back home either. She chose a more difficult path and is doing well with it.

Grandkids? One daughter doesn't want children, ever. She still has several years to change her mind though. The other daughter thinks she wants one child sometime within the next 5-6 years.

As far as I'm concerned, there are far too many humans on this planet. If I never become a grandparent, I'd be perfectly happy with that. If I do become a grandparent, I will accept the role and do the best I can.