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Finnish log building methods.

Started by TW, October 18, 2007, 12:30:02 PM

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TW

The way a log building is made traditionally in Finland and northern Sweden differs a lot from the American method. I have some principle drawings I could post, and I could take photos of my tools. I prepared the drawings a year ago for another use and they could be used again.

Is there any interrest for a show and tell tread about the tools and methods used for traditional log building in Finland?

Thehardway

Would love to see them.  I was downloading pictures of Swedish Danish and Finnish rental "cottages" earlier today and it appears red and white or black red are the favored colors and vertical siding is the norm?  This was one of my favorites but not sure why all the doors?  Many seem to have drop down storm shutters which double as awnings in sunny weather, a neat and functional item seldom seen here in the US.  Most have this style of red roof which I assume is some sort of clay tile?  I like the clean and basic lines.



Also saw some interesting log cabins. 
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

TW

Thehardway
Some explanations:
Those many doors are not typical. A traditional farmhouse had only one outer door, except in some areas in southern Sweden. That was to reduce cold draft.
Awnings became common in the 1980-ies and 90-ies, so they are not traditional.
Clay roof tile became common in late 19th century roundabout. Here furher north they are less common. Red paint was made from cheap surplus minerals from the coppermine in Falun. It was the cheapest paint. The further back in history we go the fewer buildings were painted. Still 100 years ago it was common with unpainted outbuildings and 200 years ago even the farmhouses were generally unpainted.

Now I will start working on posting those picures.




TW

Here comes some drawings

Corner types

This corner type is called korsknut in Swedish. It is very common. This is the normal corner for outbuildings, but it is quite common in houses too.


This is a more draught proof version of korsknut. It is has what we call varmtand.


This type is called laxknut. It is quite easy to make but known for not being very tight nor strong.


This type is called låsknut. It became common in the mid 19th century, I think.
This is the type I have worked most with. It is known to be both tight and strong.

A cross section of a wall with a log being scribed


The placement of pegs in a typical early 20th century wall

Types of scarphes commonly used. The top one is used where there is little tension and both log ends can be pegged to the log below. The two othere are usully used for the lowermost log. It is also common to butt join log ends inside partition wall notches. Then both log ends are pegged to the log below.

The vertical piece that stiffens the wall around a door or window is called svärd. It can be made in two ways. The T shape was traditionally hewn from a half log.

When the wall is ready it is traditionally hewn smooth.
The hewing tecnique differs between different areas.
The Swedes have a slightly less curved edge on the broad axe and cut at a greater angle to the grain, more like you hew elsewhere.
Finns have a tighter edge curve on the broad axe and try to get an even wave pattern. A "wave" or row of cuts should ideally stretch from the top to the bottom of the wall.
We Finland Swedes basicly use the finnish method, but maybe a slightly less edge curve and the waves are ate not so important if the cuts are even.
There are great differences between individual carpenters too.

TW

And now a few photographs

A very large farmhouse. The lower storey is said to be from the 18th century and the upper storey from the 19th century. The windows look like very late 19th century. The larger window is newer.
Note that the walls lean outwards a little. This was quite common. The original roof was most likely birchbark or shingles. This type of metal roof became common in the 1930-ies roundabout.

A farmhouse on a very small tenant farm. The people who lived here were very poor. The door is newer than the rest. There is an old shingle roof under the cement tiles. The old siding was made from wider boards, but it is shifted out on this side of the house.


An old haybarn. Farmers stored most of the hay in this kind of small haybarns on the fields. Then they could transport the hay home little by little whenewer they had time over during the winter.
There is an old shingle roof under the sheet iron. There are traces of an even older straw roof. The door opening is enlarged two logs upwards. The stiffeners besides the door were added when the door was enlarged. In the 19th century people often used straw roofs on outbuildings becaúse nails were valuable.


An outbuilding consisting of grain storehouse in the right end and farm implement shed. This building looks very old. The corner nothes are very oldfashioned.

Edited: I forgot one picture

This picture shows a very well made log wall. It was built by my grandfather in the 1950-ies. The birchbark is not normal practise, It was his own idea. Normally thre is moss or nowadays flax fibres between the logs. Theese logs are sawn and not hewn like in the old days, but the principle is the same. A well built wall should have smooth surface with a few centimetres deep V shaped grooves being the only remaining surfaces coming from the round log.


Don P

Keep it coming TW  8) 8)

The lasknut corner that you show as common there I have only seen in pictures as a locked dovetail. The laxknut is our dovetail. I can't tell from the perspective in the drawing if it is a "half" or "full". I'd agree with you though :)

TW

Do not blame the perspective when reason is my faulty interpretation of perspective.

I am not sure about the difference between half and full dovetails. I asume it is about if the dovetail surface is angled in one or both directions. A proper laxknut us angled in both directions and consequently locked for movement in both directions.

Here comes some tool pictures

A large broadaxe for coarse hewing and a small broadaxe for smooth hewing a finished wall. The small axe is used for fitting corners and such. All theese are old, but good enough for me.


A picture showing the shape of a broad axe head


A drawknife and a caulking iron and two log scribes. The scribe at the top is a traditional one and the scribe at the bottom is the one I use.


Some more tools I use

All are old and traditional except the drill bit.

Then of cause I use the electric drill and the chainsaw, but thay are not traditional and not special in any way. I am no real professional logbuilder. I just earn some extra now and then by repairing this kind of old log buildings.

I had not planned to post this much information, but I hope this is of interrest to at least some of you.

Ron Scott

~Ron

Thehardway

Very interesting!!!  The quality of work is impressive.  No wonder it has lasted for so long.  Can you give us an idea of what wood species we are looking at and what is common?  What kind of roof structure is most commonly used?  Are there any ornamental details or is most of it plain?  The representations we see here in the US of Scandinavian cottages often include ornamental work in the shutters, rake edge and porches.   Is this accurate?

Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

SAW MILLER

 Thanks for posting this T W.
    I assume that the walls lean out to protect the lower courses from water.The old hay shed is way cool.

                            Ron
LT 40 woodmizer..Massey ferg.240 walker gyp and a canthook

WDH

TW,

Very informative post.  I loved those buildings when I visited Northern Sweden.  I was intriged that all the farm buildings were painted with red paint.  Now, I understand.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

TW

Thanks for the kind words.

Thehardway
There is only one kind of spruce and one kind of pine in northern Europe. The further north you go the knottier the wood becomes and the slower it grows. Here at 63 degrees northern latitude the spruce is much harder than in central Europe.
Wood species used for logs are spruce and pine. Around here spruce was most common, but sometimes pine was used. In other areas they used only pine. They say that spruce logs require more pegs to prevent twisting.
Spruce is best for siding, but pine is and was sometimes used on the northern side of a building if there was no spruce on hand. Windows and door are made from pine.

The roof is traditionally carried by ridge logs. One ridge log at the ridge and one or two more on either side of the roof evenly spread. My sketch of peg placement shows the placement of the three ridge logs. I have no good picture of it right now.

Traditionally there were quite few ornamental details and their shape and placement were often given by local tradition. This part of Österbotten was known for having few ornamental bouilding details. The closer we come to modern times the more ornaments can be found.

Nowadays tradition has been broken. People add more ornamentation, often in a way that looks weird in my eyes, and in ways that are not structurally sound. It has even became fashionable to build log houses of the american type.

In the last few year there has been signs of a revival of the traditional style, modified to fit modern needs and modern tools. I hope that will continue.
As I wrote: I have only repared old buildings so I know only the old style.

glenn molenaar

TW, Great post enjoyed it.          Thanks Glenn

TW

I did not expect this much interrest.

Some more pictures

A grain and food storehouse. It has carved dates 1847 and 1541, but I think 1847 is correct. It has been taken down and moved at least once, in the 1930-ies maybe. Sorry for the dark picture.


The same building. The corner type is korsknut with varmtand.



WDH

Splendid old building.  A real piece of history.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Max sawdust

TW,
Thank you for the very educational thread.

Very interesting small and large broad axe.  Do you know who the manufacture is?  They do not look like Gransfor's.

Also I noticed you had pictures of two red colored barns.  I remember seeing quite a few out buildings with a kind of gold or yellow paint.  I enjoyed the color very much.

Max

True Timbers
Cedar Products-Log & Timber Frame Building-Milling-Positive Impact Forestscaping-Cut to Order Lumber

TW

The larger broadaxe is made by Billnäs Bruk. The compay was bought out by Fiskars, in the 60-ies or 70-ies I think. That became the junky Fiskars axes of today.
The smaller broadaxe is hand forged by some long dead blacksmith.

Nobody makes this type of broadaxes on an industrial scale nowadays. They are in short supply and become more and more expensive. Hopefully I can get somebody to weld in new steel when the broadaxes wear out.

Don P

Those are interesting axes. They look like descendents of bearded axes  ???. Our broadaxes are almost always of the Kent style, sharpened on one side only, the handle eye is offset to the bevelled face and the handle is bent to give knuckle clearance. It's neat to see other styles. For smoother/ finer work an adze was often used.

Max sawdust

I am just learning broad axe technique.  Guys I work with are very good at putting a fine pattern down with the Gransfor 1900 Broad axe.  It is a Swedish made axe.  I very much like the look pattern from the Finnish axe.  (Keep in mind I am not capable of any consistent pattern no matter of what type of axe I use. ::))  Still learning ;D
max
True Timbers
Cedar Products-Log & Timber Frame Building-Milling-Positive Impact Forestscaping-Cut to Order Lumber

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Thehardway

TW,

Thanks for your info.  The posts and pics are great!  It is hard to get that type of info here in the states.  I have been trying to get all the info I can on traditional Swedish cabins here in the US but there are few original ones left, especially as old as what you are showing us.  The oldest here appears to be built 1630-1650 as found on the website:

http://www.swedishcabin.org/

It is much different in style from what you have shown us and the corners do not appear to be nearly as tight. It is showing a lot of chinking.  I do not know how much of it was original and how much is "restoration" which in many cases is not traditional or correct here on historical structures.

I would like to carve something traditionally Swedish on the pendant of my kingpost truss but have found little so far that would seem apprpriate.  It seems that the acanthus and Thor's Hammer or a dragon are traditional subjects of scandinavian wood carving but not sure they would look appropriate or traditional on a kingpost pendant.   It appears my family may have originated from around the Goteborg area of Sweden.

I have been looking at photos of the Scandinavian and Norwegian Stave Churches as they have a lot of ornamental carving but few photos show much detail.  They are incredible structures especially given the period of time in which they were built. Also been looking at some of the Runes as I find it might be something interesting to carve into the beam of my 5yr old sons room.

I will take a picture of some of my "antique" tools to share with you although they are probably young compared to yours.



Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

TW

Carved details are almost non existant on buildings in my area, so I know nothing about that subject. If you search for stavkirke or stavkyrkje using google you will find more pictures of the norwegian stave churches.
Each area has it's own style and around Göteborg the log building style is quite plain. If there is siding it may be decorated a lot. They hew the walls smoother than we do.

There are no chinked log buildings in Scandinavia. Archeological finds indicate that chinking became outdated in the 11th or 12th century, and if it was ever common is hard to know. That Swedish cabin looks strange and foreign to me.

Thehardway
I could send you some more pictures outside the forum, if you are interrested.

Again I want to point out that I am only a young man who earns some extra money by repairing loghouses. I am not a proper full time professional.


TW

Quote from another thread:

I read all messages here and many questions have aroused. Let me to list few of them here. I hope it will be not too much for first time :-)

1.   Why round logs were "squared" to bevel edge profile? I've read somewhere and I was convinced that Vikings build structures from bevel edged logs because they used cut boards (sides of logs) for floor or other things, but now I am confused...

2.   Looking on pictures you posted I don't see that those traditional Swedish log homes have big overhang. And looking at sealing logs I don't see evidence of rottenness or some structural harm... Any ideas why?

3.   Did Swedish log home builder employ any check control method? Did they seal log ends?

4.   Did they season logs before of building? Did they let log shell to stay for a year or two before to finish the house?
 
Thank you in advance.

Andrew M.
End of quote

1 The logs were hewn flat on the inside and outside. The wood that was hewn away became waste.  In the 1930-ies roundabout some people started to saw the logs, in order to make use of the waste. The upside and underside remais naturally round until the long groove is cut in the underside.
I am not old enough to know for sure why they started to do like this many centuries ago. Though round log buildings tend to rot starting from the protruding rounded part of the log on the outside. If the logs are hewn or sawn there will be no such shelf collecting water so the logs will likely last better. This oppinion is only based on what I have seen, and some discussions with other carpenters, so it may be wrong.
2 The older the roof the shorter the overhang. The old birchbark roofs had very short overhangs. I do not know why, but I think it was an attempt to avoid lifting forces caused by wind.
3 Thanks to the hewing the checks will end up horizontally on the faces of the log. There they do not weaken the long groove. No check control methods were used. Log ends were never sealed and the red paint does not seal anything.
4 They could build either from green logs or logs seasoned for a year or two, but I have heard that green logs were most common. The old rule is that the house should stand for the first winter with roof without windows and doors, nor any kind of interrior furnishings nor floors. The windows and doors were fastened with iron straps that allowed for settling. After about 5 year the siding could be nailed on. This is how I have been told by the old men. I have only done repairs with seasoned wood so I have no experience of this.

Max sawdust

Very interesting!   TW,
What do you know about birch bark roofs?
I am interested in putting one on our sauna.  Possibly over the asphalt shingles.
max
True Timbers
Cedar Products-Log & Timber Frame Building-Milling-Positive Impact Forestscaping-Cut to Order Lumber

TW

I know very little about birchbark roofs, but the old men say that they vere very common long ago. Very few , if any birchbark roofs have been made in the 20th century, except in later days on a few museum buildings. Birchbark roofs became outdated in the 19th century when factory made nails became availeable and affordable. They are said to be very easily ignited by flying sparks.

I have only seen two genuine birchbark roofs in my life and they were both in crumbling condition. One had collapsed totally. That was about 20 years ago so I was only a small boy then. Later I have asked the old men for more details.

The principle as I have been told:
Boards were laid ridge to plate with about one inch gaps. Either the board ends formed the overhang, or the overhang was built with horizintal boards supported by short rafters mortised into the lowest ridge beams and laid in notches in the plate.
On the boards were laid birchbark in several layers. I do not know how many layers. The inside of the bark was laid upwards.
On top of that was laid round poles about 3-4" diameter, laid in direction ridge to plate and extending above the ridge where the poles from the both sides crossed. The poles were hewn flat in both sides on about 4" lenght at the ridge in order to fit tighter to each other. At the crossing point was a 1" hole in each pole. Through the holes were pegs made from spruce branches. The pegs kept the poles from sliding down the roof by connecting the poles on both sides to each other. I am not sure about this but as I understood it the pegs should be long enough to go through four poles, two to each side.

About 3/4 way down from the ridge were wooden cleats pegged to a pair of poles at some metres intervals. On the cleats were laid poles along the lenght of the building. On top of the lenghtwise poles was laid a stone as weight at each cleat.

This description is based on a few old photographs I have seen and on the old men's tales, and on the two roofs I saw as a boy. Therefore I may be wrong. I am too young to know all details.

A link to a picture I found on internet
http://restaurointikuvasto.nba.fi/restkuvasto/asp/rakosakuvahaku.asp?kuvaus_id=497

If you do not understand my deskription ,just ask.

By the way.
I have seen a new birchbark roof with only one layer of birchbark on to pf alphalt felt, so it should be possible. Tt was on a museum building.

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