Decisions? Decisions!

So we are going to make a cabin.  We have a limited amount of free material and how will we best utilize it.  This boils down to limiting factors. It is the equivalent of a constant in math. In this case, it is what is the most valuable beams? The largest beams are Douglas Fur 4x6. The actual dimensions are 3.5" by 5.5" The long beams have a few large numbers 6 at 156" inches and three at 152". I chose 156" to be the long dimension. I was going to use the 152" as the short dimension. Then I started fleshing out the model It basically came down to my want to not cut plywood. Many of the decisions we made were very Chicken and the egg. I had to use two or more bits of information to make a decision. Everything we make will need to be hand carried to the site and transported up on the back of a truck. We will have battery powered tools and chainsaws up at camp so any prep work we can do at in Nashua will speed up work on site.

This is the pile of pallets we currently have.

The roof on the broad side. is 16 foot, or two plywood units. Up at camp we have some different building codes. Snow load is always less force than falling trees. We use a 12 inch rafter spacing to try and keep things from getting crushed. When we get to the point of manufacturing rafters, the additional work to make more is negligible due to our use of jigs. You can see a 12 inch overhang on each side that makes the major width of the cabin 14 feet.

The front view of the cabin shows what the over all dimensions will be.

We needed to make a longer beam for the wide dimension.  With a needed length of 168 inches (14 feet) we made a composite for the beam that joined over a pylon.  This will allow all force to go straight down.  We cut up sections so we could make the beam without buying any new material.

The floor detail shows the long beams split up.  

Now to construct a floor support structure with the materials at hand. We will have to cut a few beams but not to much waste.

Green Beams go in the X direction, Purple go in the Y.  I applied a color code and xy coordinate system so Manufacturing will be simplified.

 All the joists are cut up and ready to go.  This will be part of the first load up.  

All of the floor beams ready to go.  They still need  to be counter bored.

Putting things on the ground = rot.  We are going to have a minimum height of 1 foot up hill.  Libby also wants 6X6 Pressure treated for the so we have a super sturdy foundation to build upon.  The orange are 2x4 PT that will help solidify the base.   That will then sit on a cement block (16x8x4).  We can pre cut and drill all of the pylons at Make it Labs.  All force will be directly transferred to the piers because of the notch.  For Phase 1 of construction we won't be able to know the length of all of the pylons  so only a few permanent pylons  will be installed. 

The purple beams will all be counter bored so the screw heads won't interference with the floor boards.  this will also make locating the screws much simpler in the field.   

All of the purple beams will need to be drilled to allow for the screw heads to not displace the floor boards.  I will use Timberlok screws to keep these down.  

the detail showing the cross section of how this joint will work with the piers.  

The blue pylons will be fastened with reclaimed lag bolts.  the three longer beams will be trimmed by a portable saw, or if I get annoyed with it's battery I will use the chainsaw.

Phase 1 construction goal.

We will find an ideal site and start to lay it out. Pink cement bricks get laid out and the back support is constructed. In the next rendering, the stage I hope to get to by the end of the weekend of phase one. We can then take measurements and fill in the rest of the piers on the following trip for Phase 2 of construction. The purple joists will be installed later so it is easy access to put the rest of the pylons in.

I hope this answers why I made the decisions I did for the frame.