10/7/15 The next project on the docket is to build the front staircase by installing the remaining ten log treads. Here you see the two horizontal 2x4s that will serve as the reference for both horizontal and vertical measurements for the correct placement of the tread noses.
10/7/15 Here is the first of the ten treads partly planed. It will be planed on both sides, then treated with Board Defense, and then scribed and cut to fit onto the log stringers.
10/14/15 The tread is securely suspended above the final location ready to be scribed.
10/14/15 Paul is carefully scribing the logs using his home-made scriber. His left hand is pulling the lower pen along the surface of the stringer making the line you can faintly see on the stringer. His right hand is guiding the upper pen making a line on the bottom of the tread above, all the while keeping the string on the scriber vertical. The nut at the end of the string serves as a plumb bob.
10/22/15 Here the tread is being tried for fit. The trick is to figure out where either the tread or the stringer, or both, need to be rasped down to make the tread fit better.
10/22/15 Here the tread has been removed and flipped over so that the notches on both the tread and the stringers can be rasped down in order to achieve a better fit. This process, involving lifting that heavy tread, was repeated too many times to count. It is hard but rewarding work.
10/22/15 Finally the tread fits perfectly with the tread surface level in both directions, the nose of the tread just touching the plumb bob strings (not shown here), and the surface of the tread at exactly the right elevation. It's now ready to get stained and lag screwed to the stringers.
10/22/15 And here it is, stained and screwed in place.
12/17/15 All the treads have been installed and the curved log intended to be used as a handrail on the outside is lying on the treads as a proof of concept that it will work. It will go roughly where it is except that it will be a couple feet higher.
12/17/15 Here is a view of the lower portion of the front staircase showing some of the stone steps at the bottom, the first few log treads that have been in place for several years, and some of the newly installed treads. It was a welcome milestone to get the last of these treads installed. They are now ready for foot traffic.
12/23/15 Winter has started and the snow has arrived. I accidentally left my snowshoes in a snowbank overnight, but fortunately they were sticking up so I could find them.
12/23/15 Judging from the stack of snow on top of the snowshoes, there must have been no wind during the snowfall.
12/23/15 The truck was easy to locate too, because I knew where it was parked.
12/23/15 Just as I started digging the truck out, Mike Dickinson showed up with his tractor.
12/23/15 He soon plowed out the entire driveway with room to park the Scout troop bus.
12/23/15 The snow makes a photogenic frame for the cabin.
12/23/15 Zooming in, you get a nice view of Dirtyface Ridge in the background.
12/23/15 The lower flight of the concrete staircase nicely cleared.
12/23/15 And here's the upper flight showing how deep the surrounding snow is.
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