Arnold, CA…Well we wish our progress on the Chainsaw Cabin would have been steady without any breaks but alas not to be.  But thankfully the breaks were largely Mother Nature driven as she blessed us with a couple inches of water in various formats.  The experts will say that it won’t have any impact on the drought but don’t tell that to the trees and they seem to be quite green with happiness.

We are now working on our floor boards.  In today’s video we worked what originally we thought was a marginal log with lots of limbs and chainsaw scaring.  We were pleasantly surprised as we were about to get 4, 2 plus inch thick 12 foot boards.

This log took a bit longer to work but in retrospect I think it shows that even logs you might feel are marginal can still yield very usable lumber.  They might not be lumberyard quality but for our needs will be quite serviceable.

We have a stretch of good weather ahead which is good for us and the project but not so great for the fire season.

About The Chainsaw Cabin
The Chainsaw Cabin is our first building, a small 120 square feet shed/cabin on Hewn Hill. All lumber will be hand milled with a small inexpensive electric chainsaw. This is to see if anyone can build a small functional building with literally tools you can find at a garage sale and our only costs will be roofing, fasteners & glass for windows.

Henry David Thoreau’s cabin was only 10 x 15 and not much bigger than you can legally build today without a permit in most counties. For the Chainsaw cabin while it will only be 10 x 12 it will have a sleeping/storage loft. So if you are staying for a night or two at least you will have separate work, living & sleep areas.

In 1854 is cost the tiny home pioneer $28.13 to build his modest abode.  With inflation that comes in at $962.80 in todays shrinking dollars.  That is our goal to build our small structure with doors, windows and roofing for less adjusting for inflation than Henry did many years ago.

We are starting with outbuildings to get the property functional. Places to store tools, a solar shed & a place to sleep if need be. This is phase one and we hope to get that done this year starting with the Chainsaw Cabin then learning how to build a log structure on our next shed.

Next year, Lord willing we will start on our main two story, traditional log cabin built with logs from the property and probably a few other locally sourced ones as well.

About hewn.co
At Hewn we are going take you on a journey to see if it is still possible to build a functional, small homestead that anyone, even someone making minimum wage can build and own. We are going to try this in California no less. Join us as we attempt to build an off grid, solar powered, rustic, pioneer style homestead.

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