Sept 2011 Update:
This year the cycle starts all over again. It is the north wall's turn and, this year, that has been a very busy site, because I am also replacing a set of windows with French doors, building a small porch outside the doors and building a ramp up to the porch. I will describe those projects in other threads and will confine this update to the restoring of the logs on the north wall. As usual, this post will be crafted fromextracts from my weekly journal.
Aug 6: I made a very small start on the task of re-finishing the north wall of the cabin by buffing then staining the skirting board that is under the new doorway:
Aug 9: Before going into Hearst in the morning, I sanded some of the north wall in preparation for re-finishing. For the first time, I used what Festool calls an “interface pad” on my Rotex 150 sander. This is a thick sponge that attaches to the sanding pad where one usually attached the sandpaper then, in turn, the sandpaper is applied to the other side of the interface pad.
It works well on the somewhat rounded logs.
For the most part, I am lightly sanding the logs, but there is a part of the wall below the removable screen/window frame that I made many years ago that has very bad drip marks. I am sanding that part right down to the wood:
I don't remember this region being as bad in the past and it is not nearly as bad below the other three screen/window frames on the porch. I will devise some sort of sill/ trough near the bottom of the opening in an attempt to prevent this in the future.
Sept 5: I finished sanding the logs today. The total time for the sanding job was 6 hours. Compare this with the 19 hours that it took to do the job 6 years ago. This time I only used my Rotex and Deltex sanders and only used Saphir 80 grit abrasive. I cleaned the abrasives occasionally with a crepe block. They lasted very well as witnessed by the photo of the only two pads that I used after completion of the job:
The Deltex pad has pretty well had it, but there is still some life in the Rotex pad.
Sept 6: I applied the first coat of preservative today. It took about 3 hours (a lot of which was spent moveing stands and ladders). Here is photo taken part way throough the job:
Sept 7: I applied the final coat of preservative today. It took about 2.5 hours. Here is photo taken after completion: