Vintage Log Cabin Joinery

Log cabin construction requires some sort of notching at the ends of the logs where they are to be stacked to form the corner joints of the "crib." The Scotch-Irish immigrants learned the craft of log construction from settlers who brought the techniques with them from Sweden and Finland. The Nordic cabin-builders used two very similar methods. The simpler method is the saddle joint, which needed few tools and but a little practice; the more complex method, fully-scribed saddle joints, required more tools and greater skill and was not used in the Backcountry. (Fully-scribed saddle joints bring the logs into full-length contact, eliminating the need for chinking.) Saddle notches could be cut with only an axe, a mallet, and a chisel. This greatly reduced the need to carry tools into the wilderness, which had great appeal to the Scotch-Irish who were moving rapidly into the Backcountry in the 18th century.

{continue reading HERE}