THE QUESTION
It was Bob who asked this tremendously difficult question about Appalachian styled half dovetail joint log home classes. It has taken long time from me to ask from the people I know and people I don’t know. Such a specific information is hard to dig out to the daylight and I am not able to give complete answer for this. However, here’s what I got:

THE ANSWER
Log homes and log cabins
From the building point of view, log homes are rather simple creatures. This is why building classes focus on simple techniques to build them - simple stuff for simple purpose - cut them to right length and stack them higher and higher, holes can be chinked no need for finesse. Appalachian half and full dovetail joints are generally the most difficult styles for corner notching. This is not really that kind of stuff you want to start with your first log home project.

Timber framing
Timber framing, on the other hand, is mighty complicated and potentially much more difficult than building a log home. Where log home course takes a weekend, timber framing course takes a week. Now that is very crude rule but helps to make the case. Timber framing involves much more calculating, angles, cuts, corners etc. than log home building, therefore I would say that any person who has successfully completed timber framing course can stack up a log home with little help from blueprints.

Suggestion
Enroll yourself to a timber framing course and take the things you learn there to build a log home. With the knowledge of timber frame joinery under your belt, making Appalachian dovetail joints with a fixed corner angle measure won’t be impossible feat.

RESOURCES
As I wrote, I asked from people I know and from people that I don’t know Here are some places for you to go and check:

Grand Oaks Timber Framing do it like it should be done. Excellent course and at the same time you get lots of new friends that can help you in your project.

Susan tipped me off with this one - Charles McRaven. Charles has the whole homesteading thing going on from stonework and blacksmithing to working with logs. Unfortunately his Log Workshop for year 2008 has already been held.

Rob gave me this tip and it fits like a glove. You see, we came down from timber framing to log working and our final destination is Appalachian log home installation class. Notice how every step down takes less time and money. With this last option you even get a coupon, which you can use to buy their product.

Question
Jamie wants to build a log home in Northern California and is considering between handcrafted from Canada or Swedish Cope milled log with a draw knife finish. Jamie asks about strengths and weaknesses of each.

Answer
Thank you for your question, Jamie. First I would like to approach this topic from general point of view and in the end give more detailed opinions. Your two choices tell that you value handcrafted style, maybe you are part of the “rustic people”. I suppose my answer doesn’t hit the mark completely, but I’m open for discussion. Let’s get going…

What matters the most with logs?
It is not your choice of handcrafted/milled approach but the choice of company, which is important. Dedicate your time to finding a dependable log home company, which is recommended by people you trust. Think about it from this point of view (sorry if I’m oversimplifying), which is better, tomato or onion pizza? Naturally this depends on one’s taste and the place where the pizza is made. And don’t get me even started with topic, which is better, log home or timber frame home… I always choose well-made home.

Handcrafted log homes
With handcrafted log homes you can often opt for turnkey project. In this case, people who make the log frame tend to be the ones who also erect the frame and build the home. As a result, you get a well-built log home. However, many companies just handcraft log frames and have nothing to do with the actual log home building. As a side note, you would be surprised how many perfectly good log frames and complete log home kits have been ruined by incompetent builders.

Handcrafters use large logs with lots of character, so their log storages tend to be bigger than with milled log home manufacturers’. In general, this means that handcrafted logs have had more time to dry naturally, hence less cracking.

Milled log homes
Milled log homes, however, are constantly rolled out from production line and in general companies forget their customers as soon as kits have been successfully transported to the customer. Time from order to delivery of a log home kit is significantly shorter than with handcrafted log homes. Price doesn’t differ that much, because those log processing machines eat a lot of capital. This almost brings the cost of milled logs to the level of handcrafted logs.

Milled logs have very much uniformed shape, which makes design and building processes easier. Production pace and machinery investments tend to mean that log home mills can’t afford large storages for drying logs naturally. Kiln-drying is the norm, because it makes stock management easier and production faster, i.e. logs can be purchased when needed and then quickly dried for manufacturing.

What about those logs then?
I try to stay positive here so I won’t focus on weaknesses, but if one is bit stronger then the other is…

STYLE: There are many handcrafting styles, so it is difficult to compare, since I don’t know the style you are after. Swedish Cope, milled and draw knife finished logs come just about as close to true handcrafting as possible. I would say there is not much difference here.

LOOK: They look the same from distance but up close you spot that there is a difference. However, if your guests doesn’t know much about log homes they are likely to think your home is handcrafted and with special dedication even, because logs are so alike.

DURABILITY: As long as you treat your logs and build with high foundation and long eaves, both logs withstand the test of time.

COST: Handcrafted logs will be more expensive

Anything else?
This is something that comes in mind, but for sure it is not the whole truth, there are many schools in our industry. As I said, I am open for discussion and opinions, I know log home and log cabin owners have lots of opinions, at least I do. So tell me, what do you think? Also don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed to stay updated.

Disclaimer - I must state that my answers are opinions only and can’t be used as a professional advice.