Hoping to Build from Coppiced Greenwood

[ecovallee]

You'd be better off cutting the poles yourself so you can strip the bark off straight away with a scraper. You'll also need a drawknife and shaving horse.

When I did this (in 2006, so memory could play tricks), we'd cut a dozen or so poles each and carry them back to the outside workshop. Then strip them, then shape the roofwheel end into a square and take wood off both sides of the other end for about 2.5 feet so it will bend without splitting. Then they were put in a homemade steamer and left for a few hours, removed and left to set on a former for a few days, before sanding and oiling.

The trellis in front of me is 1 inch stripped. The roof poles are 1.5. If you can find someone near you making yurts, I'd go along and meet them. Maybe help out. Maybe you can use some of their gear. If not, there's a good chance they'll be really good people. Working on your own, the frame could take you a couple of months. Then there's the roofwheel making to sort and the cover. Your budget won't stretch to much so maybe you should look at used fabric from marquee people. Or a yurt camp that's giving it up.

You might even find a whole yurt and cover for the money you have, which would save you all this. But you wouldn't meet so many people. Don't forget your flooring joists, floorboards, stove, pipe etc etc. Again you could barter your time for this. If you have a Transition Network project near you, get in touch with them, too. They'll have a network of people who will be happy to help out.

Once you're in your yurt, you won't stop dreaming. One day, I'll have a strawbale house. Mainly for the

insulation

. I'm burning far too much wood for

heating

in the winter.

Good luck from me.

[Bob Rowlands]

Definite 'thumbs up' on that last post.

[hierony]

Your numbers sound about right. 60 is probably the number of roof poles/uni, and you'll need slightly more than double that for the lattice/khana (ie, 138). I think 1"/2.5cm thick is probably normal for coppice wood. My yurt is from sawn lumber, but for reference the lattice is 1x2" (1.2x2.5cm actual) and my roof poles are 2x2 (4x4cm) shaped to an octagon ~1.5" dia. Your lathe length & lattice height are correct. Your roof pole/uni length sounds about right but you also need to know the crown ring/toono diameter.

I built lattice walls once--I tied it all together using paracord. Worked alright. The yurt I purchased used sex bolts/post & screws, which seem to work really well. Don't know what the cost differential is though.

[ChrisL]

many thanks for all the advice & encouragement.

gonna try document / photograph the whole process.

im not too worried about building the crown. iv a bit of a background with the finite furniter sort of things.
some years ago i had a go at building a chair with bent plywood legs. made a shape/mold by screwing shaped blocks to plyboard.
Then thin ply sheets, glue, G-clamps etc.

im looking forward to that bit.

thanks to all here. will keep you guys updated. im sure more questions to come

chrisL

[Marshall Eppley]

Hey guys if you use bolts I get mine from tractor supply.they sell by the pound saves a bundle.

[Bob Rowlands]

I also bought khana bolts in bulk from a fastener supplier. 1/2 the cost of Depot or Lowes.

[MT Rod]

If it helps bring the cost down, since I don't know what is cheap and available locally for you, I will offer up that I have seen yurts where the wall sections were tied together with rawhide.

If it is cheap for you to find a hide, or even scraps of a hide that had been cleaned, the hair scraped off, and cut into strips it would work. Horse might be best, but cattle hides work fine. I used to see them often at a local dog-food factory, but not every place has this option I think.

They had to soak the hide strips in water first to make them flexible, then they threaded the hide strips through the holes and tied a knot on the far side (larger than the hole), and then pull it tight and tied another knot on the close side.

Rawhide shrinks and hardens as it dries, so it will get tight and hard. If you can set up each khana as you complete it, while it is still a little wet it should help it retain the shape. If it dries first it will get pretty stiff.

Just a thought for you to consider IF this is a cost effective method.

Bolts, washers and self locking nuts seem great to me, but they are not particularly cheap.

Best of luck,

Rod
rodyurtlocker.com
Home Page.

[Bob Rowlands]

I ended up removing all the washers in my khana. I found if they were loose enough to allow the lattice to be opened and closed, they rattled in the wind. JME.

[ChrisL]

Hi all

run into slight issue, could use advice.

so i am sourcing the poles from some national trust woodland where i volunteer. they were really kind to dedicate a whole volunteer day to coppicing for this project. very heartwarming.

we collected 68 in this first batch for me to work with.

though, my heath has worsened, and personal finances looking dismal so i gonna have to try make some woodwork products to sell.

i got all these poles back and forgot about the stripping bark bit, havn't got a draw-knife.

so with all the above shenanigans, it looks like these poles are gonna be sitting around a while, im worried about them drying out and cracking.

should i paint the ends?

what can i do with a pole once i stripped of bark?
(it will start drying about before i got enough stripped poles to batch steam-bend + coat with linseed oil)

[Bob Rowlands]

Very nice pile of poles you have there. As far as drying out leave the bark on and if you are not cutting the poles off a half foot or so on each end, go ahead and coat the cut ends with glue or paint. Even with that expect some checks. If you aren't proceeding in the near future, expect the poles to have dried and bent every imaginable way. You could bundle them together. Good luck.