Success!

As you can see, I have finished the base level! Also good news, I realized I did not screw the door frame up. The plans call for the door to be a little higher than the wall height. Everything works pretty well. I set it all up in about 15 minutes. The completed walls are a little bigger than I was hoping so it'll be a tight fit in my car for weekend travels, though not too big of an issue. Now that I'm thus far, my hands will rest for a few days. I purchased the wood panels to make the crown. Next week I will take advantage of a circle cutting machine at one of the high schools to start the shape of the keystone. I'm becoming a little obsessed with finishing this thing. I never thought a project would consume my attention to this extent. I think this may be because I'm beginning to see a real market for the consumer to desire a yurt. It may be a false spin my yurt world has my in, but I'm seriously wondering what it would be like to build a yurt or two or three for other people. Only time will tell...

-is

Yurt Talk

A while ago, during a busy yurt day, a random telemarketer called me in the garage. It turned out being the sweetest telemarketer I have ever had the pleasure to speak with. It was a short discussion. I answered on speaker phone and said, "Hello?" while I continued to tie joints. The caller started by pointing out he was calling for Star Communications. I happen to remember this name and immediately cut him off trying to be as cordial as possible "Oh! I already had a call from you guys." He had a nice voice. A soft Indian-Pakistani ring to it. He tried to continue to discuss his position while I kind of talked over him explaining that I really wasn't interested.
I worked as a telemarketer for a summer. As a result, I have no problem cutting people off as I can totally relate to their situation. While I was contacting strangers, I would have always preferred uninterested people to cut me off early.
Usually the callers respond the same way I would, they move on. I think this guy had some hope of changing my mind. He must have been convinced that his sales skills are so tuned that I would surely buy in to whatever he was selling. We spoke over one another a few more times but he finally saw I wasn't going to budge. With no hard feelings in his cute accent, he said "Ok... Have a good night sir. Sleep well. Bye-bye." I was taken aback. By the way he said "sleep well," I had no doubt I was going to have a very nice rest that night. Ironically, just before I said "Thank you" and hung up, he probably could have convinced me to buy a plunger.

-is

Trouble for the Yurtman

My patience has been tested tonight as I made my second mistake.

The Moment of Truth:
After tying the second wall together for about two hours, I ran out of rope. Deciding to end the evening of hard work on a productive note, I began putting my tools away. I was walking towards the door to leave the garage when I took one last look at the first wall to fill in the missing piece in my mind. Looking back at the wall I just worked on, I aimed to complete the imaginary circle with the walls interlocking to finish the base level of the yurt.... Instead, I stopped in my tracks. I did a double take like you see in the movies, or a slower version of the Cheetos "CRUNCH!" cartoon commercial with the tiger character going, "aaiaaiaaiaaiaaiaai." I couldn't believe it. All that I had done for the past two hours... Two hours that had my hands cracking from dry, robe burn... Two hours that put me in such a hopeful place... Two hours that lead me in the wrong direction to end in complete humiliation and utter loss... Actually, I just dropped my head and shook it a few times with a slight smirk on my face with the realization that I'd have to do it all again.

The Problem:
Basically, for the technical people out there, I fastened the slats in the wrong direction. The way these slats were running would make it impossible for the first wall to interlock correctly. My solution!, as I always find a solution, is to completely redo the first wall. I will have to do more tying, but, two things:
1) The rope I used on the first wall is not ideal for the job. SO, I get to do it this time better than before.
2) The direction the second wall runs is actually the proper Mongol way. Traditional yurts have the slats running from bottom left to upper right. I actually started the first wall incorrectly as the slats went from bottom right to upper left. Sooooo, for those who are counting, I guess this would be my third mistake. Still not bad for never actually seeing a yurt in person, if I do say so myself...

"On the second day, he had rest." I will not fix my mistake tomorrow, as my hands need to heal. Plus, it's valentines day! I have to perfect my recipe for yurt soup for Janelle's special romantic valentine dinner!


-is

Making Progress

I just took this picture. There is still sawdust on the back of my hand as I write this. The base structure is more than half way there. I finished the door frame and one wall. I will start tying the other wall together this weekend. You may notice from the photo that the door frame is a little higher than the wall height? That's because I screwed up. :) In fact, I'm probably going to have to cut the side poles down a bit for a more consistant height. The low wall height, about 4 ft., might strike you as too short, but as this will now be a sauna-like dwelling, the low height should add to the success of making the inside hot, hot, hot! I have to say that after tying one wall together, I'm tempted to rivet future yurt walls. Yes, it would save time, but I'm also a little concerned about the gap between wall rods in some places. I'm thinking rivets would hold the wood nice and close to one another. Did I say 'future yurts'? Yes I did. I'm thinking I need to build one that is large enough for at least three spaces; a table area, a sleeping area, and a space to just hang out around the stove. Doesn't that sound nice!!? I got some good advice from wood shop teachers at two high schools yesterday. There are definitely some benefits for working for the public schools... Anyway, I could see having some students do a bunch of cutting for me. OOooo that'd be nice. Nothing like a little slave labor to take care of the dirty work. Time for lunch!!

-is

Another Fine Day

One is a shot of the first wall all closed up in the garage. The other photos give you an idea of the yurt taking shape. I have to square off the sides of this wall, fasten the other wall together and the make the door before I can lash it all into a complete circle. I underestimated the number of rods so I'll have to buy more hardwood to finish the second wall. I'm thinking to help with cost I might use doug fir for the ceiling posts. By the way, for the language buffs, the wall is called a Khana (pronouced "Haan"). I will introduce more terms later.

-is