This picture shows the ripping station in the drainfield in the foreground, and, in the background, the fourth of five sections of the log rigged to be pulled over to the ripping station.

This shows a close-up of the 10-foot log section being pulled away from the main log on its way to the ripping station.

Here is the ripping station with the slab and a plank already ripped from the bottom side of a log. It is scribed and ready for ripping the other slab.

Another view of the log scribed for the slab cut. The boards you see nailed to the ends of the log hold a pair of tight strings on each side. I sight across these strings to draw the red lines on the log. You can see in the picture that the lines have already been drawn. Before I draw the lines, I use a Red Devil floor scraper to scrape down to white wood where I am going to draw the line. This makes it easier to draw the line, easier to see the line, and most importantly, it removes dirt and grit so that I have to sharpen the chain about a quarter to a fifth as often as I would otherwise. (That's the roof of the log house in the center background.)

This is the gwiz station. Once the planks are ripped, they are skidded down here. This is where I gwiz them with this gwizard. ("Gwizard" is my contraction of "Log Wizard", which is the commercial name of the 3 1/4" planer attachment you see mounted on the end of the chainsaw bar. I also coined the verb "to gwiz" meaning to operate the gwizard so as to make a draw-knife-like finish on a log or plank.) I hang the gwizard from a sling attached overhead. The sling has an adjustable knot on it so I can easily adjust the height of the gwizard. The sling carries most of the weight of the saw so that I can direct my efforts to keeping it aligned and moving properly as well as controlling the RPMs of the saw. There are a lot of things to pay attention to when gwizzing, and it takes a while to get the hang of it. After going through two complete sets of blades and one set of bearings, I can say that I have gotten the hang of this thing, and I am pretty good at gwizzing.

This is a before and after picture showing the difference gwizzing makes to an old plank. That plank has been used for scaffolding and ramps for about six years and had turned almost black. Most of it, in this picture, has been gwizzed off to show the nice wood underneath. The little bit left to gwiz, and the plank at the extreme right, show the contrast.

Here are the last nine planks, ripped and gwizzed, ready to be hoisted up to the deck above. You can see a couple of slabs, also gwizzed, under the porch to the right, and another couple slabs can barely be seen back at the gwiz station. The six-foot eaves overhead are what keep that area next to the building free of snow and give me a nice dry working area.

Here is my friend, Scruffy, the gray jay again. He is at the window of the trailer getting peanuts and I got this shot showing the lump above his left leg. He hurt that leg somehow, but it seems to be ok now except that Scruffy's body looks asymmetrical with that bulge.