The first step in working on a large project like a totem pole, house post or dugout canoe, is to find a space that can accommodate a monumental scale project.
There are several criteria that need to be met in a space.
The space needs to be large enough, this includes doors as well. The standard width of an exterior door in the United States is 36Ó or 3 feet, the diameter of your raw log can easily exceed this. Even if your piece of wood theoretically could fit through your door, one stray movement or wobble could easily send your log into your door frame, potentially cracking it, damaging your house or work space, making this doubly worse if you’re renting a space. Small totems, 80 in length or less and thus likely around 2 feet in diameter, could be reasonably worked on inside a house and set up in a kitchen or living room. This is not to say there is a hard and fast rule for how wide a totem needs to be, dimensions will be discussed later.
If the space has linoleum floors this makes cleanup a breeze. Pergo or hardwood floors are somewhat of a liability as they can be damaged by the weights and sharp edges of tools and blocking involved. Avoid carpeted spaces, the fine wood chips are very difficult to remove even with vacuuming. If possible, it is very nice to be able to work on a large carving simply by walking into another room, all your tools are close at hand and ready, and grabbing a quick snack, or fetching a special tool, doesn’t require leaving a job site, wasting time and breaking your flow.
As a personal home is often not ideal or even desired for woodworking, especially on very large projects where large power tools would be useful for quick removal of large sections of wood, A workshop space must be sought, and again, several criteria must be met.
The space must have entry ways large enough to accommodate the size of your log, with at least 8” but more ideally a foot on either side. When your log is in the space, there must be several feet on either side to move around the log and position your body to work. 3’ is a small margin, 5’ is better.
If gas power tools are to be used there must be proper ventilation. When using power planers, sanders, or even to some extent chainsaws, cedar dust will be created and dust filtration is ideal. Long term exposure to cedar dust in an enclosed space can cause respiratory problems, large open bay doors can alleviate this somewhat but this isn’t ideal in a woodshed type environment in the winter.
Another major concern is weight, a 10’ long, 4’ wide log is quite heavy, especially when green and full of water. Using a wood weight calculator my log had an approximate weight of around 3000 lb. The floors in most homes are not built for such weights. It may be prudent to check if your potential space has floor joists built to handle such heavy loads. Spaces built specifically as workshops often had certain weights in mind and your potential landlord will probably be familiar with the capacity of its floors. Spaces built for public events are often very overbuilt and are acceptable as work spaces, this being schools, ANB halls, gymnasiums, ect.
If your potential space has cement floors weight is often not an issue, however you may want to keep a certain amount of wood chips on the floor, as kneeling on cement in not ideal, and dropping sharpened gouges on cement can instantly dull your tools creating a lot of work for you.
The simplest and traditional floor for large projects is dirt, some spaces have dirt or gravel floors, gravel could be somewhat an issue, as you may be expected to shovel the wood chips out and the gravel will complicate this significantly. You may have to ask the owner of the space whether they are okay with having wood chips floating around there shop forever. Cedar wood chips smell nice so it may not be a problem for some people.
If a decent space can’t be found or isn’t financially obtainable, as they often aren’t, you may have to work outside. Many totems have been completed entirely under the open sky, but this introduces many problems. Ideally the spot of ground your working on is flat, or if slightly on an incline your log should be positioned pointing up the hill. Seek a flat location if at all possible. many measurement techniques, such as using levels, laser lines, or plumb bobs, are only accurate when the back of the totem is perpendicular to the center of gravity of the earth.
Direct sunlight, especially the hot summer sun, which seems to be getting hotter lately, is not beneficial to green wood being worked. This can be combated with a source of water, wet sheets and blankets and a heavy canvas tarp (heavy synthetic tarps, or polypropylene sheet can suffice). Water on tap is a great asset for any woodworking space, the log will need to be sprayed down daily when worked, in direct summer sunlight sometime multiple times a day. Having to haul gallons of water for wetting your log adds another chore to a monumental task, and can be easily avoided through careful selection of your work area. This needs to be done even when working indoors so keep that in mind regardless.
Spraying your log down with a garden hose that has no nozzle is inefficient and is not something that can be done indoors. Anything can be used as long as it sprays a fine mist over the surface of the wood, including pesticide sprayers from the hardware store to toy squirt gun or super soakers. I have found that when hauling buckets of water, the most efficient tool is a rag mop. It conserves water and will drip water into cracks or problem areas while also being useful for wetting flat vertical surfaces which are difficult to wet using sprayers.
Another concern is shade and shelter. When working outside, or in a unenclosed space, the elements can be brutal. Bugs can be constant and vicious, being rained on is bad for tools and your temperament, direct sunlight WILL crack the wood and drain your motivation, even the general public can become serious pests and even liabilities when dangerous tools are being used. On most projects you will need something to keep the annoying and harmful at bay, letting you focus on your already difficult undertaking. This comes in the form of the temporary carport. Carports have been used by native craftsman since at least the 60s. Don’t let anyone tell you ‘They didn’t have those traditionally’ Sheds were used frequently for the covering of dugout canoes, as well as temporary structures. Even a small carport can cover a section of the project being worked on while rest can be under tarps. Even a hoop house or green house can be used, and if that’s not available or affordable, 4 wooden logs
Another thing that is very useful is electricity. An 8 gauge extension cord can reliably supply power to most power tools at a distance of up to 100 feet or so. longer requires a new electrical box or power inverter made to send electricity long distances. LED lighting uses a minimal amount of electricity and can be used on the same power source as your power tools, (Use only one power hungry device at a time to avoid popping a breaker.)
Lighting is of vital importance, working in three dimensions, this is doubly so. The standard lighting in most public places and shops are florescent light banks, being converted to LED light tubes now. This will light most things from most angles, but will create an effect where it will be difficult to see depth. Placing a lamp at 45 degrees to front of the piece, or the 4:30 O clock position will create shadows and is considered the standard artistic lighting for most subjects, a second lamp placed above or to the side will help, as your hand will cast shadows obscuring your lighting. On a totem or house post this will become more complicated but generally holds true. There are many lamps for sale, some advertised as art lamps with articulating arms. They are very expensive. A simple solution is a standard clamp lamp. They can be attached to nearly anything, whether its to a unfinished joist in a shop or the supporting pipes of a hoop house or carport. A simple stand can be made from a base made of 2″X4″s and a vertical 1″x2″ attached with a single cross brace. Clamp lamps can accept any standard 120V bulb, so high powered LED floodlights or spotlights can be installed.
Heat can be real boon in the winter. In many places in South East Alaska a proper wind break, warm clothes, and steady labor are all one needs to stay warm through most of the winter. Here in the Chilkat Valley this unfortunately isn’t true, so heat is a real concern. Wood heat is a standard for most places, It’s cheap and simple to install. In the process of working on the log many chips will be produced that can be turned into fuel at a later date, If you started on a project in the summer they might be ready to be burned in the winter. The chips can contribute to steaming a dugout as well. The downside is that wood heat is very dry, and will contribute to drying out your wood, potentially cracking it. This is often counteracted by placing a pot of water of the stove. For temporary structures a wood stove is not feasible, hot air blowers, the type used at job sites can be used instead.
In my case, I searched for several months fruitlessly. There were several locations, all of which less then ideal, lacking heat, space, electricity. One location was good, it was a private wood shop that was designed as a boat works. The large bay door had been insulated over however, and getting the log through the door would have been difficult.
But all of that became a moot point when the owner had a change of plans and it became unavailable. Eventually, after it became apparent there wasn’t any locations available, and preferring not to work outside in the winter, I converted an old horse barn near my home into a woodshop. It took some work to convert it and it had to be done in November, It needed to be cleaned, I had to cover the windows and openings with plywood, putting in studs to hold it in place, put in joists and created a plywood ceiling, put in a large barn door, and covered the building with tyvec. I ran an extension cord from my house, and I’ve had no problems with popping the breaker. All in all It probably cost me a little over fifteen-hundred dollars.