Use Planks for Cabin Doors
If you are going to keep the pioneer atmosphere in your log cabin, don’t spoil it by buying millwork doors. Good, honest plank doors—made of any dressed timber, with cross pieces firmly nailed and clinched—are more in the spirit of things. A little ingenuity will go a long way toward making a beautiful door out of humble materials. Have some country blacksmith make a set of strap hinges and an old fashioned latch. You’ll be well pleased with the effect. A good, strong snap lock is a necessity to keep out intruders in your absence, of course.
If you want a good floor with a cabin “look” to it, get a supply of planks in widths varying from 6 to 12 inches—and have them tongue-and-grooved at the mill. Instead of nailing them, bore ¾-inch holes half way through and fasten them down with screws. Into each hole drive a hardwood plug, gluing it for tightness; then cut it off and smooth it down flush with the floor with sandpaper. This gives the effect of a “pinned” floor, which was very popular with the pioneer cabin builders.
Tongue-and-grooved flooring in narrow widths should be “blind-nailed”—the nails driven in at a slant from the sides and set with a punch, but for wide planks it is perfectly all right, if you wish, to nail through the boards and let the heads show.