The Fireplace
(Figs. 106 and 107). Build these walls as you did the cabin walls, and fit the ends of the logs neatly against the cabin logs, and put “chunks” in between the logs at the cabin end, to level them. When the walls are as high as the opening in the cabin, you are ready to begin the work of building the inside clay-lining.
It will take a considerable quantity of clay to finish your fireplace and chimney, and a rough box, like the mortar-box used by builders, will be found most convenient for mixing the clay.
Saw off the ends of some sticks of wood and make some
Wooden Hammers, or Mauls,
of them, by boring holes through the pieces you have sawed off and putting handles in the holes. These mauls may vary from three to five inches in diameter, and will be found to be the most convenient sort of tool for breaking the dry clay before it is dampened, and they will also be of great service in beating the clay down, for the fireplace and hearth. Make the floor to the fireplace and the hearth by spreading the damp clay over the space and hammering it down until it is hard; add more clay, and beat it until the hearth and fire-floor (Figs. 107 and 108) are level and firm. You may then put on enough water to make the surface slippery, and smooth it off with a trowel made of a shingle and a branch, after the manner of the one shown in the foreground of Fig. 98.
Figs. 101-105.
Next Build Your Clay Walls
on the inside, against the log outside walls, and extending to the inside of the cabin wall. Make the clay into the form of bricks and build up the jambs and lining, about one foot thick, to the top of the fireplace, using wet clay for mortar.