Those kinds of videos are one of the rabbit holes I've gone down on YouTube. One I watched a few times was a cabin being built I think in Scandinavia by some guys with nothing but hand tools. The quality of the build was fantastic, it was really incredible to watch.

Max Power said:

---

Those kinds of videos are one of the rabbit holes I've gone down on YouTube. One I watched a few times was a cabin being built I think in Scandinavia by some guys with nothing but hand tools. The quality of the build was fantastic, it was really incredible to watch.

---

that is this guy in Sweden.

an entire awesome house BY HAND with no power tools!! Like Abe Lincoln.

three years of backbreaking work day after day after day.

by himself with a dog.

the skill it takes to build an entire house by hand is insane.

LMCane said:

---

Max Power said:

---

Those kinds of videos are one of the rabbit holes I've gone down on YouTube. One I watched a few times was a cabin being built I think in Scandinavia by some guys with nothing but hand tools. The quality of the build was fantastic, it was really incredible to watch.

---

that is this guy in Sweden.

an entire awesome house BY HAND with no power tools!! Like Abe Lincoln.

three years of backbreaking work day after day after day.

by himself with a dog.

the skill it takes to build an entire house by hand is insane.

---

Sweet, I didn't watch it to see if it was the same video, I didn't want to lose anymore time.

I am honestly baffled...

is EVERY chateau in France run down and being bought by foreigners who then completely renovate them?!!

how are there so many people who have enough money to buy a castle, and then also just happen to be woodworkers, architects and home builders?

LMCane said:

---

these movies are fascinating and unbelievable. more enjoyable than most fare from Hollywood right now:

---

Mfer. There goes the day. I love these videos.

I also got 10 blisters and 25 splinters just watching it. How does he not use gloves?

Oh to be 25 again and have a back that would hold up to that kind of lifting. He's going to feel it in a couple of decades.

Really cool to watch him work. That is some remarkable craftmanship. Thanks for posting.

Shumba said:

---

I built a three-by-four raised salsa garden box this weekend with the aid of a miter saw, three drills, a skill saw, an orbital sander, and a belt sander, and it was not nearly as well put together as this dude's log cabin that he built with primitive tools. Hats off to this dude.

---

mad props to Abraham Lincoln and the millions of Americans who settled the "west" which included Virginia back in the day.

they had to build these cabins by hand while not starving and fending off Indians.

at least this guy was going back to his shop in Stockholm and getting more equipment.

the craftmanship is insane and to lug all those rocks and trees all over the forest is crazy on the body.

a young man's world!

HtownAg92 said:

---

LMCane said:

---

these movies are fascinating and unbelievable. more enjoyable than most fare from Hollywood right now:

---

Mfer. There goes the day. I love these videos.

I also got 10 blisters and 25 splinters just watching it. How does he not use gloves?

---

LOL

my thought was- do Swedish people not even feel the cold?!?

because my guy was out in a snowstorm or rain in SWEDEN IN THE WINTER.

with barely a jacket on. Maryland is too @#$#@ cold for me in the winter.

Ag87H2O said:

---

Oh to be 25 again and have a back that would hold up to that kind of lifting. He's going to feel it in a couple of decades.

Really cool to watch him work. That is some remarkable craftmanship. Thanks for posting.

---

Like others on here mention, I am an Ikea master (just put together a new desk chair from China last night) and that's the extent of my capability.

what I notice in all of these videos is HOW @#$@#$ DANGEROUS what they are doing is.. and they don't comment on it.

even in the one I posted, my guy is literally swinging a small ax about a thousand times some 6 inches from his fingers and his leg!!

I have seen a video from Agave, Portugal they are sitting on a 25 foot ladder which is extended from one side of the roof to the other side of the roof- and there is NO ROOF!!

if the ladder collapses or they fall off- that is a 20 foot fall down to concrete.

much less them working on a tiled incline roof. insane!

LMCane said:

---

HtownAg92 said:

---

LMCane said:

---

these movies are fascinating and unbelievable. more enjoyable than most fare from Hollywood right now:

---

Mfer. There goes the day. I love these videos.

I also got 10 blisters and 25 splinters just watching it. How does he not use gloves?

---

LOL

my thought was- do Swedish people not even feel the cold?!?

because my guy was out in a snowstorm or rain in SWEDEN IN THE WINTER.

with barely a jacket on. Maryland is too @#$#@ cold for me in the winter.

---

Don't forget the swimming and bathing in the rivers. We think New Braunfels is cold. I can't imagine.

By the way, no mention of how awesome the dog is?

I'm not sure if you can find it or not but this is the original old school movie about this kind of life

Alone in the Wilderness
Richard (Dick) Proenneke

1968

It is fantastic and humbling.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437806/

Max Power said:

---

Those kinds of videos are one of the rabbit holes I've gone down on YouTube. One I watched a few times was a cabin being built I think in Scandinavia by some guys with nothing but hand tools. The quality of the build was fantastic, it was really incredible to watch.

---

That sounds interesting. Will have to try to find this as well.

Edit: Never mind. I read on….

LMCane said:

---

I am honestly baffled...

is EVERY chateau in France run down and being bought by foreigners who then completely renovate them?!!

how are there so many people who have enough money to buy a castle, and then also just happen to be woodworkers, architects and home builders?

---

This couple has another video where they explain their finances.

Basically, they bought and renovated a number of smaller apartments/homes in and around Paris, making increasing amounts of money on each one.

She had a good job in the fashion industry and he was a filmmaker so they were able to get a big mortgage to along with a big down payment (after being turned down several times).

In France, apparently, you have to pass a health exam to qualify for a mortgage and the husband had high blood pressure. Wild.

As an architect this was amazing to watch and inspiring. My 9yo daughter watched it with me. She described it as "satisfying". Couldn't agree more.

My favorite part is when he steals shingles from someone else's building/barn.

AggieArchitect04 said:

---

As an architect this was amazing to watch and inspiring. My 9yo daughter watched it with me. She described it as "satisfying". Couldn't agree more.

My favorite part is when he steals shingles from someone else's building/barn.

---

of course now that I have gone down this rabbit hole, youtube sends me every French Chateau renovation!

how is it that no one kept all these mansions and basically castles in good condition?!

did every rich Duke and Duchess get carted to the guillotine in 1794 and no one owned all these estates?

it just boggles the mind that there are so many for sale in decrepit condition and that the buyers all know how to gut and rebuild a massive building.

I can't even imagine such a thing in the USA-

"come buy this abandoned mansion in West Palm Beach and renovate it yourself!!"