Roughing It

Posted on January 23, 2008January 19, 2009 by gayle

Kelly S.’s dining table is slowly taking shape. Weather and a regular job have hampered progress, but half of the table top has now been assembled. The planks were joined with grooved dowels and a polyurethane glue. I love this glue because it fills spaces, sands well, and holds like, well glue, or at least like glue should. Here are a couple pictures of the first half of the table top–rough though it is. Trust me it will be just gorgeous when it is sanded and finished.

This next one is a close up of the greenish spalting in the end plank. Did not see this in the wood for the Coastal Living table. I think it is from metal leaching from nails or roofing. Notice the nail tracing. There are plenty of cool features like this in salvaged wood.

Little by Little

Posted on January 9, 2008January 19, 2009 by gayle

Making some progress on the dining table for Kelly S. I have planed all the boards I think I will need for the table top (a bit more than 1 inch thick) and have begun to cut 4 ft sections that will be joined lengthwise with dowels to form the two halves of the table top. From the picture you can see there is some cool graining, knots, bug trails, and the some spots that have the scars of rough sawing. All of these will be very cool when finished. These are only a few of the 4ft sections I will need. Each of these has to have the edges cleaned up–I do this with my table saw since I do not have a jointer. Cleaning up the edges can be a pain in the $%** because pitch builds up on the blade and causes it to stick and sometimes stalls the saw. I have to clean the blade occasionally. But, little my little the pieces will come together and become a useful, beautiful thing—all from something that had a previous life holding up a barn roof.

Oak after planing

For the Birds

Posted on December 18, 2007January 19, 2009 by gayle

I think my muse has returned. Busyness is the enemy of creativity. After an extremely hectic summer and fall things have slowed down to where my mind wanders to making things. This week I saw a pile of wood scraps and a broken shutter as what they could become. So I made a birdhouse for a friend as a housewarming present. The roof is made of the shutter slats–which were the perfect size and shape for overlapping roofing. The sides are made from cedar siding scraps—this I like because it should help the birdies with their parasites. Bugs do not like cedar, nor does fungus. The shell adornment was a souvenir of a trip to the coast and the aluminum flashing used to seal the top was purchased from a home improvement store for a weather proofing project around the house. This was a pretty quick and easy project and it made a fine gift for my friend’s new home. I intend to make a couple more as gifts.

Here is a second birdhouse I built as a gift. I am going to post a measured drawing here as well so you can knock one out at home. All you need is some wood, a saw, hammer, drill, and nails.

Fine Dining

Posted on September 21, 2007March 29, 2016 by gayle

Dining table built for the '07 Coastal Living Idea House — Photo by Jean Allsopp

Some projects are too good to pass up, even if they are huge and you have a regular job. I finished one recently for a 7ft by 4 ft dining table custom built for the 10th Anniversary Coastal Living Idea House in River Dunes, NC. It was a lot of fun to build but a handle to get finished on time.

I was given two pictures by the designer who said “can you take this part of this picture and use that part of this other picture and make a table?” Well, yes. The wood came from Southern Accents in Cullman, AL and was reclaimed red oak timbers from a barn. Rustic as the day is long!

The challenge came in getting the joints to line up well. The wood was simply beautiful–loved it. [See pictures of it here] I made it in 5 pieces that connected using minimal hardware. Shipping it was a challenge, but upon arrival everyone was happy. It looked good in the house which was photographed in August and will appear in the November issue of Coastal Living. They did add a slight stain to the top to make it better match the wood flooring and lessen some of the redness of the wood. I liked the original penetrating oil finish, but I loved how the table looked in place with the chairs and settees.

This was a great project and I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to showcase how beautiful reclaimed wood can be. I hope to have additional challenges to make something old new again.

Pickin’ up the trash

Posted on May 26, 2007January 19, 2009 by gayle

One of the hazards of being a recycling woodworker is the drive by pick up. Sometimes it is worth an immediate stop and sometimes it sticks with you and you have to go back for a closer look. It all depends on what part is broken or in need of repair, what tools you have and what the cost of replacement parts or materials might be.

Sometimes it is a wasted trip upon a closer look–such was the case today. A rocker along side the road at 35 mph looked like a repairable thing, but at a dead stop it was too far gone to be worth it. Sometimes you get lucky–like the time I grabbed an Adirondack chair off a trash pile and all it needed was some sanding, screw tightening, and a new finish. Bonanza!