as a rule i don’t take on refinishing work, however when an previous client ask me to refurbish this piece
i was stuck that the relief carving was so deep and intricate , whencing as i descended the slope of reason ,knowing what a challenge this request represented {what on earth did they glop on this as a finish paint,pitch,tar ?,not to mention the time its going to take to get that off if it will come off} and at the same time uncontrollably drawn to have something to do with this fantastic show of craftsmanship underneath whatever they obviously applied with a mop. Reluctantly i agreed to “see what i could do” naturally i instantly started ruing the decision and set it off ,all the while it called to me with a nagging ”....i’m waiting…..” and as so many other projects that i wounder what was i thinking…
well it was quite the conversation piece in the shop and all i knew was that the client had told me it was a 17th century carving from Europe that he had bought at an antique dealer and when i questioned 17th century?
he was adamant about that fact and knowing he was no fool concerning his purchases-es ,the piece was obviously old but 1600’s okay..
so the day came where i was going to sink or swim and i went ahead and bit the bullet setting it on the table
the relief carving was amazingly 1 3/4” to 2” deep and the entire piece was 1 slab off wood hand hewn on the back and clearly a component of a bigger piece of furniture(the rest of which was long gone ) due to the crudely cut tenons running down both of the vertical ends which lead me and my shop mates to conclude. at some point in time some one decided to give this piece a new lease on life and convert it to a wall hanging
affixing two vertical pieces of molding to conceal the crude tenons on the ends and due to the crosshatching on the heads of the nails that had to have been done much later ,those along with the 3 hand wrought nails that held the horizontal carved detail breaking the pattern ,were the only fasteners present
the client wanted all the black gone and he wanted to see the wood so it feel to me despite my feeble mention that sometimes when you clean a piece you drastically devalue an antique,that was of no concern
to him so.. i started experimenting with this mystery goop .mineral spirits didn’t even touch it , it laughed at lacquer thinner ,but denatured alcohol seemed to dissolve it quite well
turns out that by flooding the surface with DNA and using a toothbrush as well as various picks i was able to remove the finish fairly easy as i was doing so i frequently noticed small chunks of wood embedded down in the valleys of the carving ,i don’t know exactly when it dawned on me (i’m not to bright as you probably can see )
but a eureka moment did occur….....these were the remnants of the bits removed as the craftsman carved this….meaning that this mystery finish was THE ORIGINAL FINISH …whooo that means that the last person of persons to have seen this clean and with out all the detraction that mystery goop masked was the craftsman who carved it ….....400 years ago….i had to sit down
at this point i started getting really curious and threw up a challenge of identifying the wood i was thinking mahogany and a shop mate felt pretty confident that it was south american and if that be the case {enter a recognition that we are just a couple of hillbilly’s with more tools than sense}
i imagined the journey this particular piece of wood had been on ….....
could it be that a armada of Spanish conquistadors sailed from Spain 400 years ago under the rein of Charles ll
1661-1700 to south america and somehow acquired an undetermined amount of mahogany for trade along with the silver that they took back to their country that crippled their economy in decreasing the value of their silver. trading the wood to a noble
who then having a craftsman in his employ quite possibly as a indentured servant under the feudal system
who then created this in a primitive work shop or not and judging from the tool marks knew how to sharpen a chisel more than likely having a working relationship with a village blacksmith and because of the dire straights
of his meager life hastily failed to remove the chips and just slapped on the black pitch type finish so he could get his pay which may have only amounted to a chicken to provide a meal for him and his family …..........

WOW…. history does repeat itself

submitted for your viewing,.......

is a 9’x 42”x32” walnut table the top was selected from 5000 bf of custom sawed lumber these two 3” slabs once revealed, screamed to be the top even before the saw dust was brushed away with a fantastic 32” crotch blazing down what wood become the head of the table the base ,a modified jeoffery greene design which he named Chinese puzzle in which the uprights are fit on to the trestle then dropped down on the feet and the upper support is then dropped down from above to finish the lock amazingly i don’t think one even needs to glue the joints (i did) but the strenth of this configuration is amazing the accents are wenge and quarter sawn sycamore with the exception of the pegs joining the uprights to the trestle all the embellishments are first inlaid wenge then the sycamore was inlaid into that creating the desired effect for the client, (artistically i wood have loved to see all the joinery but in all walnut, maybe the next one) the feet caps are affixed with a 2 1/2 ” x 3 1/2” haunched tenon and the cut line is . inaid with 1/8” wenge

an interesting side note after i finished the last of the inlay all of which was hand cut to 1/32” to 1/64” barring the round stuff , i had to measure the total linear feet (i suspected it was mor than a foot or two) the total footage weighed in at a whopping 57’and 3/4”

the drying process wasn’t as kindly as i had hoped and to combat the honeycombing liquid epoxy
was used to fill the gaps
i used a marine grade catalyzed polyurethane with a uv protectant that carries a ten year guarantee
used on yachts twelve coats built up in a high gloss to fill the grain then two coats of satin top coat

all totaled from the time i got the wood back from the kiln it took me six months build this table

this coffee table probably has the most interesting story, the wood was recovered in green county T.N. not to far from limstone which holds the birth place of davey crockett (should be noted that davey was born in 1786 and passed in 1836 & the civil war was from 1861 to 1865 ) as i was working the wood i found a 6”+ 1/4”x1/4” hand wrought nail rather spike. A trusted blacksmith friend of mine (that still uses coal to fashion his craft specializing in celtic weaponry) dated the barn pre civil war due to the spike that i pulled out of one of the tounge and groove beams used for a three inch floor in the loft of the barn ,and because the spike was already broke when i got it it could’ve went 9-12”
now the spike puts the barn at least 149 if my friend is correct and as far as i can tell davey crockett at the age of thirteen ran away from home (being just before the turn of the century) not returning home for some thirty months it may be quite the strech to give the barn another 40 yrs to even remotely connect the two i dont know if either of these pieces of history even brushed up against each other but i did find it fun to just imagine … mabey i built a table with the very boards that supported a young davey crockett as he slept homlessly in a barn as he was carving out his story, naawwww

but the heart pine was exceptional

my version of a child gate ,a lil over the top mabey ,but hopefuly inprinting a young mind to the beauty of wood . my client wanted somthing atop the stairs that was nice but functional still able to be an asset to the home the frame is barnwood and the slats came from a choice piece of quilted ,curly, flame ,spalted maple i had held on to for a couple of yrs some wood just demands the right project , i resawed the slats out of the slab and copped a couple that didnt fit in to the pattern for inlays down the road, clear semigloss lacqure popped it pretty good

this mirror is 60”x 38”x5” (frame width) curly maple inlayed in to the walnut just below flush it was 1/2” thick to get the depth the most problematic part was the lay out so the corners all flowed with the weaving took some (ok alot )head scratching but i think i got it ….

Here are a pair of tables ive made quite a few times they are held together completly by the physics of the wedge the feet are morticed out to recieve the leg tennonas well as the cap the top sets on the double tressel adde stability as well as some more linage ,carved out of vintage barn beams and distressd by various meand and tools the thing im wanting to highlight is the suttle shadeing iv recently incorpetated in to the finishing process its very simple and i think add a depth of texture that just pops the tooling marks its kindof leanthy to explain hear but would love to do a blog about it if anybodys interested

Birch hunt board constructed comletely frame and panel by hand all panels were constucted with mortice and tennon corners (Bridal Joint) the panels were raised by hand with an vintage japanese plane i got almost a year ago apparently made specifically for that operation (much to my surprise i just thought is was a cool take on a block plane ..shagrin) all the panels were morticed in to the legs and pinned the drawer was hand cut dove tailed no guides for historical reasons finished with cherry color and lacqured top coated with a hand rubbed wax

hello fellow lumberjocks ,

Been busy and thought id ketch-up ,kindof happy how this teak vanity top turned out and thought id share
it 2” thick 18” wide by 60” solid teak joined down the middle breadboarded with thru pins sawn flush and where there was a defect in the grain i inlayed various pieces to restore the integrity of the wood to ensure no voids where water could invade (easily ) i also played around with a small gouge to put the detail on the frount edge ,the finish is teak oil of which i highly recomend any one looking to use teak in the furture to stear clear from the foaming applicator out now in a very well known home improvement box chain ,(the blue one), the forming can of teak oil is sticky and very hard to wipe off it doesnt penatrate as well as the straight oil and is more costly by volume ,,very dissapointing but another example of {if it aint broke dont fix it}........

well having sucumbed once again to the inspirational forces found here amunst you guys ,......

ive something to show you finally after all the fantastic work benches ive witnessed here what ive come up with , it measures 50”x30”x36” made of red oak(montana cut(for the base) and recycled barn wood of which i spent the better part of the summer dismantling but back to the bench …lets see oh yea the top is ripped to 2.5” turned up on end and glued up to sand to 2.25” bench dogs folling the long edge over laped opposite the flush face to mate with the {hold on to yor hat } hand cut 2 & 5/8” od twin screws vise !

no joke i made the tap

(for the internal threads ,then used that to form the screwbox

fitted with a hand filled cutter

to shear cut the external treads of the screws ,plan to see the up coming blog detailing the whole process , the base has 3.5 “legs with the skirts mortised in 2.75”

and double pegged with 1/2” dowles thru & thru the shelf on bottom was dadoed in to the bottom skirtso that was the only fastener there

unfortunatly i broke weak and used 8 4” screws to mount the top but tried to compensate with wedging the cover plugs

all this humbly submitted for your scrutiny

well, up for show are a set of barnwood vanities 2@72”(double sink) &1@ 54(single)mixed oak quite a bit quartersawn (very nice flake)red &white the tops were pretty strown with big ol nail holes and being a surface for H2O i decided to lay the epoxy to them so duck taping the bottom i filled the holes with a clear epoxy and then once cured knifed to flush and textured as normal the matt finish of the epoxy fininshed out nicely taking nothing from the look of the barnwood and adding a H2O frindly solid surface (not my origional ideal but well pleased with the outcome )
the drawers are all hand cut dovetails (and i might say the lie nielson dove tail saw is well worth the money )
bookmatched drawerbottoms from barnwood planed to 1/4” .(overkill to the ridiculous)the drawer fronts are specifically cool there was one board that was in the mix that at my best guess was aggressively topped prior to the harvesting ,resutingin in the most peculiar burlish grain full leanth on both edges of the board roughly 9” wide and say 80”long not enough to work in as a componet in the cabinets (untill i got to picking wood for the panels in the drawer fronts ) so be sure to peak at that ,”blumotion” drawer guides finshed them off
finished with 6 coats of waterlox medium sheen oil
no picks of them installed yet ..forgot the camera and the install was 200 miles from the shop one way ..
always forget somthing ,

last summer a neighbor ask if i was interested in tearing down an old building he no longer needed
i said sure i had decent lumber so tore it down and stored it untill my daughter gave the news that she was expecting(nine months ago mind you )....
So here are two cradels i made to note the birth of my second thats right second grandchild Chevy keegan Pitts
theyre made from vintage helmlock and dovetailed together” no screws at all ” scrub planened and finished with minwaxes new “gunstock ” color then lacquerd ..
diagonal grain coupled with the helmlock proved leathal to the dovetails on the smaller one if i was to attemp
again think id glue up a pie shaped piece in the middle to set the grain at a more favorable angle ,only poped 6 pins total but recoverd nicely for a toy which is for my two yr old grand daughter Lexy mabey it will make it to her daughter

Todd A.> got a new camera ..what do ya think ?

hey Guys ,
this is what ive been working on and just so happens to come with a story
frist the piece 48” x 6.5” x 11”
lock mitered box with keyed details and three african lacewood bow ties 3/8” thick in layed
sanded to 400 finished with 5 coats of “Water Lox”

bar none the most complex box built to date and newly aquainted to the joys of 48” lockmiters
thought id have to scrap the entire piece due to an unexceptable 16th “gap on the glue line (corner)that poped its head out at various points ,ill as a bear because of the work that was fixing to be scraped{noteing
just building the boxe to this point wouldnt be that big of a deal but this particular box has been worked from the inside out to allow for the mantel to double as a safe hide meaning that you can firmly grab the mantel on the ends and tug to release it from it maginet catches and remove the entire box revealing the finished inside as a storage space 46”x5.5”x10”}so you may be able to under stand my delight at this 16th ” devopment
a fellow craftsman suggested epoxy and wood dust,.........saying “fill it wasnt in the plan but reason overruled and i didnt have any thing to loose at this point so in the mind of full disclosure credit me not with pulling off 48” flawless lock mighters .

and with apologies to everyone (except mabey frank) for the leanth of this read….
heres the story…
as i was working this up a friend handed me this tid bit …...

it seems that our president was sitting at his desk in the oval office and chaney entered and commented that
thee brazillian soldiers were killed in iraq this morning and upon hearing this he became distraught and began to franticllly pace back and forth sitting and pacing, Chaney watching this curiously..
George then sat down dropped his head in his hands and groaned ,Chaney ask “are you allright?” he then lookedat the vice president saying “just how many is a brazillian again ?”

you guys are to thank for this seeing all the wonderful craftsmen here and the ingenious ideals
ive been wanting to do this for years ,so from the bottom of my tool box Thanks Lumberjocks for the inspiration well this took more of my thinking side than i first reconed oh yea its a box ,two doors & a drawer
but then i had to figure in the tool placement space and then hangers (temorary wood screws for most untill time pemits)
wood- spalted maple (bearly saved)
texture-stanley scrub # 40
stain -mix and match
drawer- dovetailed ( on the fly & in under 6 hours wha-hoo) thought its nothing as good as that hickory box some days ago ,making progress though
any way i hope you guys are happy with yourselves

revised ,,
made some changes and took some more pics so thought id bring it up to speed

pretty standard 36”x96”x30” Breadboard tressel table i finished out the holes in the top with either inlayed patches(26 to be exact) or nail heads replaced in the original nail holes to combat crumbage

nedd a new camera…..

this table turned out better than i expected with the original dados used as accent it adds a nice detail i like alot all is recycled fom the floor beams used to floor the loft of the barn i believe the dado was home for a floating spline at the time it was a whay to maximize coverage or mabey just simpler to slot the beam and use a scrap piece for the tounge rather than loose the extra width

this is the sister to the square 24”x26” both are constructed w/morticed approns and out of reclaimed wood from a barn that was on my clients property in Ga approx 60 yrs ago built. stained ,lacqured, and waxed.

ok been in the shop and this is what ive come up with 1st up is a georgia heartpine 24”x24”x26”
nothing special but for my second attempt at hand cut dovetails (first one went together as well )
much happierwith these if any wood workers out there havent hand cut dovetails before i highly recoomend it the final fit is pure nectar yea they got jigs but there is somthing to be said about sucessfully pulling off hand cut dovetails there is just somthing natural about it … like feeding chickens [*note for you seasoned dove tailers of one i am not please for give my enthusiasm ] and to be totally forth coming i have three full days in just these two box drawers but intend to trim that tremedously as i stated second attempt..

bedroom door vintage oak one really nice book match
panel was spline joined at all glue-ups full leanth thru pinned as well
custom hardware
had to fake an archtop(clients wishes) contractor wouldnt go for true arch logs and all …..go figure

client concept did not do carving 54” x 80” x1 3/4”
custom hardware

vintage oak doors 28”x80”
custom glass and hardware ( I didnt make but assisted client in concept)
bridal jointed stiles and rails floating panel housing double insulated glass
echeced