Hand Hewn (looking) Garden Bench and Table

Definitely rustic looking. Looks like something you would see in a loggers cabin.
Very nice!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Yes, I do like this, Carl. It’s a great recovery. Well done.

Best wishes.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

Carl!!! I love this. It is beautiful – and no glue!!
The rustic furniture fits well with this category AND you used wood from your great-grandfather’s time and tools from your grandfather.. Very fitting! Well done

(and I love the table and bench. I know I said that already… but I really love it)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Very well done – I really like the rustic look and that fact that it is “reclaimed” wood from your Great Grandfathers old (120 year old) store makes it a priceless item and hopefully a family heirloom.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Thanks for the awesome comments. But…I guess I should have left the first paragraph out. While I started with the old wood building a coffee table, after I figured out we couldn’t use glue I changed to the cypress bench and table. I’ve got the heart pine coffee table about 3/4 finished and will use it in a future project.
Thanks again!!!

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Pretty cool… sounds like a neat way to “turn” some stock for the legs, etc…

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Spectacular recovery! Super looking bench and table. The glue companys better watch out because their sales may drop after this challenge.

-- Jesus is Lord!

I had the same “G” revelation by not reading the rules well the first time. I had a project in the works with lots of complicated joinery, and for some reason I hadn’t seen the “no G” rule either, until I noticed Don say it first in his box project story. I read that “no G” statement in his story, and said, “I had better go back and read those rules again…”.

I have to use glue for my project, as it is for a customer, so I won’t be adding a project for the challenge again this time. This is a great looking project, I think you will enjoy the results of the judging.

good work,
Mark

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

I meant to ask how you accomplished the hand hewn look? I sure like it, and have done this myself before, but I like your “look” better than what I have been doing. Will you share the secret?

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

A great looking, & well done project. I love the grain of the bench top.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Excellent!

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Carl – Nice project. and as mentioned above good recovery.

-- Joel Tille

Nice save!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Very good looking project. jockmike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Mark: I mainly used the draw knife to achieve the hand hewn look. I had to be careful as the cypress is somewhat soft and depending on how the grain was running it sometimes had a tendency split off long pieces which isn’t what I wanted. Usually I’d have to make a cut in one direction and if it started to split off, I’d just turn around the other way and intersect the first cut, if that makes sense to you. Other than that I also used a chisel and a rasp file.

Thanks again everybody for the great comments, Carl.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Hello Carl;
—-well the woodworkers who are doing ‘rustic’ just seem to be coming from all over and I like the style of your thinking….and your ability to make change on the fly and come out with such a great piece of rustic furniture.

....an-other one who has gotten into the working of wood by using the ‘wedged through tenon’. I also see that you used mortising chisel, draw knife and rasp, while using the ‘fitting board’ to check the sizes of your tenons.

Great use of your hands and hand tools….also I like your choice of a finish, tung oil is one great oily juice fruit in a shell. By the way, did you know that although commonly referred to as the juice of the tung nut tree that is pressed from the seeds, it is really a false nut called a ‘drupe’, that is a fruit nut and not your average peanut?

I like the ‘hand hewn’ look also….do you do much furniture with the objective being spent on achieving ‘distress’?

Great piece, and thanks for entering into the summer contest!
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Practical woodworking skills shown.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Hi Frank;

Thanks for the compliment. I really enjoyed using the hand tools on this project. They taught me a lot, mainly that they need to be sharp. I’m still learning how to sharpen chisels, planes, drawknives and such. Cutting the mortises with the mortising chisel gave me some real satisfaction once I got my technique down to an acceptable level.

The drawknife was fun to use too, except for the way I had to clamp it. I need to come up with some kind of arrangement with a seat and a place to wedge one end of a table leg or cross member into. I’m strictly going from a memory that is plagued by burnt brain cells, but I think I’ve seen pictures of the Amish using one of these things for shaving wagon wheel spokes. Maybe you can help me here? Having to clamp those things onto my bench really wasn’t the best way to shape the legs as I kept busting my knuckles in the process.

As far as distressed furniture goes, I’ve not done any. The closest I’ve come to that is using reclaimed heart pine complete with old nail holes and hack marks to make a coffee table. I haven’t exactly warmed up to deliberately making new wood look old by beating it up, painting it with different levels and colors of paint and then burning some of it off with a hair dryer, etc. although I have read up on it. I know this type of thing is real popular these days but frankly the hoopla escapes me. But, I guess I did in a way distress my bench and garden table, so who knows maybe I’ll try it one of these days.

Thanks

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Those are really nice. Very classy for “rustic” furniture. I would love having those in my yard. The joinery beautifully shows off your craftsmanship.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

I like rustic things. Good job.

-- Jiri

Thanks, Jiri and Blake.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC