| Project by frank | posted 395 days ago | 645 views | 1 time favorited | 15 comments |  |
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Tsuga canadensis
Here is one piece of ‘wood art’ that I have been trying now for about six years to get inspired over, so I could start to work out what has been in my head now for those years. It sometimes gets a little crowded in my mind with all those images of wood that I see, but just have not found the time to create in my exterior surroundings.
I used some eastern hemlock, (Tsuga canadensis) on a barn I was doing back in 2001 and these pieces are some of what remained after cutting the timber sills. Ha!....when I say ‘some of what remained’ I have to laugh, one could build an-other barn out of the remains, from all the timber I have collected through the years.
....well lets get back to the story here….
Like I said, I cut and then just let the pieces sit outside for about four years and had them just free standing throughout the seasons. I would sit on the bench overlooking our vegetable garden and dream thoughts of summer tomatoes and veggie delights. I all-ways knew what these pieces were going to be, it’s just that the time of inspiration had not yet settled on me and lit the fire-of-desire to complete this bench.
Back around 2006, I brought the pieces inside to my shop to finish drying out….and there they sat and sat. Next came this contest for ‘garden projects’ and so therein lay the inspiration to get this one started and finished….kinda’ like, “get off your butt and get your hands in gear.”
This bench has no-glue, no nails, no-screws and no-mechanical fasteners are used except for wood….
....wood used in this project is eastern hemlock and spruce…..
‘wood joinery’ used is mortise and tenon, again sticking to my roots of learning as timber framing goes. The two most commonly used ‘wood joints’ in post and beam are the half lap and mortise and tenon….
....finish is tung oil and de-waxed garnett sellac….
And finally I have gotten this one out of my head, out of my barn and out into the air-ways of cyberspace.
Yes, in the coming day or two I will also write about this one I call “Tsuga canadensis”, one more piece in the collected abstracts of ‘wood art’.
Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt
rusticwoodman@gmail.com
http://frank.wordpress.com/
—
”….all wood has a place, and all places need a piece of wood, so from this viewpoint of where i am, i give thanks and with my hands write a place for beauties of ‘wood art’....”
-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/
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15 comments so far
Don
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2586 posts in 619 days
posted 395 days ago
Beautiful, Frank. Is the cross-piece under the bench the same as Spruce? It’s very red. I’m assuming that the yellow timber is the eastern Hemlock.
Best wishes, Mate!
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
MsDebbieP
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11555 posts in 603 days
posted 395 days ago
phew… your head space is a little freer now :)
another “I love this” piece of rustic furniture.
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
cajunpen
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5352 posts in 508 days
posted 395 days ago
Frank that is a beautiful bench – and I actually believe it would hold my big butt.
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
oscorner
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4576 posts in 753 days
posted 395 days ago
Super bench and great finish, Frank!
-- Jesus is Lord!
RobS
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1073 posts in 749 days
posted 395 days ago
Now that’s a bench! Great job Frank!
-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX
Mark DeCou
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1264 posts in 848 days
posted 395 days ago
Hey Frank, do you have photos showing the disassembled joinery? I’d like to see how a master timber guy does joinery on such large beams.
Good work,
mark
-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flinthill's Artisan
mot
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4837 posts in 479 days
posted 395 days ago
Wonderful Frank! I’ve been preoccupied with other things of late, and have missed going through blogs and projects. Really great! I’m on a tear as I have a couple hours this morning to catch up!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
jockmike2
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4011 posts in 689 days
posted 395 days ago
Very cool Frank, good to see you posting some work. I really like your wood art. mike
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
frank
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1333 posts in 648 days
posted 395 days ago
Hello everyone here;
—-Don; concerning the redness you see in the spruce….that is a floor joist, I pulled out of a 100 year plus old cellar some….many years ago. So you might say the spruce joist has plenty of character to give it color, plus the tung oil darkens the wood somewhat and then the shellac, ‘garnett’ which is redish also gives some more color. Before applying the finish, the hemlock had agged to a nice shade of grey, while the spruce joist was more of a dark yellowish brown….
—-Mark; I will be adding a story in an upcoming blog soon….much to busy around here just as I’m sure you are. Basically the legs are the tenons and then into the underside of the bench I have cut full mortises, the cross beam is a half lap on each end and when notched into the underside of the bench and legs….holds ever-thing to-gether. The joints then are tapered out very slightly and hammered in….all joinery thus is working on ‘compression fit’. Ha!....pardon me for adding, that I am no master….just one who loves working wood….
—-Bill (cajunpen); ha!....I do believe this one would hold any-ones butt….
To all other’s commenting so-far thanks for all your reply’s and comments!
GODSPEED,
Frank
-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/
Karson
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12617 posts in 843 days
posted 395 days ago
Frank. You keep this up and your garden will be full of nice places to sit and watch the tomatoes grow.
Very nice bench. I realize that the Tung tree has no problem being outdoors but how does the tung oil hold up when its outdoors. Do you refreshen it periodically of this time is it last?
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
frank
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1333 posts in 648 days
posted 395 days ago
Hi Karson;
—-Ha!....now you’ve got me committing myself.
This will be a special piece, which will go into some-ones gazebo, three season porch or even maybe in a den. I could never keep one such as this around my place….as my wife would lay claim to it. Top coat over the tung oil is shellac and that’s what is so good about shellac….if damaged; the finish can be repaired so easy. As I’m sure you know, re-freshing shellac is like; sand….denatured alcohol and more shellac….
Course then the buyer of this piece may request that I apply some poly, for added protection….as again; I’m sure you know….’the customer is all-ways right’.
GODSPEED,
Frank
-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/
Dick Cain
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4809 posts in 742 days
posted 395 days ago
You can’t get much more rustic than this. A beautiful piece of work Frank.
-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
CedarFreakCarl
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319 posts in 496 days
posted 393 days ago
That’s a great piece Frank, of course Rustic is your first name…........
-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 542 days
posted 274 days ago
Truly rustic beauty, thanks for sharing!
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Jiri Parkman
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552 posts in 255 days
posted 242 days ago
Nice wood, nice job.
-- Jiri