Barnwood Projects

Nothing earth shattering, just been a while since I posted any projects, so digging through the picture archives.

A friend was tearing down a barn and I helped him for all the barn boards I wanted.

These aren’t “new” projects – I built the first two four or five years ago for friends (built a corner cabinet – tv stand, too, but didn’t get a picture of it) and the third piece (potting bench) around the same time for my wife and sits on our terrace.

Interesting challenges when working with barn wood. Lots of slivers in your hands. You really can’t depend on a straight edge or a flat plane to use as a reference. You don’t want to ruin the gray weathered look by creating a straight edge either. “Good” joinery is therefore difficult, if not impossible (uneven or warped board surface creates a varied depth dado, etc.) – just nailed and screwed together. Glue really doesn’t help for the soft weathered surface just pulls off when the glue dries. Matching the color of the weathering from board to board was an unexpected challenge as well. I disliked the color variations on the cabinet doors, but it was also nice to have a single board wide enough to cut to length and use as the doors!

It’s supposed to look rustic, right?

-- Paul, Texas