| Project by BenZ | posted 83 days ago | 466 views | 1 time favorited | 16 comments |  |
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This all started about a year back while I was helping a old friend of mine mill some lumber out at his place in good ol’ Floyd, VA. He owns a furniture company and their motto is “from the woods to your living room”. They do it all, hence the lumber milling. So, anyways, we were finishing up for the day and I saw a few pieces of “scrap” maple that he was going to throw in the fire pile and asked if I could have a few pieces to build something with. He gladly obliged due in part to the fact that all he was paying me at the time was a few cheeseburgers and knowledge about the business. These pieces then sat in my trunk for quite a while killing my gas mileage until I finally decided what I wanted to do and then convinced another buddy of mine to use his shop.
I wish I had a picture of when I first started, because the logs actually still had dead vines attached to them and the bark intact. The bark was removed with a hammer and small hatchet then the “live edge” sanded smooth. As soon as I took the first 1/8” off with the planer I knew I had hit the jackpot. The grain pattern, worm holes, and ambrosia were absolutely gorgeous and really went perfectly with the rustic feel I was going for. I could go on and on about the design process I went through (which felt like a seemingly never ending and ongoing process at the time), the lessons learned and the inspirations, but I have a few more boards to joint and sand before the night is over. So please enjoy the photos and let me know what you all think of the end product.
Thanks for reading and THANK YOU for providing all of us with a place to share and learn!
-E.B.Z. and thats IrieDog is the final pic, can you tell she is a spoiled pup? :)
-- E.B.Z. Virginia
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16 comments so far
Karson
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12889 posts in 881 days
posted 83 days ago
Great looking bench. The ambrosia Maple looks great. I’ve got maybe 200bd of it. I make my kitchen cabinets in NJ out of some. I hated to leave them, Great looking wood.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
SteveKorz
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1335 posts in 194 days
posted 83 days ago
Exceptionally nice… I love anything rustic or primitive…. thanks for the post!!
-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Miket
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182 posts in 252 days
posted 83 days ago
Looks like it’s build for the ages!
-- It's better to have people think you're stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.
trifern
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3967 posts in 248 days
posted 82 days ago
Nice looking fire wood. I really like the fireflies, I mean butterflies. Thank you for sharing.
-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.
lew
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1229 posts in 236 days
posted 82 days ago
As another lumberjock once commented on one of my posts, “some people will do any thing to get their dog’s picture on the Internet”
That is one beautiful bench!- dog ain’t bad either!!
Lew
RobS
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1106 posts in 787 days
posted 82 days ago
Nice save Ben! Looks like a super smooth finish too. Nice work.
-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX
socalwood
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61 posts in 85 days
posted 82 days ago
beautiful! we are big fans of naturally aged woods that are lucky enough to find a craftsman
-- rob
thetimberkid
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1517 posts in 184 days
posted 82 days ago
Great work!
Thanks for the post
Callum
-- Look great, get your TTK merchandise now! http://www.printfection.com/thetimberkid/ Check out my site http://thetimberkid.blogspot.com/
Jiri Parkman
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559 posts in 293 days
posted 82 days ago
BenZ,
that is job I like. Thanks for posting.
-- Jiri
snowdog
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628 posts in 463 days
posted 82 days ago
Wow that is really nice. Is the only thing holding the two planks together butterflies?
-- "so much to learn and so little time"..
BenZ
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14 posts in 564 days
posted 82 days ago
Thanks for all the comments and yes I did have to throw in a pic with the pup :) The seat and the stretcher are held together by butterflies and the legs, essentially the entire piece is supported by itself. There are not any type of mechanical (metal) fasteners and only glue where the legs are mortised into the seat.
-- E.B.Z. Virginia
Dick, & Barb Cain
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5038 posts in 780 days
posted 81 days ago
A nice piece of craftsmanship!
-- -** 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
TreeBones
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1408 posts in 504 days
posted 79 days ago
Great project, good save, this is my kind of work. Well done. I’ll be looking for more.
-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3
Zuki
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851 posts in 558 days
posted 79 days ago
Good job Benz
-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them
woodnot
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51 posts in 95 days
posted 77 days ago
Nice job on recovering beautiful wood!!!
-- NW wood worker
Grumpy
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5571 posts in 332 days
posted 63 days ago
Great job. Good luck in the contest.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python