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#1 ·
Showing my hand...

One of three ideas I'm currently pondering involves this natural edged slab-o-pine in some way… approx 6' x 8-10" x 3"



That's all I've got to say. (And nothing else to show. Really.)
 
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#3 ·
A fine piece of pine.
It looks like it's pre-finished. That should save you some time. ;)
 
#5 ·
Hi Scott;
--the springing ring of a newly come spring is in the air,
as i look upon your pine of slabbed out wood,
and upon that knot let looker's beware,
for close to the 'live edge is where i have stood….

Ha! Dennis said; "almost getting rustic on us", while I believe there is no getting….you all-ready are 'rustic' and that 'live edge' slab is truly a fine piece of 'wood art' in the making!

Have fun Scott!
GODSPEED,
Frank
 
#6 ·
it looks like one of those long saws

Love the knot holes.
That baby would be hanging on the beam in my living room!! (the beam is from the barn of my Great-grandfather's) Beautiful
Can't wait to see that RUSTIC table
 
#8 ·
This is just a maybe for this project… but a likely one - If I can figure out a couple of things!
My other versions of the project would be donated to the library auction… this one is the only "keeper"... which means I'll still need to whip out another project - maybe one of my boxes!

I do believe this is a remnant cut off of a co-workers bar in thier basement. Natural edge on one side, cut straight on the back. Must have stained (or oiled) the piece pre-cut. The otherside (the wider or "uphill" side of the board isn't as pretty… much knottier and dingey. Perhaps it'll clean up nice, or perhaps this will be the "show side"

If we had a fireplace this would have already become a mantle as is. It almost became a shelf in the kitchen…. but out of scale, and I knew this had another purpose.

I have another slab - about 4-5', 1.5-2' across, with a natural edge on both sides…. was going to combine them both in the design of a work table/island for the kitchen… but this piece seemed to compete with the top too much. Seperate projects they will be.
 
#15 ·
yep Robbo… I think it'll become the top shelf of a narrow storage bank for your parents screens/storms for the 3 season porch…. at least I think it will (once resawn in two) if it's deep enough.
 
#16 ·
a couple tables

I had this idea… Dick lit a fire

Here are a couple tables I made this morning - without glue or any mechanical fasteners! (or any milling or cutting, just used some mahogany I had on hand…





coming soon.... the real work in progress!
 
#26 ·
getting started

One of my first ideas for this challenge was to make a "green" table - as in recycled, not painted. After weeks of pondering, and ultimately ignoring the problem of where to begin, and more importantly, what to use, I remembered that I had this door sitting in my shed.

It may have been original to the house, but has been collecting dust for the past 5 or so years since we bought the house and replaced the exterior doors - this one had dog door cut out of it and was patched with 2 pieces of luan and some 1" brads.



I begun dismantling to save as mauch of the rails and stiles as I could, happy to say I didn't break any of the glass, just the one stile at the doorknob.



Transitioning from door to table, from left to right, legs, apron, rails and the lower shelf. Yes, it's even painted green - one more layer of "green" on this Greene and Greene project but that's all coming off.



I couldn't tell what the wood would be. I've previously stripped an interior 4 panel door to find it was oak underneath, this looked like it could have been a hardwood, but more likely pine.



I started in on milling the legs, thinking I'd get two out of each side of the door, and the 4 aprons from resawing the widest rails. Looking more closely at the table plans, I was surprised, but pleased to see that the table legs were only 1 1/4" square, (the door was about 1 3/8th). If I stuck to the plan, I wouldn't have to glue up stock! I was also surprised to see how tall (or rather short) the table really was, It looked big and blocky in print, now it seems low - and appropriatley sized to go beside our sofa, and seems light and well proportioned.



Now, I'm sure the material is pine, ripping my legs from the stiles, I find that I could easily make two tables - but I'm short in the apron dept... believe it or not all this wood matches really really well. The long grain is clear and straight, the face grain however contrasts glaringly. I'm going to have to use some of the "extra" legs to cut a veneer face so I can have quartersawn looking legs (I also need to do this to hide the mortises from when the door was pegged together. Found some bits of a translucent and shiny looking glue - kind of like hardened sap in the bottom of some mortices.



Oh how nice to be starting with straight, flat, stable stock. With such a nice tight grain that you could not get at the big box store today (and would be hard pressed to find at the lumberyard) and it was "free" to boot! Initially I was going to put this table up for sale or auction, but now that its being made, quite literally, from my house, here it will remain.

Now I'm getting somewhere.
 
#44 ·
what so many legs you have



Had a slight mishap today when I went to mill the legs down so they'd be the proper width after applying a "veneer" edge, I accidentally cut all the pieces! I should have left the those at the final width, I got a little carried away.

A little creative thinking and milling a few more pieces out of the remaining door stock, and I'll have legs that will ultimately be a mere 3/16ths skinnier, but and I'm able to proceed using only this reclaimed door lumber. I've thought the inspiration piece was a little "blockier" than needed to be (and therefore a bit bigger in scale than it really is), so this slight adjustment will suit my piece just fine, and probably go unnoticed otherwise.

Initially I thought I'd get almost two tables out of the door, now It's looking like there won't be much (useful) leftover bits of wood (I'll surely keep the scrap and make something else with it, eventually, but that's another blog.) If not for the peg holes in the door I'd have been able to get my quartersawn veneers out of much less stock, as it is I've milles about 12 "legs" - there are 4 more matching pieces (with a subtle grain variation) that are slated to be part of the top.

I remembered a glue up technique I read about, where you glue on a thicker piece of wood, and then rip it down to the final width later - this is what I'm doing, rather than try to rip 1/16th inch veneer strips and attach those. Thereby doing the glue up all at once (well actually need to put one more edge on the left most piece (so another glue up is in order - two sure beats eight!



Check out the new parallel clamps! Bet you can't guess where they came from ;) -- After the glue dries, I'll be turning this big "mono-block O'leg" into 4 "quartersawn" legs!

 
#45 ·
I guess Bessy on the clamps. At least that's where they started out. I like the handles on those better than the Bessy. My hand slips on the Bessy Clamps.

Good looking legs MAN.
 
#61 ·
quirks and veneer

Had a few unexpected hours to myself this afternoon - turned that into some useful shop time - and got one step closer to having that old door look a little more like a table!

I put the big glueup block o' leg onto the tablesaw and attempted to cut them down nice and square - with as thin a veneer left as possible. The seperating was easy, the fine tuning also went better than expected, just a slow and careful process.



I should have made 5 legs, as I messed up the second, somehow cutting slightly askew and revealing some face grain. Luckily, this process gave me plenty of thin strips, so a new veneer was applied.



Had I messed up again, I'd have set the veneers aside and glued them on after assembly (to hide any joinery perfectly, rather than using plugs... but alas the other 3 turned out just fine, quirks and all.

 
#71 ·
one more layer of green

Most of the old door has been milled down in size or thickness in preparations for this table. This has made quick work of paint removal - no tedious sanding, scraping or stripping.

One of the door panels will be the lower shelf, but doesn't require any milling to bring this down to the proper thickness. So, in keeping with the green theme of the Greene and Greene inspired table I pulled out some "Ready Strip" and slathered on an (incidentally green) layer of
"non-toxic" oderless goo.





I've used this in the past, and had better luck (with paint) than Citrus Strip (which works great on poly). I expect tomorrow to slide the paint off, and get the last of my pieces cut down to size.

All 4 legs have thier quirks, and are waiting for assembly!

The much requested "after" pix:




The Stripper did a great job going down to the last layer, those scraped off with a little effort, (nice pile of paint on the floor) the bottom layer just didn't want to give up no matter how hard I scraped. I don't know what they put into paint 100 years ago, but it hangs on tight!

Frustrated I took this to the table saw to see if it would clean better, (that resulted in the only clear parts.
 
#90 ·
rails into aprons

I have these 2 rails to resaw into 4 aprons. Cutting off the trim detail (that held the window panes in place) allowed these to fit in my small bandsaw. Unfortunately with this project now well underway, and really close to the deadline, I'm find I may be trying too many new things, with this project.



I didn't feel like removing the 2x4 MDF zero-clearance top to my tablesaw to resaw these with the fence I have set up for the standard top (as is my most practiced method). So I thought I'd give the bandsaw a shot at it. Had lots of trouble with drift. I've never had great luck cutting to a line with the bandsaw (fence or not) with the accuracy I can get freehanding a taper on the tablesaw.

Not only did the 2 halves come out asymmetrical, but the thinner of the two seemed much thinner than intended. Not to mention dished and otherwise not parallel to the good face.

My kingdom for a planer that could get this flat, without removing stock!

I took the calipers to measure out the thinnest portion, which, as it turns out is marginally under 1/2 inch. It really won't look all that odd with the others coming in just north of that... or would 1/2 inch all around work. Perhaps it will.... So I rigged up a workable fence for the tablesaw in its current configuration, and proceeded to resaw these as I should have started in the first place.

Initially they came out worse then I expected, both cuts not meeting in the middle. Off by as much as the blade width on one end. (and yes I was flipping the piece properly, with the same face to the fence for both cuts.) A quick fence realignment took care of that. (with a little chisel work, a bit of planeing, and a few passes with the ROS got everything to where I was happy to stop for the night.



Sliced right throught the middle, rail, dowels and all.



Now, just a little more sanding and my 4 aprons will be ready to join the 4 legs, a quick cut to length, then it's on to joinery time!

Oh, I still need to get the two lower rails milled. Those are still in the "raw" state - as in still painted, fresh off the door. I expect to make quick work of those. However if those rails from between the windows prove too small or problematic, there is plenty of wood left over from the door stiles. Off cuts from the "veneer" stage.... Oh yeah, I may need a veneer face to match the quartersawn legs, now that I think of it.

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend ;)
 
#91 ·
Sometimes it gets tough trying to salvage materials for a project, but the end product will bring you great satisfaction..
 
#102 ·
pile of small parts



I should have made a paper template of the parts for this table (actual size). Until I finally cut everything down to size I didn't really see how small this table really was, and with the off cuts I have lying around (had I been more careful early on) I could have made a pair of tables!

Lesson learned there. Oddly I did this with my first box in order to figure out my cut list (and how to best maximize a tiny piece of cherry I used for it. If only I remembered.

Anyhow, I'm feeling much better about completion this weekend than I did this morning - and I only spent a couple hours working on it today. Sanding, final dimensioning.

Tomorrow assembly - Oh, and "making" the top.



Last glimpse before everythings put together!
 
#112 ·
where there's a Lumberjock, there's a way...

I decided that I was going to finish the table yesterday. As I eluded to in my shop tour, the top is slate, specifically a piece of an old school chalkboard. (I have 4 or 5 large pieces courtesy of my grandfather).



Months ago I hung up a 2x3 (ish) piece in the kitchen with a couple screws, it drilled really easy and cleanly. I expected to be able to cut this with my jigsaw, but I meant to pick up (or look for) something else - just in case, when I was out getting a few things at the Big Blue Box. (You guessed it - I forgot)



On any setting (with a metal blade) I was unable to make more than a 1/4" dent in the slate. I scribed super easy with any metal tool, A few passes with a file brought up some dust, but was obvious this would take a while. I tried defining the line with a saw I don't use. The non cutting pull stroke did a much better job than the jig saw did, so I kept at it. It took a little (a lot) longer than cutting wood, but only because it was tiresome to handsaw through 46 inches of 1/4+ inch stone.



Yes, I was determined to finish last night. I have yet to replace my burnt out dremel. Couldn't find the battery to my older rotary tool. I couldn't find a file with a thin edge, but the saw seemed to work well enough - certainly got a nice straight line with it... and I only chipped one corner a bit.



A little epoxy to fix up that, and a little more sanding today (Talk about dusty!) and this baby is done! One side is smooth - the ROS sander cleaned off the bits of green paint, the other side has a nice "grain". despite a little flaking near the edges, I think this will be the show side.



Update 5/28:



I epoxied the chip back into place last night, then I went in this morning with some more epoxy mixed with some slate dust to fill in the gaps on the side.... and voila, a solid piece of slate! Sanded nearly invisibly on top, almost imperceptably on the side!

 
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