This is a 1.5” thick slab of Fir that I milled and made into a free-standing bench. It’s 16.5”H x 14”W x 48”W. It’s finished with Cabot Austrailian Timber Oil and paste wax. It’s made with interlocking notches (think Ikea) that allow it bo be free-standing. I did peg the legs to the top just so it could be moved easily. I named it “Palomino” because from the side the edges give the impression of horse hide. I enhanced that a bit by hand rubbing in some white tint. It also has the horse brand of the Philmont Scout Ranch (any scouts out there?).

I apologize for the photos – I’m not the greatest photographer!

This is a bench I made for a local craft show. It’s a split maple log, 18”H x 15”W x 36”L x 6” thick. The top and ends have a bar-top epoxy finish (5 layers). The Wormy Pine legs are coated with poly and paste wax. Red Maple leaves are embedded in the top. LOML wants it as her coffee table. Since it didn’t sell at the craft show I’ll have a chance to relent.

These are a few items completed recently for a craft show I attended as a vendor.

The first pic is of 2 maple benches, a cypress plant stand and 3 cypress clocks. The maple previously resided in my side yard but was causing some serious drainage problems. The benches are 30” and 42” long, 18” high, have cedar legs and are finished with Spar Urethane. The cypress plant stand and clocks are all of reclaimed cypress with 4 coats of bar finish/epoxy. In all we made 6 benches, 15 of the clocks and 4 of the cypress tables.

The Split Log Rustics sign is something I routed on a piece of spalted maple and was the top of a sign post for the craft show.

The 2nd pic is of a commissioned pet bed (a very large pet bed – 36” x 54”!). It’s made of northern white cedar and red cedar. It’s sized for a posture-pedic mattress. It’s finished with BLO.

The 3rd pic is a cherry burl accent table my son and I built. He wanted it to look like a pier. The knot-work is various lashings including a mast-head knot (and navy folks out there?). The legs are cedar with red cedar plugs. The finish is Spar Urethane.

This is a twin size log bed made from Eastern White Cedar. The headboard and footboard upright posts are 5”-6” diameter, the spindle are 3” dia. and the rest of the rails and crossmembers are 4” dia.. 2” x 2” Tenon and mortise as well as pocket hole joinery was used thoughout. I added a strip of felt to each tenon to tighten the fit and prevent any squeaking. There are also 5” lag bolts in the ends of each side rail and mattress/box spring support cross member to stiffen everything. So there are basically 5 pieces : footboard, headboard, mattress support and 2 side rails. Some of the logs did some heavy duty checking and I initally had them all turned away from the front. When I did the final assemble I just let them face wherever the logs fit the best. To me they lend character to the bed. I did through-peg and glue a couple of the major checks to prevent any additional widening.

The bears were chainsaw carved then smoothed with a Dremel sander. The stone in the headboard is flagstone quarried near here in eastern PA. The drawings (done by my son, the real artist here!) on the stone are supposed to give the impression of a cave painting that was cut from a larger piece. It has a poly finish to protect the colored charcoal drawings. The entire bed will get a poly finish once it’s warm enough to open the shop and spray it on. I have several pieces that’ll get sprayed once it finally does get warm (man it’s been a long winter!). In the meantime there is an initial coat of sealer on everything – that’s why it looks a bit dull.

I named it the “Guardians” (I name everything I make) because if somebody buys this for their young son/grandson I wanted it to give him a feeling of security with the bears protecting him while he sleeps.

Thanks for looking and I welcome any suggestions to improve it.

Seems I’ve been in a “bench” phase lately. This one started life in our side yard. I took it down a couple years ago to protect the house and a garage. It has been drying in our garage ever since. It’s about 24” long, 14” deep and 16” high. This one was also chainsaw split then planed/sanded. The seat is maple and the legs are white cedar. It doesn’t have a finish on it yet. I think it’ll get BLO and beeswax. This one is for our porch for putting boots on/off.

This is a bench I put together out of found logs. The client wanted something that was pretty much indestructible, heavy (so it couldn’t grow “legs”) and looked good on his log cabin porch. All of it is oak except the slab backrest which is fir. It weighs about 250 lbs. and is bolted together with galvanized lag screws plugged/capped with ash on the seat. I split it with a chainsaw then planed and sanded the surfaces. It’s supposed to get a waterproofing finsh that also protects it from sun greying.

This is a king size headboard made from a California Redwood slab that measure 4” thick x 34”H x 72” W. The posts are 6” x 6” x 60” Western Red Cedar. The slab is from California. Both edges are “live” (guess it was a small tree!). I hand carved the Tree of Life in the center and routed the surrounding rings. The intent was to create a feeling of looking at a reflection in a pond with ripples. I added the 2 stained glass dragonflies to look as if they’re flying just above the surface. The photos don’t show the effect too well but I still liked the piece. It was a wedding gift to my son and his wife. It was the first major piece that I ever made.

I made this for my new daughter (in-law) for Christmas. It’s Cypress knees and slabs from which I removed the bark. It’s about 24” tall and nearly as wide. The finish is an epoxy that is generally used on bar tops and pub tables – you pour it on (it’s very thick) and let if ‘flow’ into place. I used 3 coats.

This is an Oak stump I found in the Boy Scout Camp near me. It is at least a hundred years old. It is hollow but the wood is still in good shape. I pressure washed it, cleaned up some of the bad spots in it then leveled it with a chainsaw and a laser. The top is held in place by industrial magnets. The finish is the old fashioned stuff of hand-rubbed beeswax and turpentine then buffed to a soft sheen. The shop in the background is a mess but I wanted to post the pic. I built dollies out of old pallets and swivel wheels for moving things around in the shop. If you look closely in the 3rd picture you can see my youngest sons’ 72 Chevell SS he has stored in there temporarily. It’s gathering dust at the moment so when he moves it to his new house my shop will be half cleaned up!