# Barn wood



## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

Well while looking for a job this spring so I have one in the summer, I stopped in at a farm and got one. Well the first project that she will have me do is take down the old barn in her back yard. The barn is approx 50' by 60' with 18' out side walls. Well she told me the wood is mine if I want it. So I went and looked through the barn and thought that it has a lot of wood that I could use once I get me self a new planer. So I told her when the ground starts to dry out some more, I would be in and have the barn gone. My question is has anybody made kitchen cabinets from barn wood? I ask because my parents were like just think if you get all of this new wood, you can build us some new kitchen cabinets. I am thinking there will be plenty of wood there for the cabinets to be made out of and I will still have a whole load of extra wood to build the armoire on my bucket list out of. I just dont know how stable it is going to be. Any feed back would be great.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

I remembered seeing that a while back. In the project page is a link to the blog post about it.

Hope that helps!


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

I've built many projects from reclaimed barn wood.







railings, mantles









and presently doing a ceiling is reclaimed barnwood,


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

@Moron - Do you check for nails? I have a good amount of 200 year old post/beam work from a carriage house of mine that collapsed last year, but have a bunch of the old square head nails in them that either sheared off or rusted to pieces inside the wood..


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

If the barn was used for animals, I would not use any wood below the 6' mark above the floor for the kitchen. If animals were on the second floor, boards below might not be usable in the house for sanitary reasons. Could pose a health issue and an aroma issue in the house. Get a hand held metal detector, you will need it. If you can have the wood put into a kiln and get it to 220 degrees, might be a good idea to kill bateria and other bugs.

Some barns were actually graineries, these are ideal because they were kept clean and were very tight buildings to keep out grain eating critters.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

I use a metal detector and remove them. A good set of vise grips, cats paw …....get them out. Sometimes they dont come out and I often hammer them in deeper as I plane the boards. Maybe thats why the wood is expensive to buy.

I also save those square hand made nails, collect enough and then do metal sculpture with them. Sometimes I cut the square end of the nail off, and epoxy them into a new project for aesthetic appeal.


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

Those square nails do not normally split wood. You may want to reuse them if they are in good shape.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

@Moron - for the mantle and railing, what did you use to finish them?

@David - I have probably 10 lbs of them, but don't know that they'll withstand any sort of hammer blow


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## devann (Jan 11, 2011)

What is the wood species? Some are worth more than others. Around here longleaf pine is like gold.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

The nails….......predrill a hole and they work just fine. You can also sell them on e-bay as they are worth a pretty penny.

I used lacquer on the railing. The stuff is as dry as a popcorn fart and will suck up finish as fast as you can lay it on. Having experienced a few problems with lacquer on old wood I now use another finish on furniture and got the recipe from Don Kondra.

1/4 paint thinner
1/4 tongue oil
1/2 high grade marine varnish
1 cap full of japan dryer….............mix, put on with a lint free rag, let dry 10 minutes and wipe off excess, repeat as needed. ..................gives a deep rich finish thats easy to repair and no expensive equipment to apply.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

@Moron - That seems to be very comparable to Tung Oil Finish or Danish Oil, minus the marine varnish (I think they use a different kind).. Good to know. Thanks


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Never made any cabinets but I saw a beautifully refinished room using barn wood as a wainscoting. It was left primarily unfinished and was absolutely gorgeous.

Lew


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

@Lew- Any pictures? I've been considering wainscoting for my kitchen.. this might be perfect.

@Rook- Sorry to hijack your OP, but you brought up an excellent topic


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## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

Wow thanks for all of the feedback every one. I think that I will look at the lumber and see what it looks like even closer now.


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