Reclaimed boards


Dnorris1369

Recommended Posts

Yeah, I'd throw those in the dumpster.  Looks like old construction lumber.  Find yourself a hardwood dealer and buy some poplar or red oak or whatever is cheapest in your area if you're wanting to start off with minimal cost.  Those boards you have are going to be more trouble than they're worth...the first nail you hit is going to cost you more than the price of a few clean boards from a dealer.  My philosophy has always been: If I'm going to invest my valuable time and effort in a project, then that project deserves materials that are worthy of my time and effort.  If it costs a little more, so be it.  You're paid off in spades in the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my two cents. I work almost exclusively with pallet wood. If you can get a small metal detector, I'd highly recommend it. Otherwise, just treat it like any other lumber. Try to get to good wood. If you're wanting to keep the rough stuff showing, sealing it with any varnish I imagine would work just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i totally respect everyone's opinion in regards to chucking it. in my line of work that's perfect for a table. it's fairly clean and straight.

 

working with reclaimed batches of wood takes patience.

 

if you de- nail all of the boards at the same time, you'll start to find a pattern of how the boards were fastened in the first place which guide you to getting %95 of the crap you don't want to mess up your tools on. 

 

a sharp cats paw/ nail puller, a good framing hammer, and diagonal cutters (the electrical kind) are part of my essential de nailing kit. i also use a large nail set to reverse out nails which have broken flush with the surface. newer galvanized & ring shank nails are the worst. i tend to drill those out with a drill guide block clamped in place.

 

as you go through de nailing, you'll figure out which pieces are in good shape and which ones suck. if the tongue is split, pull it off until it's not split etc. 

 

after things are de nailed, i'll take a low grit paper on my ROS or belt sander 60-80 and clean all the crap off looking for a good reference face to then get milling to. my goal is to get the pieces to a mostly clean and flat state so i can take my gloves off and maintain a clean bench through the rest of the project. 

 

building furniture with reclaimed wood is satisfying for me because i enjoy learning the story behind it. where did the wood come from? how was it installed? did the wood perform well? whom may have installed this? those are all questions that drive me to work with reclaimed wood. i guess it's the carpenter in me that wants to know the answers more than the furniture maker...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

building furniture with reclaimed wood is satisfying for me because i enjoy learning the story behind it. where did the wood come from? how was it installed? did the wood perform well? whom may have installed this? those are all questions that drive me to work with reclaimed wood. i guess it's the carpenter in me that wants to know the answers more than the furniture maker...

You nailed it. HA!

Actually, the wood I use has kind of a boring story. Shipping pallets. What I like best about it is finding beautiful wood beneath all the junk. Some seriously pretty stuff. And I like free wood. And like many other americans right now I like the character.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well done !.. I am another "scrap" collector. Ill tear down almost anything to get to the hidden Gems - I must say the pic's you posted shows just how nice wood of any kind can become a work of art. I give you props for the hard work put in to reusing lumber some would  just dumpster... I myself have found many gems in the rough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Been picking up wood from old Tennesse barns for years, I try to use at least one piece of reclaimed wood in every project I do. I enjoy the response's and the look...   Been getting poplar and red oak a lot lately!  The cleaning before milling is to me the toughest part, well, not tough just painfully slow! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   2 Members, 0 Anonymous, 44 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    422.1k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,782
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    Skillfusian
    Newest Member
    Skillfusian
    Joined