What is up with all this "Reclaimed Wood" going around?


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Say what you will, but if I owned a lumber yard and had that much interest in reclaimed lumber, it would be asinine to not stock it, especially if I had the room. I watched a couple buy barn wood from my supplier at $8.50 lf for 1x6's and they were TSL.  Being in the safety business, I won't sell a customer an inferior product, but we're talking decor here. I don't like the crap but I'm old and on my way out, but as a business, you're missing the boat.

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1 hour ago, K Cooper said:

Todd, fantastic job on that project!

Thanks! It actually was a great project, they didn't quibble on the price and they kept adding to the project. 

The architect told me the feel they were going for and he left the rest up to me. 

There is a local gal that is a wood burning artist. She did all of the wood burning. 

Get this, her last name, no joking, is Burns. - Seriously!

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1 hour ago, Mike. said:

I won't lie, reclaimed lumber is what got me more interested in woodworking and, believe it or not, Norm was the first guy I saw using it.   He'd using everything from old wide pine boards to cypress logs fished from the bottom of a river.   I quickly moved on to real lumber because, frankly, anything reclaimed worth using is too expensive.  I'd happily build projects from reclaimed old growth redwood or doug fir if I could get it.  

The stigma about using reclaimed lumber is an unfortunate side effect of cheap people an hgtv making pallets popular.  I think getting some nice old reclaimed wood is a lot different than using pallets...Reclaiming nice boards that would otherwise be burned or tossed in a landfill is a legitimate thing to do in some cases...look at an extreme case:  if most of us found some old legit cuban mahogany being torn out of a neighbors house about to go to a landfill, I'm guessing most of us would take a day off of work to save it...pallet wood is just the other extreme, and it is ruining the idea of "reclaimed" anything.

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13 minutes ago, JosephThomas said:

The stigma about using reclaimed lumber is an unfortunate side effect of cheap people an hgtv making pallets popular.  I think getting some nice old reclaimed wood is a lot different than using pallets...Reclaiming nice boards that would otherwise be burned or tossed in a landfill is a legitimate thing to do in some cases...look at an extreme case:  if most of us found some old legit cuban mahogany being torn out of a neighbors house about to go to a landfill, I'm guessing most of us would take a day off of work to save it...pallet wood is just the other extreme, and it is ruining the idea of "reclaimed" anything.

I totally agree. I was given some reclaimed walnut from an old building in town. The walnut was installed in the building in the 20s and minus some nail holes is in really good shape. It was destined for the landfill. I still don't know what to do with it though.

Does any one else have a problem finding places to store wood?

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10 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I totally agree. I was given some reclaimed walnut from an old building in town. The walnut was installed in the building in the 20s and minus some nail holes is in really good shape. It was destined for the landfill. I still don't know what to do with it though.

Does any one else have a problem finding places to store wood?

Yeah...garage is full, some in the shed out back, some next to the shed, some on the patio. None in the kitchen or bathroom yet, though...

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I do some rustic projects for people.  I figured out that I can make enough money to buy a tool I want and while building them, I can practice new joinery techniques without worrying about the results being spot on.  Then when I am working on nicer projects I am fine tuning those skills. I also used recycled wood as mock ups which lets me see how to improve the real thing.  I love working in cherry, oak, and walnut but I prefer making my mistakes in less expensive woods. 

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I have a friend that tunes and repairs pianos.  Once in a while he will call me when and old piano is headed for the dumpster.  Some of those old uprights have beautiful hard wood that would be great for small projects.  Make friends with someone who repairs pianos.

3 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

I have no problem using reclaimed wood or wood products.

Except for toilet paper.

Reclaimed TP gets blotchy when you try to stain it.

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Where I live in NC we have the International Furniture market twice a year, I light several show rooms, the reclaim and Industrial look was the look most were going for, I have been using re- purposed wood for years on my bird house and feeders, people seam to be drawn to the look, the rougher the better, When I tell them the wood is re- purposed it most times makes the sale, Lucky I have a few friends who have old barns falling down and are more than willing for me to take what I need, Some old oak, and your real lucky you may even find American Chestnut, Steampunk is also now becoming a new wave in the Furniture industry, 

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Don't get me wrong... I am not in anyway saying that reusing wood from one project into another, isn't awesome. Hell, I have another thread going right now about how I am reusing wooden staves from a spent bourbon barrel. I'd also like to use an old 14" piece of railroad track ground flat with an angle grinder as an anvil to get my feet wet with intro to blacksmithing. This would be to save me from having to buy a $600 anvil just for a small hobby. Using old scraps of cloth, sewn together to make a quilt is also awesome to me. The physical act of using a material that is no longer suited for one application, and reusing it in a better, or even just different way, is not only okay with me, I think it's awesome!

I was mostly ranting about the price gouging that is happening to support this as a decor trend. There are ads all over Craigslist with some stock photo of a pile of pallet wood and a big $100 price tag. It used to be... "It's yours if you come get it outta my way." 
I grew up in South Georgia, where pine cones in your yard were the bane of every boys existence, because you had to pick them up 6-7 times a year. Then one day these guys came by in a huge truck and asked if they could pick them up for us, for free... just if they can have the pinecones. SCORE! Found out that they took them up north and sold them as decorative items to people in the north who like pinecones in decorative baskets etc. Brilliant!!! But if my Dad has said... "Uhmmm... That'll be $100 for the whole yard." that would be

Edited by Eric.
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I think it is a way of establishing authenticity for the people that like it. 

 

It's kind of like how people like to hang paintings as just the canvas instead of framing them to protect them:  it shows that they are "genuine" materials (versus a print in the example).  Perfectly smoothed and finished wood will look more like plywood or veneered MDF than will reclaimed wood.  Similarly, a antique that has been fixed and milk painted is going to feel more genuine to the person than an Ikea piece.

 

Once Sauder has a flatpack book case that looks like milk-painted pallet wood then they'll have to move on to something else that is hard to imitate. 

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2 shower heads?! That's awesome.

I agree some of that old pine is unmatched. I have some studs that i tore out of my house on a recent remodel. They are the good 2" x 4" kind, not this wimpy 1.5" x 3.5". I want to make something out of them that will stay with the house but I'm slightly stumped.

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14 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Around the south heart pine timbers from old industrial buildings are reclaimed. They resaw it and make flooring from it. The grades with stains, nail holes and knots is very popular and it costs less than the clear premium stuff. It's old growth long leaf pine. I have seen 40 growth rings in an inch.

It all costs more than quality hardwoods.

 

This is another thing that gets all up in my craw... "Heart Pine." I'm from Atlanta, but live in Charleston SC. I grew up in the heart of Southern Pine country. I'd say, that literally 75-80% of what is now being marketed as reclaimed "Heart Pine," is really just old dirty regular pine from the 1960-70's. Again, this goes back to the element of dishonesty that I find in this whole reclaimed fad. When I even see or hear the words Heart Pine, it kind of makes me face palm on the inside. Everyone uses that phrase, but has no idea what it means. Nail holes and scuff marks does not make a pine board into "Heart Pine." 

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Most of the old growth long leaf pine was logged out and faster growing pines were replanted. For many years my supplier in south Ga was buying the timbers as brick and timberframed warehouses built after the Chicago Fire  were being torn down. The floors were 4x6 multiple tongue and groove and were supported by massive posts and beams. They would unload rail cars stacked with the timbers and go over them with metal detectors & de-nail them meticulously. Then a big bandsaw mill would slice them up. 

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19 hours ago, C Shaffer said:

This is a just a gross itch fest. Pallets are not all the same. Reclaimed is not all the same. Furniture is not all built the same. May I never start a thread just to whine about what I don't like. (BTW in your defense, I agree with most of you.) 

 

You're right. This thread was a little "preaching to the choir" complain-o-thon on my part. Probably not the most productive thread I've ever started for sure. But... just to call ya out a little... you did complain in this thread that you'd never write a thread just to complain. ;-)

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Just now, Dolmetscher007 said:

But... just to call ya out a little... you did complain in this thread that you'd never write a thread just to complain. ;-)

That wasn't a complaint, it was an aspiration.

It's just that this horse is SO dead, man.  You're new here so you may have missed it...we've been beating it for years now.  And beating it, and beating it...and beating it.  It's limp.  Let it go.

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2 hours ago, Eric. said:

That wasn't a complaint, it was an aspiration.

It's just that this horse is SO dead, man.  You're new here so you may have missed it...we've been beating it for years now.  And beating it, and beating it...and beating it.  It's limp.  Let it go.

I am a very light hearted guy, and make more fun of stuff than actually criticize it. This thread definitely is an example of a newbie stirring the pot, not thinking that it's probably been stirred by most everyone. Apologies for being so tacky. 

Maybe this could be the first thread about reclaimed dead horses. What can we make from a dead horse guys? ;-)

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1 hour ago, Dolmetscher007 said:

I am a very light hearted guy, and make more fun of stuff than actually criticize it. This thread definitely is an example of a newbie stirring the pot, not thinking that it's probably been stirred by most everyone. Apologies for being so tacky. 

Maybe this could be the first thread about reclaimed dead horses. What can we make from a dead horse guys? ;-)

Glue , I heard from a old timer you can make glue from horses.:lol:

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