Rustic woodworking

[oldman_pottering]

Today I finished a plant stand for my wife

The timber I used was from an old hardwood framed shed, that was demolished 4 years ago ( to our knowledge the timber was approx 75 yo)

After trying to draw something in SketchUp I headed over to the forums and was lucky enough to have Dave Richards lend a helping hand to my design incompetencies and he actually draw me a plan for the bench.

The bench is not exactly as planned but I am happy with the outcome and my wife is overjoyed ( which is a bonus in itself)

As the timber was very old and weathered as you can imagine it took me quite awhile to clean it up, remove small splits along the edges etc.

My lack of ability to make nice mitred cuts ( along with the rough sawn timber and my small mitre saw) meant the the end legs are not exactly square but they turned out ok, the beauty of rustic

I used my crosscut sled to make the rebates in the long rails ( which was a chore in itself due to the length of the rails and the grip I needed to hold onto them)

In total, I learned something, got to practice some skills, cleaned up scrap timber from under the hose and made my wife happy

 

[lewisc]

 I like the angles cut on the end of the top. The little details add a nice touch.

[Mark J]

That came out great.  Seems like the perfect size for that location.  Are you coating it with anything or leaving the wood bare?

[Chestnut]

I like the detail on the ends of the boards as well it adds a lot to the look.

[Ronn W]

Very nice work.  I like it.

[Chet]

8 hours ago, oldman_woodworker said:

In total, I learned something, got to practice some skills, cleaned up scrap timber from under the hose and made my wife happy

Sometimes this is all you want out of a project.  Well done.

[oldman_pottering]

9 hours ago, lewisc said:

 I like the angles cut on the end of the top. The little details add a nice touch.

Thanks Lewis, the angles were Dave's idea, I had drawn just squared ends

7 hours ago, Mark J said:

That came out great.  Seems like the perfect size for that location.  Are you coating it with anything or leaving the wood bare?

Thanks Mark, I have coated it with a product called Aquadeck 

5 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I like the detail on the ends of the boards as well it adds a lot to the look.

Thanks Chestnut, cutting angles on the boards is now something I have learned to add in a project like this, as I said above I had never even thought of it, Dave had actually drawn a nicer curved end but I knew couldn't replicate each curve the same to each rail so I just chopped them at the angle

3 hours ago, Ronn W said:

Very nice work.  I like it.

Thanks Ron

3 hours ago, Chet said:

Sometimes this is all you want out of a project.  Well done.

Thanks Chet

[Chestnut]

19 minutes ago, oldman_woodworker said:

Thanks Chestnut, cutting angles on the boards is now something I have learned to add in a project like this, as I said above I had never even thought of it, Dave had actually drawn a nicer curved end but I knew couldn't replicate each curve the same to each rail so I just chopped them at the angle

Not sure if you have a band saw with the capacity to stack them and cut them all together. Also they are distanced far enough apart that cutting 1 and using it as a template would probably not be noticeable. I've used the 2nd method a lot. It's surprising how little distance it takes for something to not be noticeable, there are exceptions to this though so it's best to exercise caution.

[oldman_pottering]

36 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Not sure if you have a band saw with the capacity to stack them and cut them all together. Also they are distanced far enough apart that cutting 1 and using it as a template would probably not be noticeable. I've used the 2nd method a lot. It's surprising how little distance it takes for something to not be noticeable, there are exceptions to this though so it's best to exercise caution.

No bandsaw yet Chestnut ( it is on the wishlist, along with numerous other tools)

To be honest I'm not even sure how I could cut a nice curve at all, this timber as my builder brother calls it is 2nd grade steel

As for a little bit of distance Im using that to good help with my mitres 

[wdwerker]

Hey, remember you get points for any project that you finish and she likes. That's kinda the backbone of a craftsmans world.  If your woodworking buddies approve that's icing on the cake. Working with old materials is twice if not 3 times as hard. 

Is it straight ? Is it flat and square to an adjacent side ? Then and only then are you off to a good start. But don't freak out, 40 + years of experience and I still get materials or a project that refuse to cooperate ....

[oldman_pottering]

On 1/3/2019 at 1:36 PM, wdwerker said:

Hey, remember you get points for any project that you finish and she likes. That's kinda the backbone of a craftsmans world.  If your woodworking buddies approve that's icing on the cake. Working with old materials is twice if not 3 times as hard. 

Is it straight ? Is it flat and square to an adjacent side ? Then and only then are you off to a good start. But don't freak out, 40 + years of experience and I still get materials or a project that refuse to cooperate ....

Thanks Steve