Description

This book is a celebration of reclaimed wood and the beautiful range of possibilities that exists for its creative use in the home. Through the use of beautiful photographs, inspired designs, and accessible building techniques, I aim to present a comprehensive guidebook that readers can use to plan and execute their own furniture and other home furnishings projects. My interest in reclaimed wood comes directly from my experience in the almost twenty years that I’ve spent as a professional woodworker; while I’ve worked with a diverse palette of materials, my favorite project have often involved reclaimed wood in one form or another. Why? Maybe its because I grew up on a farm in Upstate New York, and weathered, old barn wood was pretty much the backdrop for my childhood, but of course, there’s more to it than that. Reclaimed wood:

1) Offers a special type of character that nothing else does 2) Hints at a sense of history 3) Opens doors to one-of-a-kind creative possibilities 4) Allows me to live one of my core values- to reduce, reuse, and recycle- most fully 5) Provides a chance for me to live locally; much of the “new” lumber in my area is trucked in from hundreds of

miles away, but most of my reclaimed wood comes from our town.

Interest in environmentally-conscious home furnishings has escalated rapidly in recent years, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. This book provides inspiration and instruction to beginning-intermediate level woodworkers who wish to craft stylish and durable furniture and other projects for the home using reclaimed lumber. It is a woodworking book for today’s audience, so the projects themselves are hip and fresh, while being based on tried and true craftsmanship and technique. It also serves as a useful guide to sourcing wood in unexpected places. The icing on the cake? Such materials often provide a cost savings compared with traditionally-sourced lumber, if you know how to go about it.

Here’s a partial list of tips for sourcing reclaimed lumber locally:

1) Check classified ads and craigslist in your area; you may find lots of resources there 2) Ask local woodworkers where they source reclaimed wood; I, for one, always share my sources 3) Visit local lumber suppliers (not big box home improvement stores) and ask; many now stock reclaimed lumber

due to its recent popularity, or they might be able to point you in the right direction 4) Place free or inexpensive “wanted” ads in newspapers or online. 5) Offer to remove or take down old weathered fences or sheds, or place ads indicating that you’re willing to do so 6) Speak with local arborists; some own small sawmills and create lumber from wood that would’ve otherwise

been thrown away 7) Old pallets can provide a good source, depending on the kinds of projects you have in mind

Why this book is needed, and who the potential readers are

I am excited about this book because I believe that it fills a niche that has been largely overlooked. The market is full of books that speak to a novice audience about re-using existing items and incorporating them into home goods. This speaks to a large interest in creative re-use and recycle. The market also contains a fair number of “serious” furniture making books, but I don’t think that I have seen much at all in terms of a resource that combines all of these things. In essence, my readers are people who are beginner or intermediate level woodworkers who are seeking inspiration and instruction for projects that incorporate a modern design flair and reclaimed lumber. I don’t necessarily see my readers

as highly experienced 65 year old woodworkers who would like to build Mission style furniture; rather, my readers are more likely to be in their 20’s-40’s.

The book will contain projects that range in complexity from beginner to intermediate (please see the table of contents for more detail.) I’ll make sure that no overly specialized tools are required, and there will certainly be a few that can be completed with little more than a drill and a simple handheld circular or jig saw. I’ll offer up good detail on joinery techniques that are simple, yet sturdy (for example, screws that are set just below the surface of the wood, and are covered with a wooden plug so that they almost disappear, but provide a very strong connection.)

In addition to being a very useful how-to guide, I think that the book would also function as a nice resource for the home design/interior design audience, because it is something that they can use to gain some inspiration and share with other professionals (i.e. woodworkers, cabinetmakers, spouses, etc.) that might do the actual building. It is one thing to find a photo on Pinterest, for example, and to try to convince someone to build it; it is a much easier sell when you can say “and this book shows how to do it”.)

About me

I have been a full-time professional woodworker for almost 20 years. In that time, I have written ten books for the DIY woodworking market. These include:

• Wood Pallet Projects

• Building Projects for Backyard Farmers and Home Gardens

• The Art of the Chicken Coop (Best Book of 2011, Do-it-yourself category, Library Journal)

• Backyard Projects for Today’s Homestead

• The Complete Custom Closet

• The Versatile Shed

• Old School Woodshop Accessories

• Kitchen Makeovers for Any Budget

• Built-in Furniture for the Home

• Building Real Furniture for Everyday Life

Thoughts about appearance, length, etc.

The book I envision has a fresh, contemporary look. It is nothing like the old “how to use your router” tomes that have plenty of good info but no style. It will run 160-180 pages, with 16-20 projects that each occupy 8-10 pages. The typefaces and layouts will be geared toward an audience that is increasingly saavy about design and expects good design as part of the package. In terms of a title, I’m open-minded, but I’ve been thinking about something like “Making Furniture from Reclaimed Lumber”.

Some Sample Project Ideas:

Sample Chapter

A Crossover Credenza

Taking the rough with the smooth.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this old adage lately, mostly because it seems to capture the design ethos of the moment. Or maybe that’s just what I’m noticing because I’m already biased that way; perhaps I’m wearing some kind of rose-colored glasses that make everything look like weathered barn wood juxtaposed with gleaming Carrera marble. Am I alone in noticing this? Probably not. I think the idea of playing with contrasts is a big part of our zeitgeist. Why? My theory is that people are a little tired of uniformity, and a number of design tropes have become well-trod paths. Our area sometimes feels dominated by a rustic mountain-y kind of look, a Dwell-magazine everything-is-white extreme modernist vibe easily dominates the other end of the spectrum. So, the interesting challenge seems to have become how to mix the two. This is where things get exciting. Instead of following a formula, you get to really feel out what combinations of shapes, layouts, materials and finishes get your motor running. I’m sure that plenty of people were doing this all along- most of us, in our own ways- but I’m just trying to make a case that a somewhat more pronounced rustic-meets-urban, raw steel-meets-worn-leather eclecticism is having a bit of a moment, and if I were a betting man, I’d guess its going to be a longish kind of moment. In any event, I’m all for it, as the credenza here shows.

I’ve long been a fan of Danish Modern furniture- it is my first love, in terms of design styles. That doesn’t mean I like everything that falls under the fairly broad categorical umbrella, but I do appreciate the juxtaposition of smooth curves, rakish angles, and flowing lines. I wanted to build a credenza that paid homage to a Danish Modern-influence style, without being a completely slavish imitation, so I chose a different material for the base and cabinet. Rather than using walnut or teak, as may have been typical for the period, I used Baltic birch plywood, and I left the edges uncovered so that the core shows through. I made the doors from reclaimed barn wood to create both a striking visual and textural element, and also to play up a sense of contrast: old meets new. Finally, the simple iron pulls provide further contrast and a sense of rawness that I thought matched both the birch case and the barn wood doors. The resulting piece is versatile in terms of its ability to blend into all kinds of spaces.

Step 1

To get the ball rolling, I did a bunch of sketching. Once I had refined my thinking enough, I did a small scale drawing of the whole piece and a full-size drawing of the “foot” that goes on each end of the base. The drawings didn’t need to be beautiful, but I would never attempt to build a piece like this without them. The scale drawing in particular is very helpful in allowing me to create a cut-list of parts for the case.

Step 2

Using a utility knife, I cut out the foot, as it would serve as a pattern for the wooden ones. I then traced it onto the 6” wide piece of Baltic birch that I had ripped into the blank that I would get the feet from.

Step 3

I made the straight cuts on the feet with my table saw , as it was faster and provided a cleaner cut. I set the miter gauge to 5 degrees and crosscut the blank along the line at the edge of the foot. After each cut, I traced to pattern onto the freshly cut end of the blank and reset the miter gauge to zero. By alternating between angled and straight cuts, it was easy to get four matching feet.

Step 4

The bandsaw is the best way to remove the extra material from the feet, although a jigsaw with a sharp blade is a perfectly reasonable substitute.

Step 5

To remove the saw marks left by the bandsaw, I used an oscillating spindle sander. You can see how nicely the sanding drum fits into the concave curve on the foot; having a close fit like this makes it a bit easier to get a smooth, chatter-free result. I actually designed the curve on the base around the size of the drum on my sander because I knew it would be a bit of a timesaver. If you don’t have access to an oscillating spindle sander, you can chuck a sanding drum into a drill press or even a hand sander.

Step 6

To build the base, I needed a number of strips of 3⁄4” Baltic birch. I ripped them all from a scrap that I’d been saving from a cabinetry project.

Step 7

To join the feet to the horizontal rails of the base, I used Dominos, which is a joinery system made by Festool. The Dominos are essentially floating tenons, and the other part of the system is a tool that looks a bit like a biscuit joiner. It cuts the mortises for the Dominos. To indicate the location of the dominos, I drew a small line across both pieces, as you would do when using a biscuit joiner. You could also use dowels.

Step 8

To cut the mortises, I simply lined up the marks on the workpieces with the corresponding layout line on the tool and make a plunge cut. This photograph shows the mortises that I cut on both the rail and the foot. You can see that I clamped down the rail to cut the mortise; this is a necessary step to ensure both safety and an accurate cut, and I did the same thing with the foot.

Step 9

The Domino fits pretty snugly into the recesses; just apply glue liberally inside the mortise, on the loose tenon, and on the ends of the rail and foot and you should be assured of a strong, durable joint. I recommend keeping a damp cloth close by during glue up so that you can wipe off any squeeze out immediately; once it has set, it’ll be hard to remove.

Step 10

Gluing up the front and back rails wasn’t too hard, but it was a bit of a juggling act. You can see that I laid the parts out on a long flat board; this is so I could ensure that the whole assembly ended up flat with no twists anywhere. I positioned a clamp at the top edge and the bottom, and slowly alternated tightening them so that neither clamp ever got too tight and pulled open the joint on the opposite side.

Step 11

Once the glue had dried, I removed the clamps and used a random orbit sander to carefully blend in the joints between the feet and the rails. It shouldn’t take much. Once the surfaces are all perfectly flush, you can use a router with a roundover bit to ease the edges. I love doing this, as it truly makes the rail and foot feel like they’re made from one piece.

Step 12

The front and back rails are connected with a pair of stretchers; they’re really just simple rectangles made from 3⁄4” Baltic birch plywood. You can use a miter gauge or a chop saw to cut them to length. By cutting them at the same time, I ensured that they were uniform in length.

Step 13

To assemble the base, I took a rather unusual but very effective approach. I placed the front rail face down on my bench, then marked the location for the where the stretcher would make contact. I then used cyanoacrylate (super glue) to affix the stretcher. I repeated this on the other end. Once the glue had set, I placed the back rail on top of the whole thing and clamped it up. This method allowed me the ability to work calmly and slowly without the hassle of juggling multiple parts that need to line up just right but can easily get out of hand when you don’t have a system in mind.

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Step 15

When in doubt, it never hurts to add an extra clamp. Once I felt that the assembly was secure and the stretchers couldn’t wiggle around, I drilled 3/8” diameter holes 1/3 of the way into the face of the foot. I then ran long screws through these locations into the ends of the stretchers. Each stretcher needed two holes on each end, for a total of eight screws in the whole base. To fill the holes, I cut plugs from birch using my drill press (see sidebar).

Step 14

Here’s a view of the clamped-up base assembly. It is upside down in the photo, although that wasn’t particularly important.

Step 16

With the base finished up, I focused on the cabinet. A table saw is a great tool for cutting out the parts, although in recent years I’ve converted to using a track saw more often than not. In any event, I suggest cutting out the sides, top and bottom for the cabinet all at once. This will help to ensure that the parts are of consistent sizes (since you’ll be working from one setup instead of a few), and it is faster.

Step 17

Even though I’m a big track saw fan, I still like to use my table saw for cutting grooves. In this case, the back of the cabinet will be made from a 1⁄4” panel that sits in a groove on the inside edge of the cabinet parts. I usually swap out my regular blade for a dado blade, but in this case I didn’t have too many parts to cut, so I took the shortcut of making 2-3 cuts next to each other to add up to 1⁄4” wide groove.

Step 18

The cabinet assembly is pretty straight-forward: I glued the side panels to the bottom panel and clamped them up. To secure the joint, I used plugged screws, just like I did to attach the base stretchers to the front and back rails.

Step 19

With both side panels attached to the bottom, I had essentially a “U” shaped assembly that was ready for the back to be installed.

Step 20

Installing the back is easy- it should just drop into the groove along the back. I tested the fit first, and then removed it and added glue to the groove to really hold the back panel in place and keep the cabinet from racking from side-to-side.

Step 21

This detail shot shows how the back panel protrudes 1⁄4” above the top edge of the side panels. This will allow the back panel to be inserted into the groove on the underside of the top.

Step 22

To attach the top, just add glue on the edge of the side panel and screw down the top with plugged screws.

Step 23

Here’s a progress picture of the whole piece. The main assemblies are just about finished at this point.

Step 24

To layout the barn wood for the doors, I spent a while playing with a few different configurations of the boards that I had to work with. Ultimately, I came up with a look that I really liked in terms of color, character, and texture.

Step 25

To make the door panels, I edge-glued the boards together, and I also placed cross- pieces on the doors and glued and screwed them down.

Step 26

I used European 35mm cup hinges to attach the doors, because I knew that I might need their adjustability to help me counteract the inherent warpiness of the barnwood doors. It turned out that this was a good choice (see sidebar on using 35mm hinges).

Step 27

With the first door mounted. I took the time to check the reveal (the gap) between the edge of the door and the inside edge of the cabinet itself. It should be uniform,, and about 1/8” to 3/16” wide. If there are any irregularities, you’ll want to start by using the fine adjusters on the hinges. Any remaining irregularities can be evened out with sanders as needed.