Greywolf Woodworking: Reclaiming Old Wood/Lumber

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Reclaiming a Solid Wood Countertop, circa 1938

What a find! I remodeled a kitchen in the Wedgwood area of Seattle, and when I started taking the old cabinets apart the first piece split from one end to the other, and I knew it wasn't plywood. They were solid fir boards, up to 21" wide. Destined to become a nice art box. I'm still getting up the nerve to go at the dovetails.

Just out of the wild, before its first its first shave.

The board, on the operating table.

Grain close-up.

A close shave.

Gasp! A Stanley #60 block plane (English). With a Hock blade in it. I am eye-balling a Veritas Smoothing Plane. . .

About this Site

This site was created to give a glimpse of an older version of Northwest style. There was a time when nearly all woodwork was crafted with native woods - mostly fir, as there was an abundance of it.

Although not many of the old houses are left in their original state, there are some that have retained that unique “feeling.”

Having grown up on Bainbridge Island during the 1960’s, and later having remodeled old farm houses there, I’ve developed an attachment to the style and especially to the grain patterns in the old fir boards – something that cannot be reproduced in anything but an old tree of enormous size. I find these patterns in reclaimed and recycled wood from old structures, incorporating them into pieces of furniture.