Well it is nice to be back in the shop. I have been feeling really good. The shunt is working well, I have more energy than I have had in a long time. One of the benefits is getting back in the shop. For those that recall I cut down a black walnut tree in my bosses yard and had it milled into lumber. Here is one of the projects with that would. Simple design, but wanted to keep the live edge. Just a simple shelf for my hobby room. The live edge and pipe work will be a common theme. Not to shabby for what I was told wouldn’t be worth more than firewood from some wood working snobs.
So one of the reasons the snobs said it wouldn’t be worth more than fire wood was the warping and twisting that comes with “yard” trees. Well they were right about that. This is a heavy limb. I am making this shelf and light fixture from this slab. It was a little over 8 feet long and I cut into two 4’ pieces. The shelf is made from the one on the table the other half is behind it leaning up.
I built the table and surfacing jig for my router. By screwing down the board so that there is an equal amount of space of the table at either end where it twists, it allows me to move the router back and forth the length of the board and make a flat surface, taking out the twist.
After surfacing the first side you get a nice flat surface.
But it chews up some wood. This slab started out two inches thick and ended up 7/8" thick once both sides were flat. In this next picture you cans see how much was taken off one side compared to the other.
This is after one side is done, notice how much thinner the left side is than the right. Once both sides were done the board was nice and flat and true. I cut off a couple inches on the back and screwed it to the bottom. Tis gave the live edge on the front and the bottom back. A couple of coats of satin polyurethane and and then some furniture wax and a couple 1/2" black iron pipe brackets and I ended p with a simple but beautiful shelf.
It is real rewarding to work a project that you have taken through the entire process of living tree to finished project. Not a lot of wood workers get to do that. Its no elaborate work of art but it is a beautiful piece of wood that was destine to be firewood. Stay tuned for the light fixture that will be next out of this particular slab.