Trees to lumber to furniture

pigman · February 17, 2005, 12:33:59 AM

Some furniture I built from trees I cut, milled, dried amd crafted into furniture.
The first two are of a cherry armoir I built for a neighbor.
The last one is of fireplace mantel, two end tables and a natural edged coffee table. When I cut and milled the pecan tree, I didn't know I would be building furniture from it. The customer's wife saw some of my tables at a local craft show and persuaded her husband to let me build her the furniture out of the pecan I had sawed the previous year. The coffee table was made out of a thick slab that was the "hump" on the crooked tree.
Edit- maybe I should have said electric heater mantel. :-[

TN_man · February 17, 2005, 07:13:47 AM

Nice job there pigman 8)
It is a neat feeling to take something from start to finish. Thanks for the pics.

Norm · February 17, 2005, 07:29:21 AM

Very nice Bob. Nothing like the satisfaction of taking it from tree to fine furniture.

rebocardo · February 17, 2005, 07:03:34 PM

Nice job, that is my own ultimate goal too.

Maybe we will see the cabinet on the roadshow 50 years from now :-)

pigman · February 17, 2005, 07:28:51 PM

More history,
The pecan was a large tree from of the customer's yard that had blown over in a storm. They wanted to remember the tree in the furniture they see every day.

I only hit one nail in the "urban" tree. 8)
Bob the furniture builder

woodmills1 · February 17, 2005, 07:38:00 PM

very nice work!

Ianab · February 17, 2005, 07:40:18 PM

Nice stuff alright

The coffee table and mantle are in my league, simple but nice ;)

I need a bit more practise before I tackle something like that TV cabinet though :

Cheers

Ian

UNCLEBUCK · February 17, 2005, 09:09:07 PM

Very nice job pigman , I have not made it to making furniture yet but when I do I hope it looks as good as that . Wow !

Frickman · February 18, 2005, 11:18:53 AM

Very nice job Pigman. That armoire is gorgeous!

tnlogger · February 18, 2005, 11:22:10 AM

Dito here pigman shore is nice looking furniture
gene

pigman · September 30, 2005, 11:32:00 PM

This would be better titled tobacco warehouse lumber to furniture. ;) I built this pine bookcase headboard bed for the teacher my wife works with. The lumber came from a old tobacco warehouse that had been in her husbands family for four gererations. I built a bed of similar design out of ash for his parents last year. It looked like they removed the boards with a bulldozer. I used nearly a quart of glue trying to put all the split boards back together. ::)She said she likes "character" in her furniture and I think I delivered in this piece of furniture. The planer found only one nail that I missed. :(

Gilman · September 30, 2005, 11:42:21 PM

If they could just build a metal detector as reliable as a planer. :-\

Thanks for sharing.

DanG · September 30, 2005, 11:56:23 PM

Great looking bedstead there, Bob the Furniture Builder! 8) 8) I like dat!

CHARLIE · October 01, 2005, 12:25:56 AM

You have a fine touch with wood Pigman! Very nice and impressive work. I think it's great to give people something they can remember a memorable tree by. It just goes to prove that even after a tree dies, it can live on in another way.

PawNature · October 01, 2005, 04:52:36 AM

Makes me wish I had paid attention in shop class. Very nice.

DonE911 · October 01, 2005, 07:53:28 AM

Very nice

that's a better use for the old barn wood. To many are burned to the ground around here.

rebocardo · October 01, 2005, 12:39:53 PM

That bed stuff looks beautiful. I know around here there is a big business in reclaimed long leaf pine wood (floors), not that I would know what it looked like ...

OneWithWood · October 03, 2005, 10:35:50 AM

For a pig farmer you do allright 8) 8) 8)

:D :D

pigman · October 03, 2005, 03:19:35 PM

They picked up the bed last night. I guess they liked it, got a $200 tip. 8) Found out the lumber came from the ceiling of the office area of the warehouse and it had been been used somewhere else before that. It is now the third use for the lumber.

Faron · October 03, 2005, 11:50:01 PM

That is some sharp lookin furniture there Bob! 8)

Paschale · October 04, 2005, 01:36:38 AM

Quote from: pigman on October 03, 2005, 03:19:35 PM
It is now the third use for the lumber.

And the final, no doubt! That's what they call "heirloom quality!" Nice work. 8)

Daren · October 04, 2005, 07:30:08 AM

Nice stuff. People eat stuff like that up (well built furniture with a story they can tell about the lumber) They can justify paying a little more for it if they can tell thier friends "They guy who built this started with a tree" or "He salvaged old timbers" instead of he went to Home Depot and they loaded it in his truck. Even nice things are nicer with a back story. I got an unpleasant job a few years back replacing the floor to the belfry of an old church so they could service the bell and start using it again. The old boards were 14" wide and I could tell they were handsawn by the uneven saw marks. I saved what I could and brought it home, cause it was cool. I got the idea one day to powerwash off the pigeon poo and do a rough sketch of the church and the guys family name who takes care of the place that had given me a lot of work around there. To make a long story short, every one in congregation wanted the same. I made more money with the little signs than I did tearing out the old floor and dragging new lumber up a 30' extension ladder to the belfry in the middle of summer.

pigman · January 07, 2006, 07:52:22 PM

Delivered this cherry bed, night stand and dresser to my daughter in Lexington, Ky today. I cut the trees on my brothers farm that was formerly my fathers farm. It was a Christmas present, but was a little late in being delivered. :(