Reclaim or recycle wood

[Philip]

We have demolished several old flu-cured tobacco barns in our area. Most of the sheathing was done with rough-sawn Southern Yellow Pine boards; many cut from the farm where the tobacco barn was constructed.

The interior of my shop is finished with these recycled boards. Now I am attempting to build several "plain pine tables" from these boards. The boards have been planed and are beautiful; however some boards have damage from insects, water or what I call "dry-rot". Nevertheless, there is sufficient good wood to use. The boards are very hard and very brittle. I think due to the curing process over 50+ years, the boards are extremely dry.

This brings me to my question. How can is restore, at least partially, some oils (I guess sap would be more correct) to the wood so that the boards are not as dry and brittle?:-? I haved built one table and have used linseed oil on the wood. This seems to make the wood less brittle and less dry feeling. Is this the best to use? I have thought about Watco Oil on the boards.

Does anyone have any advice,

Philip:roll:

 

[DaveO]

I would think that BLO or tung oil would give you the best penetration and return some "moisture" to the wood. That wood was probably "baked" in the tobacco curing process somewhat destroying the cell structure. But at least you it's stable. I would love to see what that table looks like. Old Pine is fabulous. Dave

 

[Philip]

Here is the "plain pine table" made from tobacco barn boards. As you can see there are many imperfections in the wood; I call this "character".

The wood has been planed and sanded, with a heavy coat of linseed oil (allowed to soak in and excess removed) and one coat of polyurethane. I plan to put additional coats of polyurethane until I get the look and feel I want.

The plugs are where nails were, I drilled the holes and plugged with similar pine. There is no stain on the wood, this is natural SYP boards aged in the barn. The light colored places is where studs were in the walls.

Comments welcomed.:eusa_thin

Philip

 

[DaveO]

Beautiful, what a wonderful natural golden color. That came out great, you gave that wood at least another 100 years of usefulness.
Dave

 

[Splinter]

Great looking table Phillip. I like old SYP. It does gum up the tools a little but in your case I guess all the old sap is dried out. I'm glad you are salvaging the old wood. Most folks just let the barns fall down and then burn them. Such a waste of good old wood and the history of the tobacco barns. I used some on an outbuilding that came from my Great-grandfathers house that is over 100 years old. I worked 6 days a week in tobacco in my younger days. If I had a dollar for every pound of tobacco I have handled I would have a shop as nice as there is around.

Again nice looking table. :eusa_clap Post more photos when you make some more.

 

[sapwood]

Cool, building for the future by conserving the past :eusa_clap

Sapwood

 

[D L Ames]

Philip, nice job on using the reclaimed lumber. Your table looks great and I really like the added character the wood brings to it.:icon_thum

D L

 

[mshel]

Phillip,

If you will take a gander at my gallery, you will find several pieces I have made out of reclaimed tobacco barn wood. Here is a sample:

Mike

 

[D L Ames]

Mike, I have seen the beautiful furniture pieces in your album before but I had no idea you made those out of reclaimed lumber. Great job.:icon_thum

D L

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Very nice philip! I love recycled wood. Not only does it's age and defects give it character, but It also has a great story behind it. Way to go man!

 

[mshel]

Mike, I have seen the beautiful furniture pieces in your album before but I had no idea you made those out of reclaimed lumber. Great job.:icon_thum

D L

Thanks Dl,
Most of the furniture I have made for our house is made from old recycled barn wood.

Highboy
Pencil post bed
night stands
6 drawer dresser
computer desk
blanket chests
display cabinet
country cupboard
tv stand
bed steps
linen press
linen chest

Gosh, now that I listed them, I have gone through a lot of barn wood. Wish I had several thousand bf of good heart pine. Stuff is getting scarce and if you try to buy it, it goes for upwards of $11.00 a bf. Ouch.

Mike

 

[Travis Porter]

Very nice Phillip. My only comment is I don't know if I would have used filler. Makes it stand out, and at first, I thought they were covering up nail/screw holes. Otherwise, looks great.:icon_thum

 

[jeff...]

Mike, The lower attic floor of my house is made up of loose rough cut 1x pine boards, laying on the ceiling joists, no nails. I had no idea heart wood was so expensive, time to drag a few pieces out and run them thru the planner and see what it really is. I would say there is approx 16' x 30' or 460 sq foot of rough cut 1 by, in various widths and lenghts up there. considering the house was built in 1899 might it be heart wood pine?

 

[DaveO]

Heart Pine is so expensive because there really isn't any new stock. Heart Pine came from trees large enough to create significant heart wood. The heart wood actually is dead and becomes harder due to mineral and resin deposits in it. Most Heart Pine was milled from Longleaf Pine that is a very slow growing pine species. Native stands of it have fallen to the wayside for the much faster growing Loblooy and Viginia Pine (faster growth = more profitt) Also the heart wood that is Heart Pine doesn't begin to develop until the tree is 30+ years old. So if you have some cherish it.
Dave

 

[michaelgarner]

I swear,,im an onion compared to you guys. be blessed