Reclaimed Lumber Find - Small But Still A Jackpot

craftbeerguy · Aug 13, 2019

Friends of ours were clearing their recently deceased father's basement and came upon a stack of these boards from an old mill the family once owned. The couple commissioned me to create several simple tables and benches for family members. There at least 3x as much as needed and I'm thinking of taking partial payment with the remaining pieces.

They are all approximately 7' long; all 8/4 thick and average 14" wide. Full of character and metal. After a major pay cut at my full-time job, I'm hoping there is a market for steel leg, slab-type tables. Given the high prices being asked for this material, I'm thrilled about this find.

KenOfCary · Aug 13, 2019

Are those old heart pine boards or some other species? They look like they have a lot of character. Watch out for the metal they contain (but you knew that.)

LocoWoodWork · Aug 13, 2019

Good looking lumber! Keep us posted.

craftbeerguy · Aug 13, 2019

KenOfCary said:
Are those old heart pine boards or some other species? They look like they have a lot of character. Watch out for the metal they contain (but you knew that.)

Hey Ken, They are heart pine. Some look old growth too. They sure aren't Oak. You're back will always tell when you've lifting Oak.

I'm thinking that I'll take a few hand planes to these and give it a more hand-worked look. I can also control the amount of oxidation I remove plus a closer look for those dreaded nails.

Jeff · Aug 13, 2019

craftbeerguy said:
Given the high prices being asked for this material, I'm thrilled about this find.

How much for recycled heart pine?

Old growth heart pine is interesting. It's surprisingly dense and heavy for pine. I bought some heart pine lumber several years ago that was sawn from old beams and they removed the metal before it was sawn. This table is reclaimed heart pine (longleaf pine).