Hi,I recently found some nice reclaimed wood (Floor joists from the Charles town Armory in Boston) that I want to make into a dining table like this:
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I ran one of the pieces of lumber through my planer and it appears to look like Douglas Fir, so it is a bit reddish in tone. The wood is ~14" wide, 2 " thick, and ~7 foot long I have 4 of them. The table is planned to be 3' x 7'. I plan to to plane each of the boards on both sides so the surface is flat. But the person I am making it for wants that look like in the pictu re above. So I'm not really sure how to treat it when I'm done putting it together. I also am now sure what to do with the legs, aprons and other pi eces below. I'm not sure if I need to search for more reclaimed lumber or just find some more Douglas Fir at a lumber yard and treat it somehow to ma ke it look old.
estown Armory in Boston) that I want to make into a dining table like this:
3QwZnR4aFE&usp=sharing
k like Douglas Fir, so it is a bit reddish in tone. The wood is ~14" wide, 2" thick, and ~7 foot long I have 4 of them. The table is planned to be 3 ' x 7'. I plan to to plane each of the boards on both sides so the surface is flat. But the person I am making it for wants that look like in the pic ture above. So I'm not really sure how to treat it when I'm done putting i t together. I also am now sure what to do with the legs, aprons and other pieces below. I'm not sure if I need to search for more reclaimed lumber o r just find some more Douglas Fir at a lumber yard and treat it somehow to make it look old.
I needed permission to view the pic. I clicked the request tab.
Any relation to Michael (Mike) Ryan (You dog!), who attended Uni. of Idaho (Moscow) in 1973-74, and maybe '75 & '76? He was my (dorm) room mate. W e lost touch, sometime after I left Idaho.
rlestown Armory in Boston) that I want to make into a dining table like thi s:
CS3QwZnR4aFE&usp=sharing
ook like Douglas Fir, so it is a bit reddish in tone. The wood is ~14" wid e, 2" thick, and ~7 foot long I have 4 of them. The table is planned to be 3' x 7'. I plan to to plane each of the boards on both sides so the surfac e is flat. But the person I am making it for wants that look like in the p icture above. So I'm not really sure how to treat it when I'm done putting it together. I also am now sure what to do with the legs, aprons and othe r pieces below. I'm not sure if I need to search for more reclaimed lumber or just find some more Douglas Fir at a lumber yard and treat it somehow t o make it look old.
o (Moscow) in 1973-74, and maybe '75 & '76? He was my (dorm) room mate. We lost touch, sometime after I left Idaho.
I reset the link so no permission is needed, and I granted you permission a s well.
No, sorry, to my knowledge I don't know Michael Ryan. Leave it to an Irish man to go to school in Idaho. They just can't get away from potatoes.
dpb wrote in news:mnc6tb$q9f$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
There was a huge trade in southern yellow pine from the southern states to the New England states in the years between the Civil War and World War I. It was the preferred material for building and similar purposes (ships, etc) during that time.
If you see a picture of a sailing schooner (a "down easter"), you can be pretty certain the cargo is either coal or southern yellow pine - two commodities that needed to ship cheapest way possible, and no-one particularly cared when they got there.
Looks very similar to cypress: color, grain, the knots, the small checks a long the center line. Cypress is a relatively soft (density) wood.
Did it smell like or have a hint of a smell of turpentine, once planed? F reshly cut pine will have a smell, or at least a slight smell, of turpentin e, even with old lumber.
That (last) pic, of a completed table, is SYP. I would never install a br ead board on a thick slabbed table top. I suggest you discuss, with the o wner, not using a bread board on the proposed table top. That design aspe ct would cheapen a nice old salvaged thick-plank table top. Use the fourth board for a wider tabletop or use the fourth board for the skirt
Hmmmm, I'm leaning toward your assuredness. That test staining and clearco at/wetted(?) sample looks splotchy. Splotchy results are more in tune for SYP, than cypress, but the planks still look a heck of a lot like cypress, to me. Cypress was also shipped, in bulk, to northern states. My salva ged pine planks don't look like his planks, especially with those small che cks down the center line of his planks.
Agreed. End grain photos would be nice. Bald Cypress -
You might try 3-4 coats of dark brown paste wax as a finish.... yes it would need to be refreshed over time but it would likely give that non-uniform look. A wax finish was common on relatively rustic furniture in past centuries... (i.e., not fine furniture).
If you skip the bread board ends you could resaw the 4th board and use it to veneer glued up pine to create the legs and stretchers. By tennoning the long stretcher and putting it into a mortise, instead of having it lap over the short stretchers, you would hide all the ends. By doing this all the wood in the table would match, it would take the finish the same, and it would save you from having to match "new" wood to "old" wood.
I've quite a lot of old SYP that has checked; probably as much that hasn't. All depends on how it was dried and these were probably full 2" and 14" wide for construction, not finish, so likely weren't dried to full end result initially.
It doesn't look much like cypress at all to me...but the telltale end grain could be the conclusive piece of evidence.
One way to tell is weight. SYP is a heavier than either cypress or Douglas Fir. Also, as Sonny mentioned, sand a bit of it and see if you get the "pine smell." The fir will not smell and the cypress has a much more subtle odor.
Sonny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
OP said the reclaimed timbers were floor joists. I'm dubious about cypress being used for that kind of structural application, it was more commonly used for siding and shingles. SYP fits the application a lot better.
That's incorrect. You can't think in terms of today's usage. Think in te rms of what was going on back then, in the 1700s, 1800s, & even into the ea rly 1900s, to some extent.
Cypress was widely use for framing in all parts of homes and many other bui ldings, probably just as much as pine. Actually, SYP wasn't the top pine choice, back then. It was long leaf pine, not SYP, that was the premium p ine lumber and most widely sought after and used. Once all the premium pi ne was logged, the poorer quality pines, like the yellow pines, were used. Poorer quality yellow pine grew faster, in order to replace the premiums, hence, just about all that remains, since the early 1900s, is the poorer q uality yellow pines, i.e., those that we are most familiar with, today. W e can't apply today's rationale to the events and circumstances of long ago .
SYP was/is a magnet for termites, powder post beetles and other insects, de spite having a turpentine content. That old cypress was used because its very much more resistance to insects, very resistance to rotting and it is structurally sound for that framing use.
His boards don't look quite like long leaf pine, either, but they just migh t be.
Down south, today, salvaged old cypress and salvaged long leaf pine are pre mium "decor" lumbers for many applications, rather than being as commonly u sed utility-wise or structural-wise, as long ago.
For one test, he needs to smell that planed surface, to see if it has an od or of turpentine. If it's pine, he should have gotten a distinct whiff of the turpentine scent, when planing, without having to go back, now, and sn iff the planed surface.
I don't know if the western varieties of pine have the turpentine scent. Just about all the eastern/south eastern pines do have the scent.
Google search for images of long leaf pine dining tables.
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Click on pics of interest, for ideas for your table's design, like maybe th e base of this table:
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able Seems to be simple & easy geometry, probably with mortise & tenon jointery, and still looks elegant. This is a very heavy table, though.... wouldn't be moved very often, if at all.
No matter what the lumber is, you probably have some very good lumber. A ny old nice salvaged lumber is premium, IMO, so strive for the best design possible and do your best work possible. Don't rush and don't skimp. An d show us some finished pics, also.
Looking it up the Armory wasn't built until 1907 by which time commercial framing lumber was pretty much commonplace.
The barn out here in SW KS built just after rationing was lifted following armistice of WWI (Nov 1918) was only some 10 year later and it's all SYP looking very much like OP's samples.
The very first glance of the first planed piece made me initially think it was a red oak given the two-hued shades with the distinctive sap wood to the edges at the right end of the plank but on further looking there's no indication of the typical oak porosity and the appearance of the medullary rays are just so distinctive is why I'm pretty sure...
estown Armory in Boston) that I want to make into a dining table like this:
3QwZnR4aFE&usp=sharing
k like Douglas Fir, so it is a bit reddish in tone. The wood is ~14" wide, 2" thick, and ~7 foot long I have 4 of them. The table is planned to be 3 ' x 7'. I plan to to plane each of the boards on both sides so the surface is flat. But the person I am making it for wants that look like in the pic ture above. So I'm not really sure how to treat it when I'm done putting i t together. I also am now sure what to do with the legs, aprons and other pieces below. I'm not sure if I need to search for more reclaimed lumber o r just find some more Douglas Fir at a lumber yard and treat it somehow to make it look old.
Ok, I posted the pics of the end grain. This is really proving to be very educational for me so thanks. I don't think they are Oak, that's one of t he woods I recognize pretty reliably, and this doesn't look like it. Oh, I also had a go with some dark brown Briwax and was very happy with it. So the colors on it are stain, Was over shellac, wax alone.
On 07/06/2015 3:38 PM, snipped-for-privacy@jimryan.com wrote: ...
Ay-up, that there's SYP fer shure...
I was certain after a second look it wasn't oak too altho the overall two-hues of the one piece are consistent with the heartwood/sapwood one often sees. But, as noted earlier as soon as looked at a closer look the porosity isn't there and you can clearly also see with the end grain wrong cell structure.
Sonny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I'd always heard of longleaf as being a yellow pine. Longleaf, loblolly, slash, and one other I'm forgetting where the southern yellow pines. Now-a-days most of what you get is slash pine, because it grows faster. Not really sure when the old growth was logged out, but I think it would have been in the WW1 timeframe.
I'll grant you, the northern and western white pines were superior lumber, especially for purposes other than construction.
When I looked at the original pictures I was thinking it was chestnut... the latest pictures haven't changed that impression. If I could see it in person and smell it I may have a different impression!
Yeah, I tried attaching a scent to the picture, but it wouldn't stick...
Now I have to figure out the finish. I like the wax, but it alone won't be a durable enough finish. The stain I put on was a MinWax poly stain, I don't really like the color, but if I got the right one it might be good. Any thoughts?
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