Re: Working with driftwood

[Charlie Self]

Barry Lennox asks:

My wife has started to collect a fair quantity of driftwood, and >requires me to make it into something arty and useful. I guess it has >a high salt content and is certainly sandy, although most of the sand >can be washed off.

Note that "most."

Are there any precautions to be followed in using driftwood? Does it >wear blades and cutters any more than "normal" wood?

Obviously. The sand is abrasive as hell and is going to dull cutters rapidly. You also don't know until you start cutting whether or not you're working in soft or hard wood. You also don't know, and may never know, what kind of wood it is.

Also, I'm probably going to finish any such articles with shellac >and/or oil. Do these take OK on driftwood?

Any finish may work well on some, not well on others. You have no idea what wood you're using, so it may or may not be a wood that's easy to finish. You may also end up with a lot of salt inclusion, which could affect finishes badly.

Best bet: experiment a bit. Do your finishing on cut-off bits and pieces before doing the main event.

Good luck.

Charlie Self

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." James Madison

[Ernie Jurick]

The sand is embedded, as is the salt. Use cheap disposable blades and buy a lot of them.

-- Ernie

[Michael Baglio]

...snip...

Barry, did you by anychance catch Underhill's show a couple of weeks ago? Featured a guy who does "rustic" furniture who put together an Adirondack chair out of _really_ worn driftwood. It was so beat-up looking that it was gorgeous. Really. No "finish," just the raw wood. If you go that route, you get "artsy-fartsy" that the LOYL will like, and you don't destroy good tools doing it. A handsaw and a some exterior screws ought to be all you need! ;>

Best o' luck, and post pics!

Michael Baglio Chapel Hill

[Robert Bonomi]

Better use: arts-and-crafts project,

'recycled' materials 1) driftwood "branches" 2) large tin cans (2-3 lb coffee can, resturant-size ketchup, etc.) 3) scrap 'brass' recovered from rifle range 4) string, twine, fishline, etc. 5) sand/gravel/pebbles

Place #1 upright in #2. Fill #2 with #5, to hold #1 upright. Suspend #3 from #1, using $4.

Voila! Midwinter 'seasonal' decoration. 

"A cartridge in a bare tree"

[Mark]

JOAT, This stuff would be nasty to try to burn. You obviously haven't goggled today. :) Mark from Pasdaena, MD