historical wood

[eclecticcottage]

Thanks, OT. Yeah, it's looking more like Christmas now, though. But we are moving right along, hitting a speedbump here and there but all in all, it's going pretty good.

I love the natural feel and coziness of real wood. Got it all through the house. Hemlock beams, oak floors, walnut staircase (most of it reclaimed from antique houses). Also love the feel of real stone. Lots and lots of that in here, too!

Renos NEVER stay on time, in my experiance. I wanted ours done by thanksgiving too...I don't think it's gonna happen though, lol.

Ditto. We're adding some beadboard in the last two rooms without wood on the walls shortly. I thought about lake stone as the backsplash in the kitchen...then I remembered grouting the hearthpad and decided to cheat and use faux brick panels, lol.

BTW, don't let that super seasoned pine overnight burn fool you, they don't grow them like that anymore, lol.

 

[ScotO]

Ren

BTW, don't let that super seasoned pine overnight burn fool you, they don't grow them like that anymore, lol.

I know, that wood is denser than some hard maple I have. The annual rings are amazingly tight, almost need a magnifying glass to see them all. That old, virgin timber is definately a cut above almost everything you can get today.....
Good luck on your reno, Eclectic......any pics of your project? I'd love to do a mountain stone backsplash in our kitchen, someday down the road.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Yup, see the link to the blog in my sig. I do need to update it with some more recent pics.

 

[firefighterjake]

Less than a year after we moved to SW Colorado, lightning struck a juniper near our house. The volunteer fire crews extinguished the fire, but cut the tree down in the process. Because that area of the country is semi-arid, trees grow very slowly. I cut a 6-inch thick cookie from the juniper, which measures about 15" in diameter, about 40" up from the ground.

I knew a dendrochronologist who worked at the Tree Ring Lab in Arizona. He showed me how to count the rings, using a hand magnifier. I cross-checked my count with a formula that the USFS and archeologists in the area use for dating junipers, based on the tree diameter at that height. Both results show that the earliest ring on the tree was formed in 1506 (+/- 10 years), which is when Christopher Columbus died, about 100 years before Jamestown colony.View attachment 80828

I keep the cookie here in my study in Richmond, one of my favorite souvenirs of the desert southwest.

Very, very cool.

 

[Sprinter]

How easy was your stuff to work with? I built a barn in the 80's with old Douglas fir that came from a demo'd 100 year old sawmill. (Sorry, but 100 years is actually pretty old out here). The dimensional lumber, especially the 2x6's, were so hard, I couldn't drive a nail through them. Might as well have been petrified. Really strong, though.

 

[osagebow]

Would love to find some stuff like that. I'm sure it's gonna look great! I remember a study of 800 year old cypress tree rings suggesting Roanoke and Jamestown were affected by severe droughts. Rings from those time periods were all piled together.

 

[Senatormofo]

Scotty, we will let your deadline slide as long as you promise to post pics! Looking forward to seeing the completed project!! (I'm sure your wife is too!)

 

[fishingpol]

Nice piece of history there Scott. I'm all for a good wood repurpose project.

I've read that enormous pines in New England were called "Kingswood". They were crown property to be used for masts in building the Brittish Navy. The Brittish even had ships with doors in the stern that would open to allow the tree to be slid into the ship under the deck. Woodcutting was highly regulated back in colonial times.

 

[Thistle]

November 2010 my neighbor replaced the shingles & most of the sheathing on his 1906 Craftsman 1 1/2 story house.Originally had clay tile roof but he had that removed in early 90's.Still had exposed 6 x 6,5 x 5 & 4 x 4 old growth Doug Fir beams/braces with a 24" overhang.That was in need of major repair,was sagging pretty good.

They removed all the old wood,reduced the overhang to 18" & fabricated new 'non-load-bearing' braces from 4 x 4 western red cedar w/ a 2 x 8 backplate attaching them where the old ones were.Everything reduced slightly in size,looks really good since it all matches now.

I ended up with all the old beams/braces removed - anywhere from 2 to 4 ft long,after trimming/squaring all the pieces with mortices/tenons,rot,large knots etc..Removed a few broken nails (I have a small hand held metal detector also) & they're covered with several layers of paint.But its the tightest grain Doug Fir I've seen in decades,an amazing orangish-red color.Will be great for small decorative boxes,woodturning & other things.1 really nice 3ft 4 x 4 will eventually be the column for a plant stand I'll surprise my neighbors with soon.....

 

[fishingpol]

Drooling here Thistle. Nice score.