Cheeseboards #4 & #5 – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Two quick little boards to share. I was tasked with making a serving board for one of our best friend’s birthday (@mandyrubes). So I went to the wood pile and picked a VERY rough little chainsawed slab of elm (from the same tree I used in cheeseboard #3 and our coat rack), threw it through the planer like 30 times, cut the shape on my bench bandsaw, rounded over the edges with the router, sanded, and then made @tam_a_ryn do the finishing with mineral oil and beeswax (check the instagram post at the bottom for entertaining vids of that, with a cameo by @andtheschwartziswithme. You can also see @tam_a_ryn posing with our gift). The next day, my neighbors offered me some logs they’ve had in a pile for a few years. I had no idea the species, so I cut one open with the electric chainsaw, and repeated all the above. It turned out to be some beautiful yellow-orange mulberry wood. I gave them this board since they said I could take as much as I want. She had initially said “but you won’t want it, it’s full of bugs and rotten.” Luckily that was only true of the bark and some black ants in the pith. I was not expecting such color when I cut that dirty gray log open. Note: the shapes were basically just dictated by the cracks I worked around.

 

 

Cheeseboard #3 – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Here’s a simple little serving board/cheeseboard I made last week as an engagement/early wedding gift for @leelihort and @jmhmsw. The shape was intended to be sorta reminiscent of cat’s ears (for their two cats). Made from an old elm log in a neighbor’s firewood pile, after it had been cut down standing dead (probably from Dutch elm’s disease). I milled it with my cheap electric chainsaw, flattened it with a router/jig, cut the shape on my little bandsaw, and finished it with filtered walnut oil. Note: this piece bookmatches with our coat hanger I made from the same log.

Elm Coat Rack – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Coat hanger complete! I made this thing out of an old half-rotting log someone was giving away as firewood in Squirrel Hill. I loved the endgrain, which seemed structurally sound enough, and thought it might be pretty inside. So I milled it up with my cheap chainsaw, flattened it with a router/jig, filled the knotholes with epoxy, sanded and sanded, added keyhole slots in the back, added the hardware, and finished it with Arm-R-Seal. I was gonna square it up, but @tam_a_ryn liked the sawed angles from when it was originally cut down. The hooks are staggered because I couldn’t bring myself to cover that beautiful knotted figure. Still not sure what species. Checkout the before and after pics at the end. More of this in my story highlight. Inspired by a similar coat rack made by one of my favorite woodworkers on IG, Matt Plumlee @gotwoodwrkshop.