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The table top is still sipping out sap. Is this even possible from something that is 160 years old?
Sure, it's definitely possible. Sap doesn't just disappear from a piece of wood because it's old.
One might think that over that long of a time, the sap should have dried up a little. If it was kept in a cooler place and brought into somewhere warmer, the ...
9
You can either mechanically remove the varnish or chemically strip it.
Examples of mechanical methods:
planer
jointer
table saw
belt sander (or other aggressive sander)
hand plane?
If I was using one of the above methods I'd probably opt for the belt sander.
If using a planer or jointer, some people prefer to swap in a dull set of knives. Similarly, you ...
8
Bandsaw the planks in half. They'll net out slightly under 3/8's but not only will it be faster, you'll end up with twice as many usable boards afterwards, because you'd be able to keep both faces. So it's a win-win. If you don't have a bandsaw, or access to one, then taking them to a commercial shop or even another hobby woodworker would be a good bet. Wide-...
8
It could be the 'reclaimed bit. By reclaiming the wood, one possibility is that they had to resaw the timbers to boards. It might have started out as 8" x 8" timber or some other large dimension. This is actually quite likely, and the 'new' cuts are now exposing new wood.
Even a significant planning to straighten and clean the boards could cause a ...
7
I would certainly worry about assembly in the cold, and anything you are going to glue needs to be above 50F for the glue to work properly anyway. Moisture is the bigger worry, and in the northern climes winter is pretty dry, add cold to that and you are looking at issues when the project warms up and is exposed to more moisture. So yes, I would recommend ...
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My plan was to basically put them on a flat surface, glue them up and clamp them together. Obviously this is a rough idea and I am looking for some advice before I glue myself to the floor.
There's nothing essentially wrong with your plan, but there are some minor modifications that will make it go more smoothly.
On a substantial glued panel like this, ...
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If you're starting from scratch without question the most inexpensive way to remove old paint (most finishes in fact) is using a scraper of some sort. Scrapers generally last you the rest of your life, so even if they cost a lot more than they do they'd still work out most cost-effective and outright cheapest.
That said, I don't think using a scraper is ...
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Is it possible to get this look by artificially distressing lumber and if so how would this be accomplished?
Yes, and depending on exactly the character you're after it can actually be quite straightforward, although involved. What I mean is the techniques are individually very simple but there may be quite a number of them used in sequence (and the ...
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Any wood left untreated and allowed to weather will eventually turn gray. In the days before pressure treated lumber was prominent, people stained or painted their decks and other outdoor projects to protect them from rot and graying. With the advent of pressure treating, the advice and common practice became to "let it weather naturally".
Determine the ...
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In smaller batches I recommend hand scraping for finish removal on large, flat expanses as you're faced with here. It's not as onerous as it sounds because of how efficient card scrapers are, and at least you're not having to deal with the boards in situ on the floor. (Backbreaking work!)
Chemical stripping is obviously one option, and while the 'green' ...
5
A simple test on one plank will tell you that sanding is not practical for reducing the thickness by 3/8". Even planing them in a thickness planer will take 5-10 passes and sanding, even with course 60 grit, takes a lot less thickness off on each run, plus you will go through a lot of sanding belts.
If you choose to plane them I recommend that you closely ...
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The simplest way is to just glue the boards together. Making sure all the pieces are square. You can glue a short piece to a longer piece and then glue the next piece to both of them making it out to the 5' mark. (or maybe a couple to get the full length.
If you have a 15" wide planer it makes it easy at the end to run it through to even out the top/...
4
Super Basic Distressing
I know you can distress wood. Beating it with a chain, scratching will tools etc. Then lazily applying a dark uneven stain and then a finish. That is easy and and very stress relieving (the chain part). You, on the other hand, are trying to get that reclaimed lumber look. If you didn't show the picture I would have expanded on my ...
3
Is it drastically more work to sand down barn wood instead of planing?
Using a wide-belt sander? No. Sanding it by any other means? Yes.
3
I think what you are asking is: How do I ensure all my vertical boards are the same length. Often, this is more important than being a particular length. Another way to say it is: You desire precision over accuracy. This is a common goal in cabinetry, and you should be pleased that you figured out that it's important.
Here is the trick I use to help ...
3
About 50 years ago, my Dad worked for an "antique" dealer on Cape Cod who would take a new, unfinished piece (like a table) and toss it in the ocean for a couple of weeks. Then he'd pull it out, do a half-a**ed job of finishing it and sell it as an antique to idiots coming from Boston or New York. Maybe not the most ethical thing, but it would be you the ...
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I'm not sure if you realize, but that's going to be one heavy top, at 1.5" thick x 15" deep x 60" long.
As far as the how, you can do it in sub-assemblies. Basically, build up some smaller 4 or 5 board length sub-sections, and laminate them together.
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The plywood would be a bit thin on its own as a stool seat, as would the solid wood. Together they will be fine (provided they are well glued together of course).
I wouldn't bother trying to remove the veneer from the plywood.
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It should and could be repaired.
One idea I had was to lightly pencil in a line square with the top at the same distance on each side from the corner. Use a couple of straight edges to find the corner that is out in space.
Now, I can think of several fixes but these two are similar with different effect:
Use a handsaw to carefully cut across the corner on ...
1
This is a fast path which preserves the character of the for the top but sacrifices the bottom surface of the table (the side seen by the floor). Assuming you have a planer or are savvy with hand planes, this is approachable without too much pain. Find the thinnest board in the set you wish to use and plane the bottom surface flat.
For the sake of ...
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I’m building a coffee table out of pine 12x12’s that I believe to be in the 200 year old range possibly much older. They were structural support beams in a building in the meat packing district of Manhattan, the building is at least 150 years old .and after cutting them to length one of them is oozing sap-pitch,it looks like I opened a pocket and out came ...
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My answer is YES old wood has sap..that's what keeps me going. JK!
The reason we dry kiln things is for heat.. not to dry sap particularly but to crystalize it. I understand that pine sap for instance, once 'set' to 150 degrees, will then crystallize on cool down, and will not liquify again, until reaching 151 degrees... This is why commercial dry kilns use ...
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Well they quit using arsenic a while ago now, So that would only be partially effective test. Granted the more important one, since the new stuff is supposed to be much safer.
However, if you have a small hand plane, you can do a few quick passes to see if you get down to the 'green' color popping out. doing this on the 'least' aged side would be the ...
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Depending how much you have might be worth it to get a cheap hand planer to remove the finish before running it through your planner. I would check really carefully to make sure there isn't any metal in the boards.
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I've used a heat gun and a steel brush (lightly applied) to get varnish of old furniture in the past.
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I'm currently in the process of making a 5 piece crown molding to compliment some old growth long leaf pine that I installed on my walls. I found this link to be helpful to describe a ton of mordants and dyes that can be used to chemically age and alter the color of wood without staining, which never looks authentic to me because it takes the natural depth ...
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