Sawdust Saturday
The Salvaged Barn Beam Bench Build
A lot was accomplished this last Sawdust Saturday. Most importantly I built a little bench from a salvaged barn beam I had recently sand blasted.
The pics above show some of the process. I should note I had already milled the salvaged barn beam in half. The bench only took one half of the beam.
Cutting the beam to length proved to be a lot of work for my old Craftsman Contractor saw. So, I had to start with the chainsaw. The beam's grain was so tight, it made cutting through it like cutting through stone.
Free-handing some pocket holes for some 3" heavy duty wood screws proved to be easier than cutting the beam. When I glued, clamped, and screwed the legs to the seat I wasn't sure if it would hold. But, sure enough it did. I even stress tested it...multiple times.
In the end I left all the chainsaw marks on the seat part to add character. This little salvaged barn beam bench was a cool build. And it's really, really heavy. I love these old barn beams as a material, but they really are not easy to work with.
Storage For The Restored Hand Planes
And this is the hand plane case I made from the old extension table of my table saw and the handles of used foam brushes. Some day I will make a true carpenter's case, but this works for now. Not too shabby for about 10 minutes worth of work.
