Wooden Serving Tray

A while back a co-worker of mine asked me if I wanted some “scrap” wood from a family members house. I of course said yes. (I’ll admit I sort of have a problem and may be referred to as a wood hoarder, email me for more but otherwise a topic for another day). What he brought me was a pile of scrap hardwood flooring something I wasn’t expecting but none the less it was free wood. After looking at this pile of wood in the shop the idea came. The wood floor pieces would fit nicely together to form a panel. My wife (girlfriend at the time) had been asking for a tray so she could carry odds and ends upstairs to her office. So with a little creativity I came up with these serving trays. There is a maple bottom and an oak. I was able to make three in total and my friend who gave me the wood I ended up making them a serving tray as a wedding gift.

Fun, practical, and functional project taking scrap wood that was going to be thrown in the garbage and making it into a wedding gift and a staple household item in our house.

Timber Framed Address Sign

The other day, my neighbor and I worked to replace an old rotten fence post. We replaced the old post with a new pressure treated post and got the fence back together. While I was walking back around to our house I seen the old post on his deck and I asked him if he was going to throw the old post away and he said he was and asked if I wanted it.

Its hard to say no to free wood and I had the perfect project in mind.

A couple of years ago I remodeled our house replacing all the siding. When I took off the old siding the house numbers came with and our house has sat unnumbered for a couple of years now (to the dismay of every delivery driver) with the intent I would make something eventually. Well the eventually came when my wife threatened to order numbers for the house because we were getting ready to host a BBQ at our unnumbered house.

Since the old fence post was western red cedar and I have been wanting to practice traditional joinery I went to work on this simple design. I cut the rotten end off the post, a few trips through the planer, table saw, and band saw later I had pieces resembling something. I made a large mortise and fit the through tenon and secured everything with some dowel. The CNC machine went to work carving numbers out of black walnut and the plaque is made from cherry. Everything got a few coats of spar urethane and I hung the address plaque with some copper wire.

All in all I was very happy with the end result. Instead of digging a deep post hole I used a spike the post sits if we ever decided to move the post.

If you are interested in your own post and beam address sign contact us today.

Barn Beam Chandelier

I got the idea for this hand hewn barn beam chandelier one day while browsing Pinterest. It looked like a great way to add a big bold statement in a room with a chandelier. After seeing the idea on Pinterest I filed it away in my head for later use.

Fast forward some months and my wife and I were browsing through one of our local antique malls. I remember seeing an old barn beam there on one of our previous visits and after telling her about my idea and remembering seeing the beam we decided to go see.

Sure enough there it was, an old barn beam tucked away in the corner of an antique booth in the mall. The hew marks were beautiful and a testament to the hard work put in shaping the timbers. There was a tenon with a peg hole and a mortise too with an old peg. So we lugged the timber to the cash register and went on our way with the beam.

After getting home that’s when the work started. Holes were drilled, wires were ran, and wires were spliced. Bulb sockets were connected and lightbulbs were screwed in and then the moment of truth. The beam was wired up and the switch turned on and all seven bulbs lit up.

Chain was added to hang the chandelier and give it an industrial look and chain might have been necessary given the weight.

All in all the barn beam chandelier was a lot of fun to build and would make a great addition to any kitchen, restaurant, business, or place where you desire a unique light sure to turn heads.

Vintage Milk Strainer Pendant Light

This is another piece we found from our friends Pat and Linda (P&L Rusty Iron). After a recent trip out west they invited us over to show us what they found. This old milk strainer was sitting out in front of the barn.

Immediately after seeing it I knew it would make a perfect pendant light. There was a beautiful rusty patina that would just glow with an Edison bulb. The next problem would be how to hang the light. Alongside the barn there was some old chain hanging. Pat told me it was old farm equipment chain and the milk strainer and chain made for a perfect combination.

After bringing the parts home I went to work creating this pendant light from the pieces we found. This light would look amazing hanging in a farmhouse kitchen, or in a restaurant.

Fire Extinguisher Lamp

As a firefighter by trade, I am naturally drawn to firefighter decor. I have seen the traditional fire extinguisher lamps that use an old copper extinguisher. I had a vision for something a little different.

I had found an old carbon dioxide extinguisher at a flea market and was able to negotiate a bargain. As the extinguisher sat in my house I thought how it would look good as a lamp. Instead of using a pull chain or a nob to turn it off and on I thought, what if you could squeeze the handle. I set off to the hardware store and bought some lamp making supplies. This was my first ever try at a lamp and with a squeeze of the handle the Edison bulb illuminated and thought I was on to something.

This was in the pre-Maker and Finder days but there was a feeling of satisfaction finding something and re-pourposing it into a piece of functional home decor. When family and friends would stop by they would all comment on how great the lamp turned out.

After creating Maker and Finder, I used that lamp as a prototype to make another. So this is an old American LaFrance carbon dioxide extinguisher turned into a lamp. just like the first one I made, to turn on you squeeze the handle and watch the beautiful glow from the Edison bulb.

Book Lamps

We love to read. One day while browsing the internet I seen a picture of a stack of books turned into a lamp. The light bulb went off! A friend of ours runs a book store that sells $1 books. We made a stop at his store went home and turned some old books into book lamps. And these are some of our favorite projects. Finding something and making it into something beautiful.

Barn Wood Mail Organizer

Our friends Pat and Linda from P&L Rusty Iron, go out west a couple times a year and pick old homesteads bringing back found treasures. While picking through their recent haul, we found some old rusty bins, some barn wood, among other things. We brought everything home and tucked it away in the shop. Like most things I make, I don’t start until I have some sort of vision in my head. How neat would it be to make a mail organizer from the bins and barn wood. The bins are believed to be from an old grain conveyor, lying in a field just rusting away. The barn wood has a beautiful weathered patina. The combination of the bins and wood is gorgeous.

Two seeming ordinary “junky” things wasting away in a field brought together to live another repurposed life. This is why I love what I do and is the spirit behind Maker and Finder. Make. Find. Create.