From Fir Tree to Shop Bench

[rarefish383]

A couple months ago I took down this Fir and did some other trimming around the yard for a friend. Charged $1500, not that close of a friend, and finished in a day.







The two logs sat on my trailer till Sunday. My wife said I never got the bench built in her potting shed, so I built a 2X4 frame, and was getting ready to run up to Lowes for a sheet of particle board. Then, I got to thinking, I have two perfectly good Fir logs, and I just spent 1200 bucks on a new 660, think I'll mill me up some boards.

Sorry I didn't get pics of the mill on the log, but here's the after math.

 

[rarefish383]

Got the boards up to the garage and broke out the Harbour Freight table saw, planer and sliding mitre.







I snapped a chalk line on both edges of the first board and pushed it half way through the table saw and pulled it the rest. I was surprised that I got a really straight cut. I am going to have to get a jointer. I measured every thing twice and still almost screwed up. I was getting ready to trim the bench top and back board to fit the end pieces. Then I relized I hadn't planed anything yet and it was all going to get thinner. Actually, I kept running the end boards through the planer till it was all a snug fit. Here I'm fitting the pieces.



And this is the finished bench. In some of the pics it looks like a gap between the top and face board, that's just the dark line of the live edge. I'm leaving to go fishing for a week in the morning. When I get home I'm going to hit it with some sand paper and try out Waterlox Tung Oil, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Oh, I went out to the shed this morning and was really happy to see that the red in the boards keeps getting darker. The large red streaks are almost as dark as Cedar now, Joe.

 

[El Quachito]

Nice. What kind of mill attachment?

 

[rarefish383]

36" Alaskan, Granburg, Joe.

 

[Marshy]

Nice work

 

[Dave Boyt]

Very nice. I bet you'll soon have shelves to match.

 

[rarefish383]

I just hit it with some 220 and put the second coat of poly on. I can't believe how the red just keeps getting darker and darker. I was thinking about putting some dry wall up between the studs so I can get a pic of the color in the wood. The blond color of the walls is washing out the color of the wood. Also poor lighting in the shed, Joe.