Category Archives: Item
May 18, 2014 ITEM 57 BLUE GROOVE
An LP record stand to show off the cover art, protect it from the daily hazards and always know where you left it! This single hardwood plank (species unknown) was surprisingly dense and though looked to have been in the sea for a year was still fairly sound over all. For some reason one face had eroded in a more furrowed way than the other. I kept the smoother bleached out side exactly as found (became rear face of stand) and worked the furrowed face.
The process
-Trim the ends
-Scrub down with a brush
-Paint base coat to the furrowed side
-Sky blue spray paint coat to furrowed side
-Sand back newly painted face leaving the paint to seal the cracks and some timber grain is revealed
-Section plank into three equal lengths, two for the face and one to be dissected origami style to generate legs, rear shelf and lift grip (refer sketch diagram)
-I crafted a joining biscuit from a bit of scrap 3 ply and routed a groove to fix the two face sections and then screwed the leg supports to flatten and secure the face.
-Drill and place brass rod supports (found a length of this in the street).
-Add SALTANDWOOD stamp and varnish select surfaces to generate contrast to preserve as found faces.
THIS ITEM HAS SOLD
Tags: Beach house sculpture, Boat, cafe furniture, carpentry, design, driftwood, re purposed drift wood, re-purpose, recycle, recycled sculpture, sculpture, street found, street found timber, streetwood, timber restored
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April 7, 2014 Item 54: Quality Endorsed
This is the end scrap of a laminated timber post that I pulled out of a skip bin. It already embodied loads of character with pre pencil rounded edges, laminated striping and zig zag joins. I applied some simple cross cut ideas to yet another CD stand. Utilising no other elements but the post itself to generate the functioning sculptural body. The rest was finishing the timber to bring out the colour and texture. It has an ink stamp on the side and a pressure stamp added to the base. The separate bits were glued and then I dropped a few long countersunk screws up through the base to ensure a 1000 year shelf life.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, design, driftwood, flotsam, lamp, modernist, re purposed drift wood, re-purpose, repurposed, street found timber, style, timber, timber restored
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March 25, 2014 Item 72: Now Playing CD 2
I know I know who listens to CDs anymore? Well me and besides they are the new retro item after LPs! And making these stands is strangely addictive. In this case the third element of the resting pins has been deleted by arranging the legs such that they also do the job of supporting the CD for display of cover art and always knowing where the cover is. ITEM 72 is formed from a chunk of hardwood found washed up on the beach and a piece of ply that looked like it came off a yacht judging from the type of varnish it retained. I sanded and varnished one face of the block retaining the other 5 surfaces as found and cut slots for the legs I cut out of the ply scrap. And voila, ITEM 72.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, cd display, design, driftwood, flotsam, LP, music, re purposed drift wood, re-purpose, repurposed, timber, timber restored
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March 22, 2014 ITEM 34 to 49 Cheese Boards
A selection of mixed timber floor joists pulled from a builders skip in Newtown. Judging by the nails in the timber and the house they came out of it is safe to assume they could have been installed 100 years prior. And given the times those trees were felled in the trees would likely have been at least 100 years old (many Eucalyptus species grow for multiple 100s of years). So each of these joists could easily have come from a tree that was a seedling before Captain Cook sailed into Botany Bay and decided Australia would be a nice place to start a new country and cut down some trees!
These lengths were pulled out of the skip, carted home, greeted with doubts from central command, de-nailed, brushed down, sanded, marked for sectioning of prime cuts, cut into selected units, all the major imperfections removed and filled with wood putties or coloured waxes, base and sides varnish sealed, ITEM number stamped, top surface oiled to allow food serving and cutting. And lastly feet and or legs were added. They will go on sale as part of an upcoming pop up shop/ exhibition of SALT AND WOOD works.
Process
ITEM 34
ITEM 35
ITEM 36
ITEM 37
ITEM 38
ITEM 39
ITEM 40
ITEM 43
ITEM 44
ITEM 45
ITEM 46
ITEM 47
ITEM 48
ITEM 49
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, design, foodies, recycled sculpture, street found timber, timber restored
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February 2, 2014 Item 73: Cargo Lamp 2
Compiled from street found lamp fittings, a retro Australian made (*439 DÉCOR Australia) orange plastic flowerpot and flotsam washed up around Sydney Harbour. The blue parts look like they might have been some sort of packing palette, the legs and edge trim look like they are probably fittings broken from a yacht. The rudder (I couldn’t resist) was cut from a ply panel again most likely off a yacht or cruiser. Angled legs and curved corners and it all culminated in this fun little sculpture/ complimentary colour lamp/ phone and wallet spot!
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, design, driftwood, flotsam, lamp, re purposed drift wood, re-purpose, repurposed, timber, timber restored
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February 2, 2014 Item 15: Cargo Lamp
This very dense block of hardwood (maybe Eucalyptus?) was discovered hiding deep inside the rocks of a wave break wall. After a month or so of drying in the sun I cut away the top surface and one end to reveal the grain. The whole unit was split long ways from the base so a series of timber pegs were employed to cross dowel the block. To enhance the sense of the maritime, a simple long slot was cut along the front and back face. Something like the Plimsoll Line of a ships hull (http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-33-a-cheer-for-samuel-plimsoll/). The area below the line sanded and painted. The areas above the line left as the day they were found. A router was used to cut simple slots in the base into which rail legs were fitted. The legs were restored from timber salvaged from discarded garden furniture. The lampshade was found on the streets of Newtown and a shower rod end was used to mount it in the deck. The red cord was purchased in Copenhagen a year ago and the plug end is new. Add some light fittings (street recovered) and voila the Cargo Lamp.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, design, driftwood, flotsam, re purposed drift wood, re-purpose, repurposed, timber, timber restored
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January 30, 2014 Item 71: CD Robot
This small simple sculpture is a continuation from Item 61: Now Playing LP. A combination of some street found fine brass rod and a cube of character packed timber and remnants of a Chinese shrine washed up on a Sydney beach. The cube was brushed all round and sanded on 2 sides with only the face being finally sealed to bring out the peculiar end grain. The beauty of it for me is the not knowing what construction project this little cube is a bi product of or where in the world it floated here from or even what species of tree it is derived from.
THIS ITEM HAS SOLD
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, design, driftwood, flotsam, re purposed drift wood, re-purpose, repurposed, timber, timber restored
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January 9, 2014 Item 65: Cupped Oak
I built a kids drawing table while attending Richard Crosland’s ‘School of Fine Woodwork.’ A course I will highly recommend to anybody interested in adding layers of insight to their skills. The table was crafted from some rough sawn planks of American Oak. There was a couple of random bits left at the end. This little square was destined for the BBQ. However for sentimental reasons Central Control deemed it could not be burned and was thus converted into this simple little cheese and olives platter! The raw piece had cupped over time adding a satisfying form. The legs are street recovered dowel.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, design, modernist, re purposed
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January 8, 2014 Item 64: The Dino Crocetti
I found this discarded unit not far from my house. Judging by the style and crafting my guess is that some time in the 1960s some geezer picked up a couple of Maple planks and set out to grace the entertainment corner with a cheeky budget cocktail shelf! Remember this was a time before IKEA and the concept of DIY because… well… unless you were ‘well to do’ pretty much everything was DIY!
It was looking past the point of salvage but it is amazing what turning something upside down can do to hide 50 years of drink stains! The maple proved to have plenty of life left in it revealing a charismatic colour and grain when sanded and varnished. The remnant white paint and black oxidized nail holes all added more character and interest. The holes and some removed rot where filled with orange wax and or wood putty. Legs were restored and added from another discarded table. And the locking lip of a piano lid was restored, cut and fitted as a rear barrier detail to the top edge. You can see the brass lock plate still in place. A two-part backing was cobbled together from scrap with the top inside edge painted orange to carry the wax detailing.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe display, cafe furniture, conversation piece, modernist, re-purpose, street found, street found timber, talking point, timber restoration
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December 22, 2013 ITEM 70: Ten Drawer
This wholly horrible thing was cast onto the footpath at the end of our street. But the size was good and the structure sound. What was most attractive was the standing height top surface above the reach of children. Adorned in a fashion best described as post Romanesque nostalgic and sporting drawer handles that would make a Belgian proud as fittings in his secret basement dungeon. All I did was cut the top back to expose a bit of wood grain, removed the handles and drilled out finger holes and painted everything else white. And voila.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, design, modernist, re-purpose, recycled sculpture, street found timber, streetwood, timber restored
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December 22, 2013 ITEM 67: Pic Stripe
Same same as 66 but different, this was a piece of flotsam recovered at Botany Bay. Presumably a fitting from a luxury cruiser or a yacht, the paint was selectively removed to reveal this impressive timber. Simply sanded and varnished with a slot cut along its length it becomes a means to compile all the odd bits of notes. Pictured, cards, reminders etc that sit around your side bench.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, design, driftwood, flotsam, sculpture, street found timber, streetwood, timber recycling
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December 22, 2013 ITEM 66: Pic Steel
This little stick of timber held so much character between its surprising density to its rich colour to the black divot and shiny polished off steel nail remnant that it became its own object. Simply sanded and varnished with a slot cut along its length it becomes a means to compile all the odd bits of notes. Pictured, cards, reminders etc that sit around your side bench.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, driftwood, flotsam, recycled sculpture, repurposed, street found timber, talking point, timber recycling, timber restoration
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December 22, 2013 ITEM 62: Pagoda
A section of eucalyptus flooring became the mid shelf with various bits of a discarded wardrobe utilized to make a hidden base drawer. And angled legs cut from a little plank recovered at the beach. Probably the most interesting feature is the pattern created by some type of wood worm on the inside face. I spray painted this blue then sanded it back to highlight this alien language. Another original feature was the use of Perspex as a backing panel. Cut from a broken sheet I found on my street it introduces a fantastic light quality to the unit. In addition to this light play is the mid shelf being deliberately off set from the rear of the unit to allow light to be evenly spread over the inner rear face. Note also the integration of the restored old school wooden ruler as the back edge to the mid shelf. And the restored/ reshaped corner of the old drawer face. Some old boy had resin bogged a rough corner on years ago and I was able to sand and polish this resin to reform a perfect little corner with all the detail of the resin and previous paint.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, design, driftwood, flotsam, key cabine, modernist, re purposed timber, re-purpose, recycle, recycled sculpture, street found, talking point, timber restoration
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July 5, 2013 ITEM 61: NOW PLAYING LP
After the surprising success of ‘ITEM 17 Now Playing’ comes ITEM 61 Now Playing LP. Item 17 was a CD case display that turned out to be very handy and commented on with approval by many! I was subsequently on the lookout for an appropriate piece of drift or street wood to do an upscale version for LPs.
I came across this wedge of tree trunk, chainsaw cut on the perfect angle with the heart wood core creating a great form across the face (looks a bit like the soccer world cup trophy). The sides were hit with a stiff brush only and the face orange spray coloured then sanded back. Some dry rot was drilled out and wax filled in black and orange. Two holding pegs were doweled into the final varnished face. Much work went into a base stand that in house design control advised against using in the end. Even more so than CDs it is an opportunity to display album cover artwork as a rotating exhibition.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, driftwood, flotsam, LPs, Records, repurposed, sculpture, Stereo Hi Fi Gear, street found, street found timber, streetwood, timber restored, vinyl
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April 1, 2013 Item 60: Cocamaphone 1.25
OK so you’ve got Roland Kirk turned up to 11 on the house system so you can hear it clear out the back where you are in the zone. But your wife and kids are inside becoming emotionally unmanageable because it’s too loud and far out for them. So you sacrifice quality for compromise and take your phone outside to listen to music on that instead. But the zone is a hostile environment and a hot LZ for an iphone. Sun, flying frag, potential toxic fluid flicks and rain drops. Voila, enter the Cocamaphone. Cut the top of a 1.25 litre plastic coke bottle. Has to be Coke shape to get the amplifying funnel acoustics. Bore a hole in the side of the base and insert the top you cut off. Screw the lid back onfrom insideto secure it all and have the top sliced of the lid to allow the sound out. Chuck some paint on the top half for UV barrier. Drill a couple of holes in the fluted base to allow any water out in case of Perfect Storm scenario. Slice rim and fold out as shown to allow stand and added amp. I have been experimenting for a while and it makes a big diff (louder) if the phone speaker is pushed hard to the hack of the Cocamaphone.
The Cocamaphone actually achieves the following with phone inserted:
– Good stability from rolling and knocking.
– Better visibility of phone location (could paint brighter or funkier colour scheme!) and thus reduced inadvertent mech damage.
– Better base vibes and good volume amplification.
– Sun protection.
– Good rain splash and splatter protection. The fluting in the base of PET bottles means any water that gets in will never touch phone before it heads out your drain holes. Don’t forget the drain holes.
– Good buffering from flying and or falling objects.
I devised this DIY quick and cheapie for the workplace but I reckon it would go well at the beach, picnics in the park etc etc.
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salt and wood 