Category Archives: Wood
June 9, 2014 ITEM 53 karla II
A large drawer from the 60s era, with the sleek lines of the cast metal handles and the laminated front and hot on the heels of ITEM 52 I had another foray into painting the base/ now rear face panel. This worked very well with the detail of the pine-laminated base ply; note the patina of tiny knots in the rear face detail. The same rescued Cedar skirting was used for the shelves as in ITEM 52. And again it has all the face, side and rear surfaces restored and is braced to be wall mounted or free standing on the added bar feet. Probably even a little bigger than ITEM 52.
The colorful ITEM 53 would look great wall mounted anywhere a bit of fun and timber detail was desirable!
And is now available for $200. First in. Drop me a note in the comments box.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, carpentry, design, re-purpose, recycle, recycled sculpture, street found, street found timber, streetwood, timber restored
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June 9, 2014 ITEM 52 karla
An old drawer, take a guess? Say circa 1930s. Great wooden handles dovetail joints and what I am guessing is Eucalyptus side and rear walls! You almost never come across this as everything now is compound material and before that was pine sides and rear to save the good stuff for the visible areas, a matter of supply and demand. There was a time when Sydney’s streets were paved with hardwood cobbles!
Though ironically the system that the city authorities insist on today is even more environmentally destructive. That is all the pretty unit paving across the footpaths of the city is underpinned with concrete slab!!! The carbon footprint of this activity is phenomenal and no doubt far out ways the touted carbon savings of the cities myriad highly publicized rain gardens and community vegetable groups and so on and completely unnecessary. There are many thriving metropolises across the world that have the common sense to lay there flat cobble or unit paving foot-ways on a compacted sub base that can easily be lifted jiggled and reset to suit street alterations, access to water/ electricity services and so on. So its lay it on a compacted crushed recycled base that can be easily massaged when needed VS:
1 Unnecessarily producing cement (the biggest carbon culprit by far as far as carbon emissions go)
2 All the machinery, fuel energy and water use involved in the bringing, mixing, laying, and setting of the concrete and cleaning of all the equipment.
3 All the machinery, fuel energy and water use involved in the smashing up (and throwing away and replacing) of the cemented down unit paving and concrete slab to access services or even just adjust mistakes or adjust to new construction or tree roots and so on.
4 And then, like Groundhog Day, you have to REPEAT steps one and two to put it all back again and again and again.
OK so I got a little off track there, I also recovered some (possibly) type of Red Cedar skirting from a skip and devised a way of mounting it backwards such that I could benefit from the width and amazing grain and things would not fall of the shelves, you can see this in picture 10. I restored the timber grain backing then thought I would have a little pattern fun on the back. Decided that was way cooler than the timber finish and reversed the backing. The numbered plugs can be removed and the backing switched at will. I cut all of the drawer surfaces back to the excellent grain but only gave the handles a wipe over before putting them back on (that’s why they are darker). I reinforced the hull with some cross bars that allow the unit to be wall mounted and added the bar feet so it can stand-alone as well, the cross bars were salvaged from and old bed I found on the street. If you look at picture 11 where I have the backing out, you can see it was ‘Karla’ who must have slept in this bed! I wonder where Karla is now?
The colorful ITEM 52 would look great wall mounted in an entry hallway or anywhere really!
And is now available for $200. First in. Drop me a note in the comments box.
Tags: Beach house sculpture, cafe furniture, carpentry, design, re-purpose, recycle, recycled sculpture, street found, street found timber, streetwood, timber restored
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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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salt and wood 