Cedar Barn Plank Card Table

Posted by Prairie Bench in Tables and tagged with barn, card table, cedar, planks, prairie, reclaimed wood August 24, 2018

An old collapsing barn furnished cedar planks for a card table. The project started with the discovery of a set of 4 folding table legs. The planks were cut to size, sanded, glued and clamped. The old nails, staples and defects were left in, sanded flush and coated with layers of finish. A blond spruce slat was added for dividing line between two competitors. We are still debating changing the original color of the legs to something more “rusty”. We’ll post photos of the final decision.

Polyurethane is the finish. No stain is used. The size is approx. 33″x33″ and 27″ tall. The piece weighs less than 20lbs (8 kgs). Click images to expand.

Cedar Burl Scrying Bowl

Posted by Prairie Bench in Custom Sizes, Medieval, Woodland Collection and tagged with ash, bowl, burl, cedar, large, natural, Nostradamus, prairiebench.com, prediction, rowan, rustic, scrying, woodland November 12, 2015

An ancient (over two hundred years old) river bourne cedar scrying bowl set upon Rowan branches.

This is a one-of-a-kind, very unique showpiece and an original Prairie Bench design. The hand ground Cedar Burl Scrying Bowl has been displayed in local studios and used by fortune tellers who look into future events.

The rich burgundy tones pop on the polished surface which holds approx. 1 liter of water. The legs are twisting and interlocking English Mountain Ash known as Rowan (used for wands) and harvested on site, then joined without metal to create a stunning tripod that cradles the bowl.

The burl is large with an oval shape 40″ long and 24″ across. It’s approximately 12″ thick and set on the stand, the surface is 30″ tall.

‘River bourne’ means this burl came from a tree which fell naturally, swept into a river and later harvested by a licensed tug operator. On the ocean, we call it beachcombing. The source tree fell of it’s own accord or came down naturally. The only cut was to separate the burl from the timber.

The cedar burl has deep burn marks attributed to a lightning strike. You can see in the cross section where a bolt traveled into the wood. This is a unique feature showing burns directly next to untouched wood.

Scrying is a custom used by sages and fortune tellers to ‘peer’ into the future through a medium such as water in a bowl. The practice is most commonly associated with Nostradamus.

The Cedar Burl Scrying Bowl is precious and one of a kind so packaging will be extra heavy duty. The burl will need to be set carefully onto the legs once you have chosen its perfect position.

This unique showpiece is the original created by Prairie Bench Poco Canada, our small woodworkers studio that locates interesting examples of wood and uses them in designs. We use natural and safe synthetic materials to preserve and enhance features left by nature. See our moonlight test of the Cedar Scrying Bowl… click here.

Old Plank Cedar Chest

Posted by Prairie Bench in Country Collection, Trunks and Arch Tops and tagged with arch top, camel back, cedar, chest, old growth, prairie bench, reclaimed wood, reuse, trunk March 19, 2014

Cedar trunk in progress. A 100 year old camel back trunk sits in the background.

A friend dropped off a few pieces of old growth cedar reclaimed from a demolition. These were 2×6″ used in the attic. Cut to size and planed, the planks are now an arch top cedar chest. The arch top and it’s relative, the camel back, prevented others from stacking luggage on top. Your luggage would be last on and first off at the steam ship dock.

There are still some iron fixtures and hinges to go on, but we thought you might like to see some incredibly old cedar being put to reuse. The hardware will have to be old and worn, or we will make our own from steel flat bar.

The grain is very tight and the planks were heavy despite being cedar and completely dry. This one might be a keeper when it’s done, or maybe a traveling companion on display.

Approx size: 32″ wide x 22″ tall x 16″ deep
Approx weight: 30 lbs.

(Back with more pictures when it’s all shiny.)

Rustic Cedar Rail Bench

Posted by Prairie Bench in Benches, Custom Sizes and tagged with cedar, custom, furniture, Hawk Metalworks, interiors, lightning strike, prairie bench, rail, rustic, train track December 13, 2013

Like the elves, we wanted to squeeze in a couple extra projects before the holiday season. A client found a large slab of fallen cedar near a rail line in the Nelson area. The sample has unique features and a natural bowl shape. We believe the wood may be a remnant from a lightning strike due to the pattern of the burn and its location on the inside core. The wood was aged and weather worn, and full of splinters, however the structure was still good and could be preserved as a bench.

We suggested continuing the rail line motif with an industrial style combined with the wood. We ‘tracked’ down a nice piece of I-beam from the recyclers and then went straight to Steve at Hawk Metalworks in Poco (leave a comment if you want the tel#) where the frame was cut and welded to our exact specifications. For ties we used hemlock 4″x3″ rough cut beams.

The challenge with old cedar is the breakdown of the long grains resulting in slivers and and fractures. We soaked the piece in poly several times, sanding extensively to create a natural finish without gloss to the client’s preference. If cedar does get a sharp edge, sanding just exposes more of the sliver, so for anything too nasty, we cut across the grain in a scoop motion, soak with finish, and sand the divot smooth. The goal was to preserve the natural bowl shape that caught the client’s attention back in the forest.

The rail is left natural and local fabricator, Sawitall.net, helped design the brackets which were torched to look old and we applied a little flat black paint. Four bolts lock the rail to the ties from underneath.

#4BL12-13

height: approx 19″, length 52″, width 18″

Cedar Scrying Bowl Trial

Posted by Prairie Bench in Prairie Bench Life, Storybook Collection, Tables, Working With Wood and tagged with 13, cedar, Friday the thirteenth, moon, Nostradamus, prairie bench, scrying bowl, seeing the future, trial, wooden furniture September 14, 2013

As it is Friday the thirteenth, we agreed tonight would be a wonderful time to test out our cedar scrying bowl and see if we could catch a glimpse of the future.

Click here to see how we put it together.

There was a half moon tonight and we got some reflection photos with the bowl filled with water. That wee white light is the moon through our dusty shop camera. And yes you could see stars in the scrying bowl. Also, an interesting phenomenon happens: Once you catch a star’s reflection in the bowl, slowly move away and the image appears to magnify. As our distance from the bowl increased, the reflection grew visibly larger. The basin depth is quite shallow, yet it held almost a liter of water before trickling over the edge. With the surface so polished, the water held together like mercury. Candle light illuminated the meniscus (the surface edge where water meets solid) with a striking red tone.

Did we see the future? If so, the future looked a lot like the now. It was a very interesting trial of an ancient wooden invention. Nostradamus should have published a manual. Now we need to find a home for the scrying bowl, or somewhere to be enjoyed. Maybe in a forest glade?

A solitary moon’s reflection in the scrying bowl

Happy Friday the thirteenth!

PRAIRIE BENCH

Original Design

Tag Archives: cedar