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Patchwork Barn Bench – Table

by Prairie Bench0

Lots of leftovers? That’s what often happens around the wood shed. It’s Halloween and after a good harvest this KD (kiln dried) bench made of 2×6 ends makes a fine place to set out treats, or put on costumes in the hallway.

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No nails or screws involved. The legs are cut at 10° and “picture framed” with some left over 2x4s. The surface is a patchwork of boards cut square on the chop saw. The dimensions are 42″ wide, 16.5″ deep, and 18″ tall. To even the surface, a 3.5″ planer was used to give it an old fashion look and feel. Sanding was at 60 grit and the sharp edges were sanded round. The ends of the bench top were planed thinner so the top doesn’t look like lumber.

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The top is pegged to the frame with eight hardwood dowels. Some artificial aging was added with a fine tip torch. This also highlights some flaws and grain. Because this is construction grade wood, cracks and knots must be ground out or someone sitting on it might get a sliver. Then the bench is coated in a mix of thinner and poly sealer to give it a soft, safe finish. The mix has no gloss and protects the wood with a rubbery durable coat that preserves the touch of real wood.

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Budget: $0. and the end result is a strong, rustic piece that can serve multiple purposes. The legs and frame were originally made for another project, but didn’t get used. They were test legs, but very strong and can easily hold several people standing on it. The corners of the legs are under the center beam, with a direct transfer of weight through the center and down through all four legs equally.

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#10-31-19 will host a bowl of candy on a leaf-covered, spooky porch tonight, for the convenience of neighborhood ghouls.

…and for our web visitors, here’s a peek of the fall colors around Prairie Bench…

Hemlock Bistro on Hairpin Legs Stuffed with Cedar

by Prairie Bench0

Kind of sounds like a menu item…? This little table is an experiment with live edge hemlock planks and steel 26″ hairpin legs. A retro-rustic combination. The planks were cut on one side and glued. The legs were squared at the most aesthetically pleasing positions, checked and rechecked, then screwed into place.

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The surface and edges were sanded with 80 grit and many of the big band saw marks were left on to show the history of the piece. A very light mix of poly and paint thinner was used to create a dull finish that’s easy to clean. It soaked in well and set to prevent cracks and splits, especially along the grain edge.

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The goal was to create a small enough table for an apartment dweller and give them the best virtues of rustic wood with retro hairpin legs that have become fashionable again. It starts to give the appearance that the table top is floating. However, unsatisfied, we wanted to accent the air gap and make the table a little different. Out came the old barn wood and we found some 1/2″ cedar slats that could be trimmed and beveled to slide into the steel wire legs.

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A tracing was made of the inside area with an extra 1/4″ to make each cedar slat slightly larger. Then each slat was run down a saw blade to make a groove. Finally, the slats were sanded and the groove was shaped into a channel. Some slight trimming to even the angle on the top of the slats was required. Now they drop in, or can be removed. Not sure if the slats serve a purpose, but it makes for an interesting bistro table with the top appearing to float above the legs. It’s also easy to fix a wobbly table with hairpin legs–just pull the narrow tips slightly apart and the table sinks down so all four legs are touching.

#08-28-19 is 27″, or 68 cm tall without floor savers, 42″ (106 cm) long and varies in width around 21″ (53 cm) and finished in poly. The natural edge can make finding the best position for the legs difficult, so measuring a rectangle that fit within the widest and the narrowest area seemed to work, as well as some long gazes.

Fir Woodcutter’s Stool

by Prairie Bench0

At 18″ tall (45 cm dining chair height) this little stool is the perfect size for woodcutters to enjoy a quiet lunch. But looks are deceiving, despite its small stature, this stool weighs 40 lbs (18 kgs). That’s a heavy slab of fir. The legs are also bulky, approximately 3″ thick lengths of maple.

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The joints are notched out then pounded together to form a tight fit when the fibres dry. The legs have dowels inset and the fir top is pounded down with a heavy mallet. Some glue was added to the maple joints to prevent splitting. There are four legs, with pairs connected by a trestle. The pairs are then joined with a third trestle. The front legs have a wider gap to take advantage of the odd shaped round, with a narrower gap at the back of the stool. The design takes a lot of adjusting in the mitre saw to fit all pieces together. It’s patient work. This is a very sturdy stool. The wood is thick and heavy, and this becomes obvious sitting on it.

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The fir top was rough sanded with 60 grit and then the entire round was smothered in left over clear oil finish to seal up any cracks and prevent new ones. Once dry, the edge was ground to a smooth, touchable surface and the entire top was coated in water-based polyurethane semi-gloss finish. The legs were quite light in color so a torch was used to add some artificial age. The result is a warm, soft appearance that begs to be handled. The bark is left on.

The goal was to give some reverence to a nice fir round we found in a wood pile. It had a unique crescent shape probably formed from this tree growing too close to a neighboring tree. The wood came from a farm down the road and the maple is grown at our site. We grow pine, hazelnut, maple, fir, spruce, cedar, apple, cherry, plum, walnut, hawthorn and mountain ash.

#10-22-19 is spoken for and will find a home in a cozy cottage near a hearth. It will be a great stool to perch on in a big housecoat and warm up by the stove. For these images, we took the stool out back to a creek under a Tree of Heaven. The autumn colors make a great setting to sit, have a snack, and watch rush hour… Prairie Bench style.

Reclaimed Fir Hairpin Coffee Table and Footstool

by Prairie Bench1

A few years back, we received several fir floorboards recovered from demolition at the Riverview Hospital site. The institution was constructed around 1913 and the boards looked worn, scratched, and were full of old square head nails. The tongue and groove planks were in different thicknesses, but we were able to pair up some matching sizes.

In order to focus on the floorboards, we tried several table designs including wood frames and legs. In the end, we settled on steel hairpin legs from Rusty Garden (on Amazon) in 2 sizes: 12″ and 16″. The footstool would fit underneath the coffee table. Minimal sanding of the boards removed any burrs or slivers. A mix of 30% thinner plus 70% polyurethane was used to seal the wood in a thin layer without gloss, giving it a light sheen and a handworn look. The fitted boards were glued with PL polyurethane.

The sizes are: table, 40″x 20″x 18″tall; footstool, 22″x14″x14″tall.

Numbered 06-06-19 as a set. Check back, we have used the ends of the reclaimed boards from this project to make a small end table … reclaimed-reclaimed wood!

Baby Squirrels Our Guests

by Prairie Bench0

We live and work on an ecological reserve. Animals wander about as they please. We work around bears, deer, ducks, geese, owls, eagles, songbirds, beaver, river otters, raccoons, and squirrels. Recently, we heard the distinct call of a young animal in distress. It was a baby squirrel. We left it with some vegetable pablum and water and waited for the parent to return. At the end of the second day with no momma squirrel in sight, we decided to capture it and give it some proper nutrition. That’s when a second baby squirrel appeared, then another, and another.

They were quite emaciated and weak. A diet of vegetable protien mix, mushed peas and sweet potatoes, and almond milk did the trick. They gained weight over the next week as we watched out for the mother. Unfortunately, she did not reappear. We constructed a 7′ x 4′ x 4′ enclosure complete with glass roof, branches, hoops, ropes, and baskets for a play area and set them up in a secure cage with warm hammocks to sleep in. We kept warm water bottles in their covers to keep up their temperature. They survived and grew.

They are like little food pirates and will try to steal each others food even though there is plenty. They are now on baby rat pellets, sunflower seeds, fresh cut peppers, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, grated carrots, apple sauce, and sliced bananas. Food had to be cut fine or puréed to prevent choking – they will try to stuff themselves when learning about solid food. Also each squirrel had to be hydrated by hand to ensure their water intake was constant. Each had to learn how to drink from a hamster bottle.

The two small pictures above show how small the first found squirrel was in he folds of a jacket. Later, a squirrel enjoys sweet potato and carrot baby food. They are much cleaner eaters now, and cooperate sharing their food.

Three brothers and a sister. The sister is the smallest, but the bravest, and would approach if food was offered. The boys wait until she checks out any new feature in the enclosure. She is the tamest of the pack and will come when called.

They will soon be able to explore the trees onsite and take their role in the wild. This was a fun and challenging opportunity to learn about squirrel behavior and help some young ones get a start in life. We at Prairiebench.com are proud to have received a commendation from the City of Port Coquitlam for our efforts in animal rescue over the years.

For fun, watch “Brunch with Baby Squirrels” on YouTube to see these darlings have a polite snack for the camera…

From right to left: little sister, big brother (first one found), grey (second one found), charcoal (last one found and the shy one). The little sister approached for food after two brothers were discovered.