Recycled Reclaimed Cedar Side Table

 

Finished table.  22" H x 15"W x 38"L

Reclaimed Western Red Cedar Side table

Before picture of the wood used for the table. The green cast is from years of algae and weathering.

I have been saving a stack of old growth western red ceder for years.  The wood is salvaged from the deck on my house. The wood has been outside in the Pacific North West for about 50 years.  On first inspection the wood looks like trash.  From what I could see the grain was very tight I just could not bring myself to throwing out this wood.  The need for a few more pieces of furniture made me take a look at this wood again and I deiced to use it for some small side tables.  I made the legs from 1/2" tube steel, sanded with a clear lacquer finish. The transition from stair steps on a deck to furniture was quite dramatic.

Vertical Book Case

Vertical Book Cases are very popular today.  I see a lot of them and they are all very clever in their design. The inspiration for my book case was from a display that I noticed in a retail space.  The building had awkwardly located concrete pillar which a designer turned into a vertical display. The materials for the display was one inch oak shelves and quarter inch steel plate.

My materials are 1 foot wide pieces of one inch thick oak stair tread material. These pieces of scrap material are from using four foot oak treads in a three foot stair well.  I know it does not sound like a smart use of material but its the result of shopping at warehouse outlets.  To complete the project 12 gauge steel was used to hold the treads.  The tall narrow heavy bookcase is not stable and would kill a small animal if it fell over.  Like a stair case the treads are stepped back and the case leans on the wall for stability.  Its not a great design but I was able to utilize scrap material to build something useful. I would have liked to use thicker steel but the resulting weigh scared me off.