badbert
08-28-2013, 01:07 AM
When we bought our house in Nov 2011. HUD had cleaned everything, and I mean everything, out of the house and garage. They even threw the remotes for the fans away! Everything except 6 wooden I-Beams tucked up in the rafters of the basement. My beautiful wife, Charlene King Creed (https://www.facebook.com/charlene.kingcreed?directed_target_id=0), brought them to me and asked what they were for? I didn't have a clue. Whatever they were had long since been forgotten and they had not seen daylight in decades. Think 5, 4 x 4's with a 1 inch rabbet cut in both sides. I knew by their color and weight, that it was oak. Ever heard the term Black oak? These boards were BLACK! They stayed tucked away in the rafters, until I thought of a good use for them. When we started cutting them up in strips, I couldn't believe what we had found!
These boards were ancient Quarter-sawn Oak! Quarter-sawn is an old method of cutting logs into boards. In the old days wood was abundant and cheap. So sawmills cut the logs to make the strongest boards possible, rather than the most boards possible. That is also what creates the specked grain you see on the front and inside back of the box.
The ancient trees grew where there parents dropped the seeds. So they grew much closer together. They got less light and water this this way. So they grew much slower than trees planted by man. This meant the growth rings were much closer together. Making the the wood denser and heavier than today.
I wanted to create something for my Daughter's (Marlena Lynn Taylor (https://www.facebook.com/marlenalt?directed_target_id=0)) birthday. I couldn't think of anything special, until my wife reminded me of the Oak beams!I really liked Mike Tyler's Bling box he made. So I tried to create my own version.
These boards were ancient Quarter-sawn Oak! Quarter-sawn is an old method of cutting logs into boards. In the old days wood was abundant and cheap. So sawmills cut the logs to make the strongest boards possible, rather than the most boards possible. That is also what creates the specked grain you see on the front and inside back of the box.
The ancient trees grew where there parents dropped the seeds. So they grew much closer together. They got less light and water this this way. So they grew much slower than trees planted by man. This meant the growth rings were much closer together. Making the the wood denser and heavier than today.
I wanted to create something for my Daughter's (Marlena Lynn Taylor (https://www.facebook.com/marlenalt?directed_target_id=0)) birthday. I couldn't think of anything special, until my wife reminded me of the Oak beams!I really liked Mike Tyler's Bling box he made. So I tried to create my own version.