Looking for some advice on rustic furniture making please!

[daymo]

Hi,

Just joined up today.

I was hoping someone could give me advise regarding starting out with rustic furniture....

I have basic woodworking skills/experience and a few simple tools.
I would like to start with making garden planters with reclaimed scaffolding boards. I went to see some today and I am confident that I could build them.

However, there's lots of other stuff I need to build for the garden so do you think it would be wise to buy a table saw now, and if so which one would be recommended for a novice?

I also think I'll be needing a belt sander to sand the boards down, again any recommendations?

Hope fully when the first project is done I'll move on to decking (scaff boards again!) and benches/table etc.

Any advice appreciated whilst I try and gather books!
Ta

 

[theturner]

Hi Daymo, Unless you can get a cheap used table saw I think
a hand saw would be the best way to start.
Once you know that this is the way you want to spend your time
then look at table saws etc. A belt sander can be a useful piece
of kit so yes get one but again don't spend too much.
Roger. 8)

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

I would say if your looking into a TS to rip down scaffold boards then unless you can find one for £50 second hand I would make do with a hand c/saw.

Scaffold boards are not to wide so the fence that comes with a c/saw will be enough to get your hand into wood working.

A beltsander is a good tool to have from start.

This one will do for now: http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb290s ... 230v/51603 or http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RYOBI-EBS-802 ... 53eb7a79fb

If you wanted to buy really good from start then this model is great (same one I have and its a beast): http://www.axminster.co.uk/makita-9404- ... prod22644/

If you wanted something half decent that should last then: http://www.axminster.co.uk/makita-9911- ... prod19574/

 

[Froggy]

Welcome to the forum Daymo, When ever I am thinking about buying a new tool I scan through the 'buying advice' section and usually find large debates on which tool is best. By the time I'm finished I usually know which one I'm going to.

HTH Froggy.

 

[Rusticwood]

Hi from another newbie
How rustic do you want to go

 

[Rusticwood]

Sorry I was trying to post these :lol: :lol:

These were made with belt sander, saw, drill, and drawknife

 

[baldpate]

I would say if your looking into a TS to rip down scaffold boards then unless you can find one for £50 second hand I would make do with a hand c/saw.
Scaffold boards are not to wide so the fence that comes with a c/saw will be enough to get your hand into wood working.

+1 for a hand-held circular saw for ripping, to start out with. Even if you eventually move up to a TS, there's still always a use for a CS, so it isn't money wasted. For cross-cutting, start with a cheap(ish) hard-point handsaw (Bahco, or some reasonable brand). Don't spend a lot of money, unless and until you're making to sell in volume (when your time becomes an important factor).

 

[daymo]

Listen guys, I really appreciate the advice given and the time it's taken to post links etc.

I've read through it and it makes sense so thanks.

I've got a rage chop saw and a rage c/s already so a belt sander will be ordered asap.
As suggested table saw eventually if time becomes an issue.

I can start there and see how it goes, I have a bit of an idea of turning this into a sideline having recently finished my workshop so ready to go space wise...after waiting 15 years for a suitable house :lol:

Hand saw and a belt sander then, you guys are going to cost me a fortune

Thanks again.

 

[Rusticwood]

Just don't get a lathe :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[daymo]

Too late got a metal lathe for working on my motorbikes, and yes I've been warned numerous times :lol: :lol:

 

[Mark A]

I've had a few belt sanders over the past 2 years, starting with a mid-range Sparky from Screwfix which was faulty, followed by the cheapest available from Argos bought for a quick job, which broke the first time I tried to change the belt (entire mechanism bent). I'm on to number three now - a Metabo BAE 75 which is excellent. I think it is the same as the AEG sanders which you can sometimes find discounted.

If you're planning on doing a lot of sanding then I would shop around for one of the better tools around, as, in my experience anyway, the cheap ones break at the most inappropriate times!

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Daymo,
Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy what we have to offer.
If you are going to be cutting a lot of used scaffold boards, you are likely to encounter nails, and bits of brick etc. in the timber.
As a bike man you probably already know about these saws. But in case you don't, try this link:

http://www.evolutionpowertools.co.uk/us ... build.html

Especially this one for budget price:

http://www.evolutiononlineshop.co.uk/fury1b185.html

I hope that helps a bit.
Best of luck

 

[daymo]

Yip I've already got 2 evoloution saws for cutting steel, so they will come in handy with nails in the boards etc.

I always try to buy the best tools I can afford as it always seems to backfire when I buy cheap tools.

So lots to think about.

Went to see my mate last night and managed to buy 10 brand new railway sleepers untreated for £50 so that's a good start!

Maybe its an Omen?

 

[Benchwayze]

Yip I've already got 2 evoloution saws for cutting steel, so they will come in handy with nails in the boards etc.

I always try to buy the best tools I can afford as it always seems to backfire when I buy cheap tools.

So lots to think about.

Went to see my mate last night and managed to buy 10 brand new railway sleepers untreated for £50 so that's a good start!

Maybe its an Omen?

It is indeed. Enough to furnish a house maybe? (A couple of those sleepers would make a great workbench top methinks!)

 

[daymo]

A good mate of mine is a tree surgeon, running his own business.

Naturally :lol: I enquired whether he could supply me any wood.

He's said that he always has an abundance of pine softwood (llandi etc) and does get hardwood jobs but the woods in demand so quite expensive. The softwood is for beer token money.

Is it possible to construct garden furniture with the softwoods if they are treated or should I be looking at hardwoods only?

 

[Rusticwood]

The chairs in my pics have redwood seat and back with various branches and small trunks taken from a friends field hedgerow
They are mainly beech and ash all heavily treated with teak oil.
The first was made about 4 years ago and the second about 3 years ago both are still very solid and have lived outside since they
were made without any cover

 

[Benchwayze]

Daymo,

Rustic furniture to me is the stuff made from 'branches' and logs.
So all the stuff my old Dad made was just nailed together (The occasional lap joint) and left to season as it stood; in the form of chairs, tables or garden screens and arbours etc. I never saw him use any 'sawn' planks. The 'craft' was known as 'rustic-work' in the Midlands. Furniture like that chair, is 'rustic', and the word today is generally applied to any quickly made, country furniture, that has a few 'rough-edges'.

Most of the timber my father used was birch, but with some fruit wood branches. As I said, it usually stood until the bark fell off and the timber became seasoned and weatherbeaten. Lasted for years, as long as the nails and screws were sheradised.

 

[Tony Spear]

My advice: get whatever is available for nothing or next to!

Make sure you know what it is, treat it with a good preservative and see what happens!

If it falls apart in the first winter, don't use the same wood again!

There's a "traveller" (no insult intended) who I've met up with at odd times in the past, who makes/made some amazing things with green bits and pieces straight from the tree.

Haven't seen him for a few years now, and I never had a camera with me when I did see him, but it was astonished what he could produce from green wood and limited tools (not much electrickery available in a horse drawn caravan!)

A post by Jacob put me on to this site:

http://www.bodgers.org.uk/index.php

(See Jacob, some of us pay some attention to what you say!) (hammer) (hammer) :mrgreen:

 

[Jacob]

.......
See Jacob, some of us pay some attention to what you say! (hammer) (hammer) :mrgreen:

If too many start agreeing I'll start worrying!

"Stick" furniture of many kinds is a long established fine art. Google: hedgerow furniture /stick furniture / green wood chair / recycled timber furniture / rustic furniture / chair bodging /woodland craft / pole lathe/ draw knife / shave horse / etc etc

It's booming at the mo partly because of green issues but also because people like it for the style. Piet Hein Eek has turned it into top class interior design
http://www.pietheineek.nl/en