One Hundred Twenty Seven Year Old Shelf

    Sometimes it is the story that you can tell that adds a little something to the project you build.  Sometimes I think when I tell a story about the wood used in a project then maybe that's a project that can become a little more special or maybe treasured.  (Maybe I'm just like telling stories.  Maybe it's only a thing that old men like to do.   Maybe it's just me, but even so it's my blog and this is where we are going with today's project.) 

  The boards in the picture to the left came out of a house that was demolished over six years ago.   These boards were part of the lap siding of this house.   They were full of nails, quite weathered and random in length.      The house was built in 1891 so the boards themselves are at least 127 years old.   You would have to think that the lumber when harvested came from a tree that was at least 60 to 85 years old.    We are going to go with that assumption and say that the tree this lumber came from was seeded way before the Civil War. 

  At the time we tore down that old house I loaded up a few of those century boards and brought them home with me .  There was nothing special about the wood.   It was not a hard wood.   I would guess that it is just some fir wood.   I pulled out all the nails (and there were a lot of them), trimmed off any ragged ends or pieces and planed off some of the exposed weathered surfaces.   Back then I had done a few projects from this collection of (are these really worth it?) boards.   Those shown in the picture above are the last ones that I still had on hand (piled in my treasured scrap wood pile - stored in one of my many secret areas). 

      A few weeks back I watched as my grandson, Evan, built his 2018 derby car.    Later when we were down for a visit at his current home  he and I were looking at this car and the cars that he had built in the past along with the trophy that he had brought home.    He mentioned that it would be nice if he had a shelf in his room to display some of his things.    He described what he had in mind and where in his room he would like to hang this shelf.   Right away I could not help but think of these few remaining old siding boards that I had in storage.     You see, when Evan, who is now eleven years old was born and first came home it was to this house which we later tore down and salvaged some of the wood.     That is when I knew that this would be one of those projects where there would be a story that he could tell.   (Or at least a story I could tell.)

  So I built a couple shelves.   Like I sometimes try to do with projects like this, I built these without any metal.   There are no screws or nails.  All the joints are joined with dowels and Titebond glue.    Any nail holes or cracks or flaws in the wood just stayed the way they were.

  I used a "Brazilian Rosewood" stain.   It's a little dark for me, but that was Evan's request.  On the flip side it does bring out the aged look and covers nicely.

  Evan and his dad mounted the shelves and sent me the below picture.   Looks like the shelves are full.    Anyway may the stories that are told be long and truthful.  (Or as time goes on --  somewhat truthful...)   

Evan Goetz - Age 11