Using Re-Claimed Wood
The wood that I use is acquired from building demolition and renovation sites, discarded or damaged pieces of furniture, and so-called “off-cuts” or left-over pieces from manufacturers of other wood products. Often I find excellent wood simply discarded, but
Aside from the obvious environmental benefits of giving this wood a second chance at usefulness, there is another benefit: this wood is dimensionally stable. This means that it is unlikely to warp or twist, shrink, check or crack, as much newer lumber is at risk of doing.
Removing nail from reclaimed wood
Another benefit is the uniqueness it bestows. Perhaps your sand tray or cart has been part of a doorjamb, baseboard, floor, or window-frame in a BC building for 50 or 80 years. Owning a sand tray or cart made from re-claimed wood means that your tray has an interesting and unique story of its own!
Preparing Re-claimed Wood for Building
We start by extracting unwanted remnants of nails, screws, staples, glue, (see left image in
Then we measure and plan which cuts to make in order to get the required dimensional lumber out of the wood, which in its previous life may have been parts of things as diverse as floorboards, doors and doorjambs, window sills, mantles, or even old tables and chairs.
Preparing reclaimed wood: Assorted wood (left), Planning the most efficient use (right)
Dis-assembling a discarded oak table (left), Oak door jambs (right)
Marks in the wood that have been left by nails, staples, and screws are repaired. Frequent use is made of tapered plugs to seamlessly conceal the holes where nails and screws have been. Wherever possible the plug is cut from an un-used end of the very piece being repaired, so that the plug will match as closely as possible in
(left to right) Photo 1: Nail holes unplugged, Photo 2: Nail holes drilled, Photo 3: Fitting plugs, Photo 4: After plug fitting
(left to right) Photo 1: Row of plugs under epoxy, tray interior, Photo 2: Row of several fir plugs, almost invisible, Photo 3 & 4: Tapered plugs made from unused off-cuts
Building Our Sand Trays:
All trays feature either hand-cut dovetail* joinery in the corners or traditional 1/2″
Dovetailed trays stacked, awaiting assembly (left), ½” finger joins being cut into tray sides (
Finger-joined trays are also pinned in the corners with 1/8″ hardwood pins for additional strength and stability, as seen above right.
*Dovetailed corners are available in the $239.00 oak trays only.
Making Our Sand Trays Waterproof
Step 1: A filler is applied to the raw wood of the interior surfaces before assembly. This helps smooth the surface so that the contours of the wood are not visible in the finished product and improves the tray’s resistance to wear.
Step 2: Two coats of marine grade epoxy are applied by brush to all interior surfaces (tray sides and bottom.) Each coat is sanded before the application of the subsequent coat to improve smoothness and adhesion.
Step 1: Applying filler (left), Step 2: Applying 1st coat of marine-grade epoxy (right)
Step 3: The tray parts are then assembled.
Step 3: Sanding between coats (left), Trays are assembled (right)
Step 4- 3rd coat of epoxy applied and sanded
Step 4:
Steps 5, 6, and 7: Three coats of marine grade enamel are applied on top of the cured epoxy, with sanding between each coat of blue. Several thin coats are better than one heavy coat.
STEPS 5, 6 & 7: Three coats of marine grade enamel are applied on top of the cured epoxy with sanding between each coat.
STEP 4- 3rd coat of epoxy applied and sanded
7 step process
