Hi my name is Matt and I am the owner of Sons of Sawdust. I thought it would be cool to do a quick overview of the process that we go through with every reclaimed wood farm table that we build. Building furniture out of reclaimed wood is a tricky process and there's definitely no easy way to do it. From sourcing the wood, to tearing down old houses and barns, to hand picking the right pieces for the specific project we are working on, everyday we are presented with unique challenges. I guess you could say that our job is not a boring one and that's probably what keeps us coming back for more everyday.

Here is a quick overview of our process of building furniture with reclaimed wood. If you are a wood worker, you will find links throughout this post that will take you to Amazon where you can view some of the tools that we use to make our jobs much easier and more efficient.

How we build with reclaimed wood

First, we go out and find an old house or barn that is going to be torn down. This is a house that we recently found that was being demolished and we deconstructed it.

This is what we are looking for; roof rafters, framing and also floor joists. Most of our table tops are built from this material.

Next is the fun part(and the dangerous part)! We tear the structure down, board-by-board. Making sure, of course, not to step on any nails!

Digging through the rubble is always fun, except for when there are snakes!!!

We then load all of the wood up on a trailer and transport it back to the shop.

Once we get the wood back to the wood shop, we de-nail it in preparation for cutting. We use Garrett metal detectors exclusively as they are the highest quality detectors that we've found for pinpointing those pesky nails.

We then cut all of the boards to the right length based on the dimensions of the table we are building. We use Bessey 3/4" H style pipe clamps to hold everything together while the glue dries.

This is what the table top looks like once it is joined together using our Festool XL Domino Joiner. Most of our table tops are 2" thick, so we like to use the Festool 12x100 dominos to join all the pieces together.

We also use the Festool Domino Joiner to attach our skirts/apron to our table legs.

Then it's time to clean it up and smooth it down by sanding it. Ridgid Powertools make 5 " random orbital sander is a great sander at a great price and it comes with a lifetime warranty. We have about 5 of these sanders and they are one of the tools that we use the most around our shop. We also use the Ridgid 6" Random Orbital on some of the bigger tables that we build.

Once all of the sanding is done, we start applying the urethane. We brush on a Waterlox Satin Urethane and using the HANDy Paint Pail keeps the urethane in the pail and not dripping all over the table during the finishing process.

This is the final product. A farm table made from historic reclaimed wood. This is the real deal! This isn't something you can buy from a furniture store. From start to finish we transform old dusty wood into heirloom pieces of furniture. We believe that the history of the wood and our story are just the beginning. The other half of the story has yet to be told. The stories that you will share around our tables and the memories that you will create with your family while sitting around this old wood, inspires us to bring the next piece back to life. We are reclaiming history, one table at a time. What story will your table tell?

P.S.

If you are looking for an inspirational book to help you in life and business, we recommend this incredible book by Napoleon Hill. Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude has been our go to book to keep us inspired and moving toward success. You can pick it up for less than $10 on Amazon and trust us when we say that it will change your life! Click the image below to get your copy today.