Recycle Re-use

One of the best parts of crafting is making something out of left over and unwanted items.A regular visit takes me to Wortley in leeds.

“The dragon bridge reclamation yard.”

Hunting through the second hand pieces of wood you can find some hidden gems ready to start a new life across the Uk and Ireland.

This involves sifting through the yards collection and can take a bit of time but its well worth it. You just need to look for what could be and not exactly what you see in front of you, Ignoring the dirt, paint, splits  and sometimes bit’s of concrete too, I look for the potential, and the wear and tear is the actual life and history of the wood that can be brought back out and showcased.

eI also enjoy the bartering that comes with the purchase , Every piece can be a different price but a potential gem.

After taking the wood home to my small workshop in Pudsey the first process is to dry it out completely (beware this can take some time), then starting the belt sanding to remove the worst offending items. I next take an orbital sander with a medium grit disc. This will remove the fine pieces of dirt and unsafe areas but most importantly the task is not to remove the character of the wood, I don’t want it to look new and off the shelf.

And now for the fun part for me, taking the lengths of wood and producing the individual parts for the assembly. As the old rule goes “measure twice cut once” I mark out every piece and double check everything before cutting and shaping each piece using a variety of tooling available.

Once all the parts are shaped, a final bit of hand sanding is performed using decorators paper mainly to satisfy myself its ready for the final assembly.

And in keeping with my usual “rustic” theme I try to make sure every screw and jointing method is hidden from plain sight. Rather than using wood filler which creates blemishes on the final product I use self made wood plugs to create that final finish over every screw hole.

When everything is assembled the final part of the process takes place, using Fiddes Hard Wax Oil (a uk based company) I oil the the piece in the chosen colour of the customer, then a final coat of semi gloss wax oil to give it a subdued sheen.

And voila the “ugly duckling” has turned into something that will be loved and cherished in its new home!