Sunday, February 21, 2016

Planing Old Salvage Boards


Mike recently stopped in at our local historical salvage yard and picked up some 200 year old white pine boards for a few floor repairs in the main house. They had been subfloor or sheathing boards in their previous life, so were rough finished. And as such, they are not as uniformly high quality as original floor boards.

Jack Crane, the craftsman who built our front entry and our new (old) windows invited Mike to his workshop to run the boards through the planer (as he was getting ready to change his cutters in the planer and so was not worried about damage). The result is quite dramatic. 

Here is a side by side comparison before and after planing. Some of the boards turned out in better shape than others, but we'll be able to piece together the repairs with the aged wood. This will be our best chance at reasonably matching the similarly aged boards that are in the house already.

Now the replacement boards are ready to be installed. 


13 comments :

  1. Wow! What an amazing difference! I suppose that board looked just like that 200 years ago.

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  2. Amazing how things work . . . come together . . .
    And I enjoy watching it all . . .

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  3. Never would have guesses you could do that to old wood!

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  4. Love seeing your old house become beautiful again! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Historical Salvage yard? Wow, must be a New England thing. Would love that here in Virginia. Can't wait to see those beautiful floors, they probably haven't looked that good in quite a while!

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  6. looking forward to seeing these in. they look terrific.

    donna

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  7. How fun it would be to own a planer....or maybe not but the possibilities are endless. Love follow your progress its going to be amazing!

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  8. ...Gosh, if planing can remove more than a century of aging, can he run a middle age woman through the planer too? lol ;o)

    ...Love this journey and the fact that you're sharing it will all of us. The more that it rolls along the more excited I get for you - can't wait for moving day!

    ...Peace & blessings. :o)

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  9. Yes I know that is so amazing. When we did our kitchen floor with the repurposed old barn wood it went through the same process. It is truly s wonderful way of restoring and recycling. I am so thankful we did it and it did save us in cost. Can't wait to see it all done next time we come. Xoxo

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  10. Amazing what a planer will do to the look of old wood. I often run salvage pieces of wood through my fathers later to use in a piece for a project, and yet sometimes I just don't want to lose that old crusty age to the piece when it's for something that allows me to just leave the boards alone.
    Amazing the life that is left in an old piece of wood that looks hopeless.

    It's nice that you are getting creative with restoring the old in your home.
    See the beauty you are creating soon enough.

    Xx
    Dore

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  11. I really enjoy your posts. I so appreciate that you are sharing the ups and downs of restoring a beautiful old home. Your attention to detail is very much appreciated.

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  12. We couldn't live without our planer. Will you be adding back in any of the character that was planed off?

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    Replies
    1. Since all of the floors are sanded (due to lead paint), we will leave them as is and let them age with normal use. With two little ones, it won't take long!

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine

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