In The Shop Where It All Began

Welcome to the shop! Before the build, there was the fabrication. This is the back story of the milling of the logs, planing straightening and metal fabrication.

Harvested walnut logs

This was the pallet of walnut after it had dried for several months in a makeshift kiln made of plastic film and ceramic heaters

Making the walnut flooring with some of the best help ever!

Each piece had to be planed to thickness, straight edged, cut to width, Tung and grooved on 4 sides and then I added a custom router edge to give it an aged look. This was a several weekend project. PRICELESS time with my grandsons Luca and Arlo in the video below.

Then came the stair treads. Keeping the rustic post and beam theme, I cut the treads out of white oak. They are 4″ x 12″x 4′. Karen helped with sanding The treads as well as the doors and a bunch of the molding. everything gets sanded at least 3 times. including between coats. She just loves sanding.( sarcasm )

The walnut flooring turned out great. I was told you had to roll the polyeurthane varnish on but I had such a good experience spraying, I decided to give it a shot. This is the master bedroom. Concerned with scratches, we decided to use tung oil on the great room floor.

The majority of the railings for the stairs and the deck were built at home in the shop

Then it came time for furniture. We needed a master bed frame, a coffee table, a large dining table and bathroom mirrors. I knew finding somthing that matched the metal and wood theme was going to be next to impossible. Sooooo…