I think about this so much: "Our imaginations have been constrained by what we thought possible." I am trying to hold space for what I just can't imagine yet. That's a shape of hope for me. And caution.
"We ruined a few blades as hidden nails made it through and wrecked the metal, and finally gave up."
Sand the outside with an 80 grit disk sander? That'll show up any exposed nails real quick.
"It only occurred to me today to wonder why at the sawmill that day we didn’t take the time to look for and remove the nails ahead of time, why we sacrificed several saw blades and in the end the beam itself rather than take the time to make it workable again."
I would think so! This was about 8 years ago and I can’t remember if she said why we kept trying. It was a pretty young business though and not disappointing the client might have been part of it. Sanding might have worked? That old barn material can be tricky depending on what the wood is but considering we only worked with hardwood it might have been worth a shot. (The mill was outside all year round; the only indoor space was for kiln-dried planks that were ready to be turned into tables or whatever.)
If we hadn’t moved back to Montana I would have tried to stay on there. Really loved that work.
If I had an old piece of heavy hardwood with a darkened, dusty outside, I'd want to clean off the outside with like a witch hair mop or something. If I couldn't make out the surface clearly enough to make out the nail, doing a light sanding with a coarse grit out to detect any exposed nails - the nails would cause the sanding disk to throw sparks.
You couldn't really detect nails that are broken off below the surface, but you ought to be able to see the holes.
elm
if the beam was thick with nails broken off below the surface, that would be a waste of time to try and recut it mechanically
Efficiency is the enemy of creativity. So many creative or reclaimed things we do aren't financially efficient but feed our souls. The question is how to reconcile the two...
I think about this so much: "Our imaginations have been constrained by what we thought possible." I am trying to hold space for what I just can't imagine yet. That's a shape of hope for me. And caution.
Absolutely true, in both directions.
"We ruined a few blades as hidden nails made it through and wrecked the metal, and finally gave up."
Sand the outside with an 80 grit disk sander? That'll show up any exposed nails real quick.
"It only occurred to me today to wonder why at the sawmill that day we didn’t take the time to look for and remove the nails ahead of time, why we sacrificed several saw blades and in the end the beam itself rather than take the time to make it workable again."
I'd expect a new saw blade to be quite expensive.
elm
i was saying
I would think so! This was about 8 years ago and I can’t remember if she said why we kept trying. It was a pretty young business though and not disappointing the client might have been part of it. Sanding might have worked? That old barn material can be tricky depending on what the wood is but considering we only worked with hardwood it might have been worth a shot. (The mill was outside all year round; the only indoor space was for kiln-dried planks that were ready to be turned into tables or whatever.)
If we hadn’t moved back to Montana I would have tried to stay on there. Really loved that work.
"Sanding might have worked?"
If I had an old piece of heavy hardwood with a darkened, dusty outside, I'd want to clean off the outside with like a witch hair mop or something. If I couldn't make out the surface clearly enough to make out the nail, doing a light sanding with a coarse grit out to detect any exposed nails - the nails would cause the sanding disk to throw sparks.
You couldn't really detect nails that are broken off below the surface, but you ought to be able to see the holes.
elm
if the beam was thick with nails broken off below the surface, that would be a waste of time to try and recut it mechanically
If only I could go back in time and try ... ;) But living where I do I bet there will be other opportunities to work with old barn wood.
The Scotland Outdoors Podcast is always great, and I loved how Ninian Stuart responded to Mark Stephen’s question about BLM.
It was so unexpected and thoughtfully stated!
Efficiency is the enemy of creativity. So many creative or reclaimed things we do aren't financially efficient but feed our souls. The question is how to reconcile the two...
So true …