Joining the Bandwagon: Slabs

Last month I was on Facebook marketplace.  Not a usual occurrence, but I needed to get rid of a tv wall mount fixture and moving boxes.  I put these on for free and decided to look at tools and wood just for fun.  I have heard of some great success stories and great deals happening on marketplace.  

I found someone local that was selling his off fall.  he was asking $125 for a large bin.  It seemed like a pretty good deal so I ended up buying the bin.  I was interested in it mainly because of the different thicknesses of material. The person selling it ran his own furniture shop and lumber mill at his home. he is a good source for lumber.  He also kiln dries his lumber.  There was a lot of lumber and it was worth the price I paid for it.  I don't know if I will do it again for two reasons: I can't process lumber that is less than 12" easily.  Second it is a very different approach to look at a piece and say what can I do with this board.

In this bin of lumber, there were a few pieces of walnut that had a live edge: The bark was removed and the edge was not cut straight.  I sorted all this lumber out and said "What can I make with this?"  My two youngest have been asking for shelves to display their rocks.  It seemed like a good idea.  I made a basic plan on how these shelves would be put together.  I don't know the style but it is 1/4-20 threaded rod with nuts holding up the shelves.  All the pieces are stainless steel.

The pattern was four lines where the threaded rod would be and a top and bottom to mark the upper and lower limits.  The shelves themselves were straight edge cut on one side to flush up against the wall.  There were some bug holes which I cut off trying to follow the grain to keep the live edge look.  

When the shelves were ready, I gave a pile of shelves to my youngest two kids and told them to lay out where they wanted each shelf on the pattern.  It took a little work showing them how the system worked.  After all was done they came up with an idea that was not what I pictured.  I like their idea better.

All said it was a project that was nice to do to get back in the shop.  It was a lot of planning and a not a lot of woodworking.  I had to re-saw some of the walnut because it was 2 1/2" thick.  The chunks were only 12" long so I learned how to flatten a board with a hand plane.  This is where I like the longer boards so I can do the work with a machine,  

The project turned out how the kids wanted them to turn out.  I don't know if I am happy they are putting rock on the shelves.  It is just going to damage the finish.  It is what they wanted and it was me looking at someone elses scrap asking "What can I do with this?"