In and Around the Woodshop

TIMBER.

Inner city lumberjacks?

Purveyors of history using wood as their medium?

Sure, that sounds about right and will suffice as an introduction for now.

I’m sure I’ll be mentioning them more often now that I finally found them and stopped in !

If you frequent the King st. West, Lee Valley Tools store here in down town Toronto, ‘my local’ if you would, then maybe you’ve noticed a sandwich board on occasion out front on the side walk?

It says something like ‘timber and slabs for sale’ and has a picture of some seriously large pieces of wood along with a map to the location of this reclaimed wood shop.

Well, to make a short story longer, every time I noticed the sandwich board would be a day when I was too busy to get somewhere else!

I’m happy to say I finally found the time to visit this inner-city mecca for salvaged wood here in Toronto.

Canadian Salvaged Timber I say it’s damn good to meet you~

Finally, a convenient location where the sky is litterally the limit for salvaged and reclaimed material.

‘Every stick has a story‘ and if that’s not their motto then it should be ! ; )

I picked up some 8″ x 8″ elm that came out of an old timber barn here in Southern Ontario. I’m planning on using it for a work shop project and will keep you posted as it unfolds.

Added to that was an arm full of 4/4 Hemlock that was literally dug-up from the Queens Wharf area here in down town Toronto. This wood is truly unique because it has been ‘pickled’ through the decades, sitting for the better part of 100 years and ‘stained’ by the minerals in the local soil.

It has this incredible naturally occurring patina of silver clay tones and earth-green hues. One of a kind wood for a new cabinet design. The Hemlock will be a nice mild wood for working with hand tools and I’ll keep notes as I go once the project gets underway.

I think a misconception about working with reclaimed timber is consumers tend to think the final designs have to be large and/or heavy pieces suitable only for enormous living spaces.

A thick slab with ‘live edges‘ used in a dining room setting or in an office board room would be a perfect example where this large scale furniture really excels. Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ll be using it in my own small work space and offering a piece of furniture that would suit an urban live or work environment where space is a consideration.

As the designer and builder it’s my job to find a way to use this precious material to the best of my abilities while celebrating both the history of the wood itself while trying to bring forth the ‘real life’ story that gets written through the wood and my own hands and heart working together.

If you build furniture or you’re just on the hunt for a ‘one of a kind’ piece of wood, try Candian Salvaged Timber, you may be surprised at what you’ll dig up.

Cheers!