Log Cabin Rustics Blog: Building Log Furniture Part 1: Rustic Beauty Log Cabin Rustics

Scott R., Washington

Thank you for personalizing this experience and following up with me. That means a lot. We're looking forward to receiving the chairs and other items. I'll stay in touch concerning follow up orders to furnish our cabin.

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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Building Log Furniture Part 1: Rustic Beauty

A couple days ago we posted about a book that informed on how to build
a piece of log furniture, an activity that may take time but gives
back a great deal of pleasure and a sense of pride. We decided to
start a small series of posts on how to build log furniture that will
be helpful for beginning builders who have yet to buy the book.

The first people to come to America may have appreciated the natural
beauty of log furniture, but a big reason they were carpenters is out
of necessity. Today, we are not forced to be carpenters, but there are
still many reasons to build log furniture. It helps us to feel at one
with nature. It allows a person to put his or her own personal flavor
on the logs, choosing whether they prefer it to be as rustic as
possible, or a sleeker more finished look.

We are going to write about the rustic style today, preferred by most
log furniture builders, maybe because it seems more outdoorsy. To
build furniture with a natural look, special tools are required to
hand peel and sand it.

Fortunately, rustic furniture can be built with simple tools. A
hatchet can be used to form the tenons. A drawknife can be used to
peel back the word, plus it leaves rustic scars behind on the wood
resembles the hard times the pioneers went through. But remember to be
careful when using the drawknife, it can cut away many of the unique
features nature has left in the wood.

For the ambitious woodworker, the rustic beauty of the logs can be
amplified by leaving a small piece of bark on the log. If you are luck enough
to find a small limb positioned just right, it could be a great place
to hang your cowboy hat.

The advantage to building this type of furniture is that you can make
it at a lower cost and still know you're getting a quality piece
made from real wood. These are becoming harder and harder to find.
Maybe you don't live in a log home, but if you want a real sense of
pride and achievement, building your own log furniture can provide a
special attachment with nature that is hard to find anywhere else.

If building log furniture sounds like too much of a project, consider that some of our log beds are like "kits", and by the time you put them together and/or finish them, you can still have the pleasure of having a hand in your very own log bed.

by: Log Cabin Rustics