I had old wood boards that I used as shelves before. It was stained into a darker colour (it was the "in" thing a couple of years ago to have dark wood shelves) but it look dated currently. Hence decided that it was time to breath new "life" into the shelves.


As can be seen, the wood stain used previously was very dark - almost brown black. Even under direct sunlight, the wood plank is quite dark.






Used an orbital sander and started to sand the surface of the wood using 60 Grit paper, stripping the stained surface of the wood.





Found by mistake that by partially stripping the stain, it gave the wood a "distressed" look which looked pretty good. Compare the left (original stain) and right side (after sanding).






Comparing the before and after pictures....




... and completion of phase 1 of the project. Time for a nice cool glass of coke.



Next step is to clean the planks of the residue wood dust and to give it a nice coat of oil to protect it.

Nice. You avid DIYer?

Amateur DIY. Can't make a living out of it, hence have to experiment at home first.

Part 2 - Protective oil on wood plannks

Target to apply a layer of protective oil - to protect it against the elements and provide a layer of water protection to the wood.

Raw form of the wood after sanding. Can see the wood grains visible giving it texture



Applying a coat of wood oil on the wood planks. The wood darkens slightly on the application of the oil. Application of the oil was very fast - took less than 15 minutes to complete.





The wood grains can still be seen after the application of the oil. Can see the contrast oil and non-oil application areas.





Took around 2 hours for the wood to be fully cured with the oil. And the final product looks like ....







Realised don't really need to spend much money to re-use existing stuff around the house to breath new life into the items.

What type of wood oil did you use?

Watco Teak Oil. Got it from Ace Hardware - very easy to use and doesn't stain the hands.

Had an excess piece of wood - approximately 5 feet in length - from my existing woods which I am turning into a bench (to be posted later).

At the same time, needed a clock for the bedroom so decided to re-use the excess wood to make into a standing floor clock. To make the wood piece stand, I used L-brackets as the "legs".

Had a set of wall clock which was not used and decided to stick it direclty on the wood.




Results? A vertical 5 feet floor standing clock combining wood and black metal. No wastage of materials and looks great.





This post has been edited by bigred: Sep 10 2017, 09:13 AM

Nice piece of wood you have it here.

The L angle at the bottom of the clock kills me a little...perhaps you can replace it with two pieces of wood.

It would be nice if cut it more than half and hang it on the wall.

Nice craft and workmanship.

The difficult part is the joining of another 2 pieces of wood at the bottom. That would mean either to screw right thru the back to the front (wood thickness is around 1.5") and trying to do another screw from front to back - I actually broke the screwhead while trying to do this (the wood is really hard).

I opted for the black metal L-angle as it gives is a nice contrast to the wood. All woody was too much for me.

I don't mean to sound offensive and disrespectful. This design reminds me of something else which is related to departed human being.

IMHO, you should cut the plank into half rather than using the full length. A bit unbalanced.

Apologies if you feel offended. Just my frank feedback.

Good feedback. Never see it that way.

The plank is 5' in length - can almost be a clothes rack. Too large to be the item you are referring to unless it belongs to giant. 😁

Nice crafting skill with limited tools.

hahaha, I had did some souvenir that my colleague ask me to redo it because the initial design looked like tombstone.

predrill, before driving in the screw

Had another wood ready and prep to be made into a 5' bench.



Managed to find a metalworks guy to make a frame using mild steel for me. When the bench was delivered, found that there were rust stains and the metal had a lot of black dust on it - probably not finished properly as I wanted it completed fast.


Noticed that the rust stains can be seen on the legs and the side part of the frame.


Decided had to use some elbow grease to remove the dirt and rusted stains - can't bear to live with rust stains inside the house (figured no fun getting tetanus from moving the bench around the house). Hence had to separate the wood plank from the bench frame - and started to strip and clean the frame using vinegar and a steel wool. Vinegar was surprisingly effective in cleaning out the built-up rust.

Problem was after leaving it out to dry from the washing of the rust and dirt stains - within a couple of hours, some faint rust can be seen building up again. Oxidation was happening very fast. Had to wipe out the rust stain and apply a coat of acrylic clearcoat to provide a protective layer.





So far looking good, the metal frame has the raw industrial look. Currently waiting for the frame to full dry before merging the wood plank and metal frame back.

Hope to get it done by tomorrow!

Nice loft table. Where did you get the wood, I always wanted one of these. But end up using ikea wood top

How much the steel work cost you?

It's actually a bench rather than a table. 5' L x 14" W x 22" H. If it was higher and wider, it could be turned into a table.

I had the wood for nearly 10 years, previously used it as a book shelf. Decided to re-purpose it and it "grew" up and became a bench 😆.

Got the wood from a Klang wood factory, forgot where as more than 10 years ago. There is a wood shop at Damansara Uptown, it's the same row as Wondermilk, can try to source from there.

The steel works cost me RM200 (minus my own labour cost to clean it 😁). Would estimate that the bench cost me approx RM500.

I know that damansara place, they sell mostly wooden door and windows.

Thinking to buy a big wood from china, maybe later when budget allow.

The mild steel have to be paint. Otherswise it will rust again. If you want to look like raw, paint a clear liquar to seal off the metal from air.

Can the metal stand support the person weight? It won't sway? Cause I see the joint on top is abit weak.

Metal frame is quite stable, with the mild steel legs it provides a good weight at the bottom. With the wood plank sitting inside the frame, it provides additional weight - estimate the entire bench is around 15 - 20kg in weight.

Final results ....





Close up view of the metal after cleaning + acrylic clearcoat spray.


Can see the wood grains running along the plank



Bench ready to be used.

You can try Jungle Fever located along Jalan Sungai Buloh (Near the traffic light to the Kwasa Sentral LRT station or 50 meters from Delima Tani (M) Sdn. Bhd - Google it). I got from them a joined Balau wood countertop - 5' Length x 32' Width x 1.5" Thickness. The cost was RM1,100. Still hardwood just not a single piece.





The balau wood countertop.

Single piece wood has a premium priced to it.

That is nice price. Thanks will go survey

wood is soooo expensive nowadays...
My favorite source of wood for small projects still has to be pallets from office.

Yup, pallets has pretty decent woods as well. I prefer the wood pallets from Europe / US - has nicer grain and lighter wood colour. Looks "nicer".

Downside is the wood type might not cater well to our weather (humidity) and the wood (pine?) feels lighter (less dense).

Yeah pine is softwood. Would have to be careful with repurposing pine wood for home furniture. Some are chemically treated which can be hazardous.

Do you know if the wood is treated entirely or only on the surface of the wood?

Ok found the answer.

How To Tell If A Wood Pallet Is Safe For Reuse?


Pallet wood safe to use!



This post has been edited by bigred: Sep 25 2017, 07:21 PM

The wood from pallet are rough and usually not straight and flat like those wood we buy from shop.
It will take some effort to square 4 side and smooth-en the surface for furniture work.

Can use a random orbital sander to smoothen the planks.

For it not being straight and flat, can use this woods as cladding or maybe wood filler to fill the space. Just have to design and figure it out.

Or a hand planer.

Using traditional hand planer is a good exercise, but I use electric hand planer more.
No5 jack plane can be more expensive than electric hand plane.

My current electric plane costs RM190 only.

Follow-up from this post, updated photos of the wood countertop.

Project Barndoor for Toilet

What the final completed project looks like. Pretty happy with the final output.








How the project actually started, from the very beginning working backwards ....

... managed to source pinewood planks (16' feet) from a dealer. Got him to cut to 7' in length.






The job of constructing the barndoors was beyond what I had in skills and tools, hence got a local workshop to provide the labour. Glad I did as it took them 1 day to complete the job.






Got them to sand it down to provide a smooth surface and remove possible wood splinters



Treated the wood myself using stains as well as applying a layer using wax paste (to provide a layer of protection from the splash of water). The right side - the darker side is the treated section.


Treated and just waiting to be mounted on the railings ....





And finally completed!

creative

wahh nice....
DIY somemore

New project - Project Pallet Wood Side Table

Found pallet wood (good stuff) lying around.

First had to make sure the wood was safe to use ... "HT" (Heat Treament). Checked. Safe to use (none of the nasty "MB" stuff)



Next had to disassemble the planks from the pallets.





Plenty of nails to remove. Alot of elbow power and brute force needed for this. Had to make sure the planks were not damaged or split in the middle when separated from each other.





Once the nails have been removed, time to sand the planks down to "smoothen" it, remove any scratches and dirt as well as sharp splinters. Had to measure to make sure I had all the planks in the correct "sizes" for the build. Good part is wood pallets comes in standard sizes hence just need to pick the correct pallet planks.



Comparison of sanded plank vs raw plank. The sanded plank is the one at the bottom. The raw wood pallets initially look dirty and had dirt smears. After sanding it down, the wood grain can be seen and the wood is "cleaner" as the dirty section has been sanded off.



Had to make sure to hose down the planks with water to wash off the dusty parts from the sanding process.

Time for assembly .... basically used a nice wood pallet as the "base" and added height using planks to the sides.





Time for the next phase. Got a couple of Hafele drawer slides and measured to make sure they fit.






Looking good. Time to screw everything in place (made a couple of trips to the hardware shop to make sure I got the correct screw sizes)

Final result!



Pallet side table with sliding top





Has good depth to put books and stuff inside.



Another project completed. Total cost? RM35 (Hafele drawer slides + screws + nails)

Nice project there.

Pallet wood not a rough wood ? Very hard to smooth it out.

Becarefull with the table slide that use in the flat way. It cannot hold the weight even actual spec is higher. It have to be install in side way.

oh yeah. my old time teknik.
drill small bit hole first for that screw.
always work.

Not really. Used a grit P60, then followed by P120. Any finer and the wood grain would have been lost.

Yup, the top cover part weights around 3kg. Would just hold a night light and couple of book. Maybe later, will think of adding electrical sockets inside so can charge mobile phone.

Is the shop provide sanding service for existing dining table?

I am sure there. Some can come over to do the sanding at your place (they bring their equipment along), but not sure if you want dust around. Otherwise, you might have to transport your table to and fro to the workshop.

Also depends on where the location of your house ; best to find a workshop near your place of residence.

can i know where is the shop?

Those that I know are located along Jalan Sungai Buloh - same stretch as all the nurseries. 100 metres before the Kota Damansara traffic lights (if coming from Subang Skypark Airport)

Okay TQ

Okay TQ

Nice builds @bigred. Recently bought the sliding barn door hardware on AliExpress. Gonna start working on the door this weekend.

Mind if I share some of my DIY work on your thread?

Please do! Feel free to share or ask questions - only way we can learn from each other.

Thanks @bigred

In the midst of making an industrial dining table. 90 percent complete I would say.

Here's the process:

1. Cutting steel hollow sections for the legs.



2. Welding the legs together.



3. Filling putty on the joints.



4. Grinding the weld joints to a smooth finish.



5. Priming



6. Painting (Matte Black)



7. Making dowel holes before clamping the wood pieces together.



8. Clamping 4/6 pieces of wood together.



9. Sanding. (80 grit > 120 grit & 220 grit)



10. First coat of finish (Polyurethane)



11. Final coat of finish. Will leave it for 72 hours before buffing.

That's impressive. This was done at your frontyard? What type wood did you use? It looks pretty thick ... at least an inch in thickness.

Thanks! Yeah it was done in my porch. Just had a renovation so it’s in a mess.

Wood is called Melunak, solid wood. Bought it from a factory in Ampang. It’s 2 inches thick.

Post a final pic of the table when it is completed.

Did you have a welder or did you get someone to do the welding of the table joints?

Will do!

I have a small 160amp arc welding machine. Welds definitely need improvement. Hence why I had to fill up some holes using the putty.

Just finished attaching the legs to the the wood top using 4 inch screws.

Don't mind me asking, what was the total build cost (material)?

Here’s the breakdown:

6” x 2” Melunak wood (Total size around 7’ x 3’) - RM336
Steel hollow section - RM100 +/-
Paint, Primer, Wood Glue, Finishing, etc - RM 150 +/-

Close to RM600

nice edge to joint. did you get the factory to surface them too?


This post has been edited by ar188: Dec 23 2017, 11:55 PM

Thanks! It comes planed, but I had to do quite a bit of sanding to get it all evened out.

cool, of coz. cos you glued the joints right? gotta be really smooth on both sides to have maximum contacts.

6” x 2” Melunak wood (Total size around 7’ x 3’) - RM336
means you used how many 7feet planks to make 7x3 feet table? exactly 6 planks? rm8/feet is reasonable for 2x6 size .. i assume its outdoor hard woods as i have not much info on that kind of wood.

This post has been edited by ar188: Dec 24 2017, 12:26 AM

Yeah I used 6 planks. Yup sold at rm8 per foot. And yes it’s hard word.

cool. cost effective project.
yesterday just bought some walnut 2x6 planks and its like 6x the price. oh well customer is the boss so we just listen..

Haha thanks. Gonna make a bench as well using the same wood.

Guess that’s the price between local and imported wood.

did you ask the shop what kind of woods they supply?

The only other hard wood planks they have is Meranti.

Other than that it’s plywood, finger jointed, etc.

ic. meranti should be cost effective also but not so weather resistant.

Yeah, would be ok for indoors.

The place you buy your walnut. Is there a MOQ? Looking to refurbish some old speakers.

yes of coz , price depends on volume for bulk purchases.

no worries, next time if we purchase for project will inform u, if u wanna tumpang buy extra one or 2 piece for example.
usually for walnut n white oak its in sawn timber form, so need to plane s4s/ smooth 4side into usable planks we can do that process for you to save the trouble.

That would great. Let me know.

Thanks!

Wow great work, mind to share the wood shop location?

Thanks!

Here’s the waze location: https://waze.com/ul/hw283gstv7

It’s located in Ampang.

That's pretty good pricing. I paid RM5.50 per feet for my pine wood (20mm x 145mm)

Bought 8.5” x 1.8” pine wood for my sliding barn door for RM18 / feet. Twice the price of my table.

Watch the weight of the barndoor. Pine might be light but when its joined to become a door, it's not that light.

Yeah it’s pretty heavy for 7’ x 3’.

The load the track can take is 175kgs. The total weight of my door should be approximately 50kgs.

I mounted the track with extra long screws anyway just to be safe.

Thanks a lot!

-deleted-

This post has been edited by lowlowc: Dec 26 2017, 06:46 PM

Completed. Waiting for my dining chairs to arrive this weekend.

What's the height of the table? I found with tables, actually have to designed to suit the chairs (Chairs height are standard, customised table height are not )

Cost of chairs are probably more expensive than the total cost of the table

The table height is at 28 inches. 2 inches shorter compared to the average height of 30.

Cost of 3 chairs is about RM460 lol. Will be placing a bench using the same wood on the other side.

Here’s some pics of my sliding barn door. Haven’t had the time to make the handles lol. Thinking of doing it with steel pipes.





Drilling holes for dowels:


Glueing between planks:


Clamping:


Separate slabs:


Using ratchet straps to clamp joint woods together:


Sawing off uneven sides using circular saw and aluminium section as a guide:


Drilling holes on mild steel (attached around the door):


Counter sinking holes so screws will sit in flushed:


Made a channel at the bottom for the door guide:

That door looks really heavy. My guess around 35kg with the mild steel frame. Over engineered? 😁

Not too sure about the weight, it should be around there. Managed to mount it up in my own.

Mild steel is to prevent the door from warping.

Good pics and work. Surprised you went horizontal with the planks instead of vertical.

Vertical planks would be easier for strength and to mount.

your dining table looks absolutely gorgeous, i'm also very impressed with your welding


kindly update us when dining chairs arrive please !!

Thanks very much! My dining chairs have arrived, will be making a bench this weekend. Will share pics of my full dining table set.

really appreciate it

your work is very impressive!!

hello! can i know what was the total cost paid for this door? mechanism local or taobao?

thank you!

Total cost = RM930 per door

Barndoor mechanism = RM330 per set
Pine wood for door = RM400
Labour = RM200 per door (to make the door)

Of course the above doesn't take into account the co-ordination, transportation, headache, banging head and installation (done by myself).

Reubs Awesome. Where did you buy the sliding door track?

This post has been edited by digbick: May 17 2018, 06:01 AM

Got it from TaoBao but used a local Malaysian drop ship for door to door delivery.

Can reference the link below.

https://www.buy2taobao.com/en/search.html?K...or&Cid=all&Cid=

Thanks but ayo Tabao . Is there any physical store that I can visit?