Many of us appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of something masterfully created from wood — but do we ever stop to think about the wood itself?
Usually we don’t, but Instructables user Vyger, an avid woodworker, thinks pretty profoundly about his locally sourced wood in his home of Montana.
“There are three common hardwood trees in northeast Montana, they are the Ash, the Siberian Elm, and the Russian Olive,” he says. “Russian Olive wood is probably the most distinctive being almost chocolate colored, it is a very beautiful wood. However virtually no one uses it for anything other than burning.”
His description of the wood almost makes its usage as everyday firewood heartbreaking, doesn’t it? Especially when he goes on to describe logs used for burning like this: “I have cut a lot of logs over the years and I have always been impressed at how beautiful some of the wood looks inside,” he said. “I always wondered if there wasn't something I could do with it besides burn it for firewood.”
His love for the Russian Olive inspired him to do something so beautiful and mind-boggling; I have never seen anything quite like it before. And watching him craft this gorgeous project is as fascinating to watch unfold as the end result looks…
This is the Russian Olive tree. For this project he used a combination of this with Siberian Elm and Ash.
“For this job you have to start with a chainsaw,’ he said.
“Cutting in the snow has its benefits. You can use the snow to brace the logs to keep them where you want them,” he said. “And if you cut all the way through the log and into the snow it doesn't dull your chain.”
All of the cut logs needed to be over 4 or 5 inches in diameter for this project to work.
Next he had to cut some slabs. To do this he fist measured each log.
Marked his spots.
Trimmed the wood.
Then chopped!
Once he had cut all three types of wood, he had to make finer cuts.
Next he had to plane the slabs so they could run flat on a table saw and not bind up the blade.
He then used the table saw to refine the wood and make it look less like logs and more like lumber.
Once he got the size he wanted, he began to cut specific shapes.
Then he began to piece those pieces together on the floor.
Using the different colored wood, he started making patterns.
The dark wood from the Russian Olive helps to make a distinctive 3D illusion.
The illusion becomes more and more pronounced the larger it gets.
The pattern is beautiful and mesmerizing.
And to think this was created by wood meant to be burnt.
The end result, a unique hardwood floor, is absolutely gorgeous.
Please SHARE if you think this is a gorgeous hardwood floor!
