100 Year Old White Oak Box

[Steve Mawson]

No I'm not that old, I just made the box however the wood is somewhere around 125-135 years old. My grandfather bought the farm with the barn during the depression. The wood is from that barn where I grew up in Central Illinois. Majority of the beams were 12x12 white oak hand hewn held together with mortise and tenon with a round pin going completely through the joint. Each of these beams were from individual trees, some as long as 20 feet. This piece was a brace and was about 4x6 and either cut at a saw mill or by hand with a saw. The box is about 3 x 3.5 tall. Wood is very hard and dark. The inside of the top was not sanded and is as smooth as if sanded to 600 grit. I counted the growth rings and there are over 50, this is not the whole log, so I would say this is what is called old growth. The foundation was getting bad on the barn about 20 years ago so the barn was torn down, it was over 100 years old when demolished. Foundation was sandstone hauled in from about 5 miles away. Sandstone is soft and it was coming apart. Sorry for the history lesson but hope you don't mind, the wood has a story. I have a picture of the barn but would have to scan it in and have not done that. Comments welcome.

I scanned the picture of the barn. 4-H calves were kept inside the small door on the front left. Cattle lot used to be to the right of the barn. Hand dug family well is just to the right out of the picture. This was the only well on the farm and always kept us and the livestock supplied with water. Baled hay was brought in the big doors on the front then put into the loft on either side of the drive by hand. Then taken back out by hand to feed cattle in the winter. When we baled hay my job was to drive the tractor bringing hay in and take the empty wagon back to the hay field until I got older then I got to throw bales as well. Several neighbors helped then we helped them when they had hay to put up. Looks like the roof is sagging however that is just snow, roof was in good shape when it was torn down.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking box Steve and what a great story. Thanks for sharing.

[Baxter Smith]

Love old barns. Love timberframes. Love wood with a story! Nice box!:)

[Roland Martin]

Very nice box Steve. Your grandfather lives on!

[David E Keller]

Nice box... fantastic color in that bit of wood.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Steve - that is a great looking little Oak box! Love the story and it seems the older I get - the more I appreciate the history of an item!

If you find the time - scan in the photo of the barn and post it - it all adds to the story and is something we all learn to treasure!

[Ted Calver]

It's a great box and a great story. I hope the story stays with the box wherever it goes.

[John Keeton]

Steve, that wood not only has a history - it has character! Beautiful color, and a very nice job on the box. I am all for scanning in the pic and posting!

[Curt Fuller]

Well, the barn may not live forever but hopefully the box will remain a keepsake and as a memory of the barn for a long time. I like hearing the stories about the wood.

[alex carey]

wood with a history is always more fun to turn. Looks nice.

[Dolan Brown]

Nice job on the box. Great history behind it. It would make a nice piece to hand down to the next generation - along with a written copy of the history.

[Steve Vaughan]

:) One of my favorite things to make is something, anything, from wood that has a story. That alone, in my opinion, adds value to the product. Love the story! Love the history behind the bowl, and you really did a great job with the bowl!

[Steve Mawson]

Posted the barn picture. It is also on a piece of the barn wood which was done by my uncle and gave to me and my wife at Christmas many years ago. Thanks for all the nice comments. This is unique wood to work with as the grain is much closer than oak you would buy today.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for the story and the pictures Steve, nice all the way around.

As for the narrow growth rings the brace might have been cut from a limb as it didn't need to be as large as the beams, that would cause the rings to be much narrower than even the old growth main trunk, it just conjecture on my part of course.
I do have a piece of Beech wood that's probably not over 5" thick, and it has over 80 rings in it twice over, as it has the pith in it, not quite in the center, the rings are so close together you'd need a good magnifier to count them precisely, and yes it was a limb that came down with a storm, the tree itself has got to be a bit older of course, to grow to where the limb grew.

[Roger Bullock]

WOW that is some tight growth rings and you really did justice with this piece of oak. In my book, you just cannot beat the look of old growth timber. When you add old growth timber with a story like yours it makes the finished turning even better. Enjoyed the story and the history behind the wood. Hope you were able to rescue some of those larger beams.

[Jim Underwood]

Loved the story. I think it's always more interesting when some history of the wood is given..

[bob svoboda]

Nice box and a great story to go with it. Thanks.

[Gregory Cowart]

The great story makes the box PRICELESS. Good job.

[Mark Norman]

Nice little box there.

Glad you could preserve the history of the barn. Even though the box seems empty, it is in fact filled with memories for you I am sure.

[steven carter]

Great box, and a great story to go with it. Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, and so do great family heirlooms.

[John Tomasello jr]

Got to love wood with a history, good job