Gustav Stickley inspired Plant Stands

Nicely done, Jerry. How was the hickory for workability?

-- Art

Well done my friend, keep on making saw dust, play safe and be happy, thanks for showing.

-- andrek

Beautiful! I’m jealous.. Now I want some hickory plant stands!
Great work, especially on the thru tenon.

Now are you going to re-build the TV stand to match?!?

-- Pete

Nicely done, Jerry. How was the hickory for workability?

- AandCstyle

I’ve been working with hickory for awhile now, and what I’ve learned is that your tools have to be kept perfectly sharp, no slacking like with fir or walnut, etc.

Milling operations have to be done slowly. The wood has a lot of sugars in it and tends to burn easily.

Sawing needs a dead sharp blade, about 40 TPI, and you can’t cut too slowly or too quickly, it’s gotta be just right.

The wood generally has a lot of tension in it, so warping is common on long narrow rips.

Many times the trees grew in livestock pastures and took up the “nutrients” thereby, so sometimes when you’re sawing it, you get a real stinker.

Bottom line, working with this stuff is not for the faint of heart.

Now for the good stuff.

It’s HEAVY, strong, solid, and wears like iron. I believe you could make an anvil from this stuff, but I wouldn’t recommend making a workbench from it, the rebound would be too severe.

I’m sure this is a matter of choice and many people won’t agree, but I personally find the wild incoherent and untamed figuring in this wood to be striking. I don’t try to tame it, I just appreciate it for what it is.

-- There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships and may they always be. http://www.geraldlhunsucker.com/

Well done my friend, keep on making saw dust, play safe and be happy, thanks for showing.

- Andrek

Thanks for looking Andrek, I’ve got a couple of projects going right now…

-- There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships and may they always be. http://www.geraldlhunsucker.com/

Beautiful clasdic old school fesihn. I made umbrella stand this way once

-- Ivan, Croatia, Wooddicted

Beautiful! I m jealous.. Now I want some hickory plant stands!
Great work, especially on the thru tenon.

Now are you going to re-build the TV stand to match?!?

- PPK

Funny you should mention it. Right now I’m in the middle of building 2 end tables for the living room, and two night stands for the bedroom. After that the entertainment center of which you speak will be getting replaced with something in the mission style.

-- There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships and may they always be. http://www.geraldlhunsucker.com/

Many times the trees grew in livestock pastures and took up the “nutrients” thereby, so sometimes when you re sawing it, you get a real stinker.

Bottom line, working with this stuff is not for the faint of heart.

Now for the good stuff.

It s HEAVY, strong, solid, and wears like iron. I believe you could make an anvil from this stuff, but I wouldn t recommend making a workbench from it, the rebound would be too severe.

I m sure this is a matter of choice and many people won t agree, but I personally find the wild incoherent and untamed figuring in this wood to be striking. I don t try to tame it, I just appreciate it for what it is.

- Jerry

I think Jerry is my kin or something. I’d work hickory all day long in spite of it’s difficulties. I love the contrast. And the part about the cow pastures… I didn’t know that, but it makes PERFECT sense, as there have been boards I’ve cut up that I wonder, “where on earth is the manure smell coming from???”

-- Pete

Beautiful clasdic old school fesihn. I made umbrella stand this way once

- Ivan

Thanks for looking in Ivan. I like the umbrella stand idea! I may use it.

-- There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships and may they always be. http://www.geraldlhunsucker.com/

I picked a good day to check back in to LJs. Nice design and really clean work Jerry. I like the pure look of the wax finish. They look great where they stand.

-- Bill, Yo!......in Brooklyn & Steel City :)

Beautiful plant stands Jerry, you are right about the tools – it get evident quickly when the blade starts dulling.
curious – why did you use bw and spirits ?

-- Dick, Malvern Ohio - my biggest fear is that when I die, my wife sells my toys for what I told her I paid for them

I picked a good day to check back in to LJs. Nice design and really clean work Jerry. I like the pure look of the wax finish. They look great where they stand.

- builtinbkyn

Thanks Bill, means a lot coming from someone of your ability!

-- There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships and may they always be. http://www.geraldlhunsucker.com/

Beautiful plant stands Jerry, you are right about the tools – it get evident quickly when the blade starts dulling.
curious – why did you use bw and spirits ?

- recycle1943

Thanks Dick, I see you’re no stranger to Hickory! Well, the finish is a little more complex than that, it’s a sort of a riff on Sam Maloof’s oil – wax finish. I melt beeswax into mineral spirits and add a little walnut oil. Makes a great hard finish that smells really good.

-- There are good ships and there are wood ships, the ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships and may they always be. http://www.geraldlhunsucker.com/

Very nice, clean tight joints and grain that details some random and wild character of the Hickory!
I have not worked with Hickory that much but think somewhere in the shop there is a stack of rough milled boards waiting to be made into a pair of Krenov saw horses:)

-- Lifting one end of the plank.

nice looking stands jer,i love the contrast of the wood.simple clean design with beautiful wood is always a winning combination in the hands of a skilled woodworker.great job buddy.

-- sawdust the bigger the pile the bigger my smile-larry,so cal.