Thread: Recycling... Why'd ya do that?

I've been going through some old photo's and come across this 3. They are pics of the side rail from an 18th century French bed. These were part of a beautifully carved bed which was cannibalised for the French walnut to be used in the restoration of an 18th Century French dresser (from memory). French beds of that period were almost 1 foot shorter than those of today so the side rails were often used for their timber.

Pic 1: Pauline feeding the carved walnut side rail into thicknesser.

Walnut 1.jpg

Pic 2: Denuded French walnut emerging from the thicknesser.

Walnut 2.jpg

Pic 3: Ya big girls blouse, It's just a piece of wood.

Walnut 3.jpg

We put a lot of old pieces of furniture through the thicknesser over the years to salvage timber from the same era trying to keep restorations as faithful as possible to the time they were originally made.

Often it was almost heart breaking to see fine carved work go this way. Recycling in it's truest form.