My first commission

[bolophonic]

I have been working for years to restore an old derelict farm and I reached an important milestone this summer when I finally put the roof onto my shop.

One of my neighbors is an antique picker of local renown. She runs her business out of a barn behind her house that is basically a Pinterest warehouse of creatively re-purposed junque. She is big on the country wedding scene.

For the past couple of years, she has been mentioning that her barn needed a new door. The old one was made of 50 year old plywood and had deteriorated badly.

Because I have been so busy, I had been putting off her request to come fix this thing. But with my shop “completed,” I finally felt like I could scratch this request off my list.

So last week, I put my “thinking cap” on and came up with a solution for her.

First, I rounded up an appropriate stack of rough materials from my salvage piles to get started:

Then I got down to business and groomed all this junk down to usable pieces and assembled the door. I think it took me about six hours all together.

Now, anyone can nail a bunch of wood together, but the real skill involves the installation. I am glad that I spent an entire year going through the replacement step-by-step, because the installation only took about 45 minutes and the new door fit perfectly and rolled with ease!

This was a challenge, but I’m super proud of the results because the client was thrilled, the project came in slightly under her budget, and I managed to build a good custom product out of salvaged materials. I also managed to pay myself a craftsman wage while burnishing my reputation with a high-profile project.

 

[catcauphonic]

barnishing

FTFY

That's really cool. Congrats on a job well done, and probably more to come your way

 

[Stewie26]

This may be a dumb observation, but does she plan on adding a little paint to finish off the restoration?

 

[bolophonic]

This may be a dumb observation, but does she plan on adding a little paint to finish off the restoration?

I’m sure she has a million plans, but my part of it is finished!!

 

[kesslari]

Nice. I totally see how "new door" would not work. Very, very cool job.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I just hope it doesn't get struck by lightning!

 

[rendevouz]

You could have at least throw in some free tort

 

[bolophonic]

You could have at least throw in some free tort

It’s actually worth mentioning that a coat of shellac on the barn tin bears a passing resemblance to tort close up.

 

[Mike N]

View attachment 3539192

Please tell me when you roll the door open that there's a barn find L72 Biscayne in there.

 

[two fingers]

Looks like it's been on the barn the whole time! (Which I'm sure is part of her request.)

Great job!

 

[DirtDog]

Please tell me when you roll the door open that there's a barn find L72 Biscayne in there.

That was the car that brought me home when I was born!

I learned to drive in a ‘74 Biscayne. Which I then totalled.

 

[Mike N]

That was the car that brought me home when I was born!

I learned to drive in a ‘74 Biscayne. Which I then totalled.

I came home in a 67 Oldsmobile.

I learned to drive in a 75 F150, thus my dislike of F**d's.....

 

[bolophonic]

I came home in a 67 Oldsmobile.

I learned to drive in a 75 F150, thus my dislike of F**d's.....

I learned to drive in a stick shift 1980 Plymouth Reliant K Car.

 

[Ostie]

My first car was a 1971 Ford Ranchero.

I declare this thread officially derailed.

 

[charlie monroe]

Next time do something with the nail heads. They are out of place due to shiny.

The rest looks period.

edit: this was meant as opportunity, not criticism

 

[fdeck]

Looks nice and rust...ic.

 

[MJ5150]

I learned to drive in a 75 F150, thus my dislike of F**d's.....

Hey!
That was the first vehicle I ever owned. I foolishly traded it in for a Mazda 626.

-Mike

 

[Jeff Scott]

I learned to drive in a stick shift 1980 Plymouth Reliant K Car.

They made that with a manual gearbox as an option? Weird.

I learned stick on a '75 Civic, in '76.

Bolo, nice work on the new/old door.

 

[bolophonic]

They made that with a manual gearbox as an option? Weird.

I learned stick on a '75 Civic, in '76.

Bolo, nice work on the new/old door.

My dad was definitely not one to pay extra for any custom options on a car, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that one was a factory mistake that was heavily discounted at the lot. It had the long stick, like a school bus and it was hideous.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[bolophonic]

Next time do something with the nail heads. They are out of place due to shiny.

The rest looks period.

edit: this was meant as opportunity, not criticism

Man, you have no idea how much I debated the nail heads! I have buckets of rusty nails and I considered using them to achieve a seamlessly rustic look, but in the end I felt like a contrasting riveted look would be a way to acknowledge the fact that it was a new door made of old parts. I appreciate the input!