Exclusive furniture from tree cuts: furniture tips

A unique designer interior with exclusive furniture is a very expensive pleasure.
But there is such furniture that you can actually create even with your own hands at minimal cost, and at the same time it will be original and environmentally friendly. These interior items are made from tree cuts. Such wooden original things will fit perfectly into a country setting, but not only that.

Depending on the design solution, this furniture is appropriate in city apartments and even in offices.

General requirements for material for manufacturing

When choosing a material for making a chair, it is important to pay attention to the following points:

• No damage to wood in the form of internal and external cracks, fungal infections and traces of parasites;
• In a cut of high-quality material there should be no traces of fused or underdeveloped knots;
• The wood must be strong and wear-resistant.

The main varieties of trees from which you can build a chair for home use are:

• Larch;
• Oak;
• Maple;
• Ash;
• Alder;
• Pine;
• Cedar;
• Beech.

To construct an element of garden furniture, it is recommended to use coniferous trees. Possessing a large amount of resin, they resist decay processes, as well as fungal infections and parasites, much longer.

Types of chairs made of logs

Furniture made from solid wood can be classified both by its intended purpose and by the type of material from which the item is made. However, the main division of chairs into types occurs according to their design and purpose:

• Dining chair with backrest;
• Stool. The product can be of different heights;
• Bar design.

Log stool
Each of these products can be assembled using several elements, or made from a single piece of solid wood.

Manufacturing options

There are two ways to make a chair or stool from a solid log without using any fastening elements:

• By firing method;
• Cutting out the product with a chainsaw.

Both manufacturing options require subsequent grinding and finishing work.

Firing method

Using this method, you can easily make a stool from a log, or a piece of furniture such as a bar stool. To create a product, you need to take a hewn log of suitable height and diameter and make two cross-shaped cuts in it, perpendicular to each other. It is most convenient to work with a chainsaw. The depth of the cut depends on how tall the legs should be.

The log is placed in an open area and a little flammable liquid is poured into the center of the cuts. This could be machine oil or fire starter fluid. After this, the center of the log at the cuts is set on fire. The combustion is controlled by turning the log with the required side to the wind or by placing small twigs inside the log.

Using this method, it takes about 8 hours to make a stool.

Chainsaw

Using a chainsaw, you can cut not only a stool or bar stool from a solid log, but also a product with a backrest. In this case, the design can have both standard and unusual shapes. The final result depends on the desires and imagination of the author, as well as the geometry of the lumber.

A chair made from a log using a chainsaw

The work consists of gradually cutting out individual elements from a solid mass. In this case, either a chopped log or a log with bark can be used.

Stools made of logs, saw cuts and branches

By abandoning the legs, the seat can be made from an ordinary log. By sawing it into several logs and equipping each with a soft pad, we will get an original set for a country holiday.

The disadvantage of this solution is obvious - heavy weight, which creates inconvenience when carrying.

Here's what you can do by combining wooden legs with a massive seat made from a rounded piece of log. This unusual stool claims to be a designer find.

There are no drawers or legs here. The rigidity of the structure is ensured by a massive seat, into which four legs are embedded at 1/3 of its height.

Anyone who is good with a chainsaw can create an original piece of furniture from a log. To do this, you need to make three neat side cuts in a thick block of wood to form the legs. Having made precise markings on the scraps of one trunk, you can cut them out into a set of two stools, nested one inside the other.

Continuing the “forest theme”, let’s see what can be built from the material lying under our feet. A beautiful product can be made from thick branches, freed from bark and polished. This design has one original detail - a drawer for household items located under the seat. The lid is assembled from planed boards mounted on wooden tenons and glue.

This piece of furniture will fit perfectly into a rustic interior style, which is characterized by massive wooden beams, stairs and tables. But it is unlikely to take root in an ordinary kitchen.

Cutting a log makes a ready-made seat for a stool. By cutting three legs from thick branches into it, we get a durable and attractive structure.

Hemp and forks of trunks can be used as bases for the manufacture of original products. Sanded and topped with thick log cuts, they fit perfectly into the interior of a log cabin.

Manufacturing technology

The manufacture of a chair or stool from wood is carried out in several successive stages:

1. All necessary tools and consumables are prepared.
2. According to the chosen scheme or planned project, the structure is manufactured.
3. The finished product can be sanded and finished.

The fastest way to make a chair or stool is by using a chainsaw to cut the product from a solid piece of wood.

Tools and materials

To create a chair from a log, you may need the following tools and materials:

• Chainsaw;
• Ruler;
• Pencil;
• Mallet;
• Bit;
• Level;
• Grinder with an abrasive wheel or medium and fine-grained sandpaper;
• A log of suitable size;
• Stain or antiseptic;
• Varnish or furniture wax.

In the case where the product will be created from individual elements, you may also need screws or dowels, wood glue and a drill with cylindrical drills. And when using the firing method, a combustible mixture will be required.

Manufacturing

The principle of making a chair, chair or stool from logs or a solid log with your own hands depends on what final result is needed:

1. Bar stool made of solid wood. It can be made by sawing with a chainsaw or firing. In both cases, for work you need a solid rounded or chopped log, the diameter of which is 30-40 cm. The height of the log is selected based on the size of the table. The optimal height is 70-80 cm. When manufactured by cutting, marks are made on the log 30 cm from the bottom and 10 cm from the top. These points will be the edges of the cut. Using a saw, a semicircular hole is cut out in the array. Its depth should be half the diameter of the log. Also, support for the feet in solid wood can be made by firing.
2. Stool made from solid logs. For manufacturing, a log with a diameter of 35-40 cm is taken. The height of the array is 40 cm. When making a structure using the burning method, cuts are made in the necessary places and, wetted with fuel, they are set on fire. Also, a solid stool can be cut by making 3 equally spaced holes on both sides, 7 cm from the edge, no more than 2 cm deep. After this, diagonal holes, in the form of flower petals, are cut deep into the center. When all the points are connected by slits, the elements are disconnected. As a result, you can get two stools from one log.
3. A chair with a back made of solid logs. For work, an array with a cross-sectional diameter of 40-50 cm is used. The height of the log can be different and depends on how high the back should be. It should be taken into account that the distance from the floor to the seat should be 40-45 cm. The optimal height of the log is 70-80 cm. During the work, only the seat with the back can be cut out. However, to create an original appearance, part of the support at the back of the chair can be sawn through. You can make any geometric cut, but its depth should not exceed 3/5 of the total diagonal of the log.
4. The stool and chair can be assembled from separate logs of small diameter. To create such a structure, you will need 6 hewn or rounded logs 50 cm high and 4 logs about 35-40 cm long. The diameter of the logs can be 10-12 cm. To make the structure, 2 logs 50 cm high are laid parallel to each other and connected at a distance 5 cm from the top and 10-15 cm from the bottom with two 35 cm logs placed perpendicularly. The elements can be connected using dowels and wood glue, or long self-tapping screws. Another pair of legs is connected using the same principle. The reinforced legs are connected to each other by two logs 50 cm long. They must be placed at a distance of 10 cm from the top of the legs. A board measuring 50x37x2.5 cm can be attached to such a frame as a seat. Alternatively, the horizontal supports can be connected with slats made of small beams or logs, 3-4 cm in diameter. The step between such slats should not exceed 2 cm.

A chair with a back made of a solid log
When creating a chair, it is recommended to first clear the bark from the log. This can be done using a chainsaw, an ax or a mallet and chisel. It is permissible to leave the bark only if it does not have any damage.

Impregnation and polishing

The finished product must be sanded. This work can be done either using a grinding machine with an abrasive wheel of 140-200 microns, or with sandpaper. When using sandpaper, it is recommended to use medium to fine grit sheets. After thorough sanding, the surface of the chair should be smooth. In this case, the product may have irregularities if chopped logs were used for the work and they are provided for. However, there should not be any sharp elements on the surface.

After sanding, the product is impregnated with stain in several layers. You can use both colorless liquid and tinted solutions. However, if the created furniture will be used as garden furniture, it is better to use transparent impregnation. It will protect the wood from premature rotting and parasites.

If desired, the surface can be varnished or treated with furniture wax, additionally sanding the structure with soft leather.

Features of operation

Chairs made from pieces of logs can be used both in an apartment or private house, and outdoors as garden furniture. However, in order for the products to last a long time, when using them you must adhere to the following recommendations:

• Protect furniture items from moisture as much as possible. Do not place chairs on a wet surface and do not wash them with a stream of water;
• If cleaning is necessary, the product can be wiped with a dry or slightly damp cloth;
• It is not advisable to place hot items on chairs made from solid logs. This can cause damage to the wood.

When using the product as a piece of garden furniture, in autumn and winter, the chair should be stored in a dry and warm room. It is unacceptable to cover furniture with polyethylene for a long time, as this will lead to a greenhouse effect and damage to the wood.

A log chair should be periodically impregnated with stain

Periodically, the product must be updated by sanding it with sandpaper, impregnating it with stain and opening it with varnish. For home use, this will have to be done once every 3-4 years. For garden wooden chairs, the coating is renewed annually.

Bar stools

Anyone who believes that a stool must necessarily be low and nondescript is mistaken. Designers successfully prove the opposite. A little imagination and a familiar piece of furniture becomes a “fashionable thing” in the avant-garde style.

The high stool captured in the photo is a bar option. They can decorate the interior of a cafe and the decor of your own apartment. Its lower brother, made in the same style, will take its rightful place at the dining table made of Euro pallets.

These days, bar seats are popular not only in catering establishments, but also in home settings. The tradition of placing bar counters in apartments, which came from overseas, caused a real boom in these products.

A high stool is convenient not only for drinking cocktails at the bar. It can be successfully used as a stand when picking fruit.

Advantages and disadvantages

Chairs made from logs have many advantages:

• Affordability of the material;
• Environmental friendliness of the product;
• High strength and wear resistance of the structure;
• Ease of manufacture. The work of constructing a chair from a log can be done even by those who do not have carpentry experience. Moreover, the simplest design can be made in less than 1 hour;
• A broken structure can be easily repaired or disposed of;
• Ease of product care and restoration;
• Original appearance of the product. Having a developed imagination, you can build not only a practical, but also an unusual structure.

However, log chairs also have their disadvantages. The disadvantages of products include the following factors:

• High sensitivity to moisture. Even with careful treatment of the material with water-repellent solutions, a log may crack if exposed to moisture for a long time;
• The massiveness of the products and their heavy weight;
• Flammability of the material. Almost any wood is a highly flammable material. Therefore, it is not recommended to use such chairs near an open flame, even after treatment with a fire retardant solution.

Also, the disadvantages of chairs made of natural wood include the specificity of tactile sensations and associations that this type of furniture can provoke.

Folding stools

There are a huge variety of them, from the simplest solutions to very complex transformers.

We present to your attention an original folding design. It consists of two rectangular frame-legs connected in the center by a metal axis. The support frames are attached to the seat with carpentry hinges. When folded, the axle moves along two slots cut into one of the legs. The seat rotates on hinges and stands upright.

Here is another version of a folding stool. His seat is made of two halves. When folded, the legs rotate around an axis and are placed in the same plane. The seat halves are pressed against them on both sides.

Fans of complex folding systems are offered an option consisting of eight pairs of lattice legs connected at the base by a common bar.

The upper ends of the legs on one side are hingedly connected to the seat, which is also made of bars. To fold the structure, take it by the lower slats and move them in the opposite direction. In this case, the lattice legs and seat bars fit into the gaps provided for them, and the stool becomes flat.

Another option is a folding stool with a “crawler” seat. Despite the simplicity of the design, it looks very original. Its two crossed legs are hinged in the center and connected at the top by a wooden segmental seat. By holding the edges, you can easily fold and unfold this stool.