Salvaged Wood Chair - wood burned for real

This was my first ever salvaged wood burned chair.  I found this little guy hanging out next to the dumpster in the ally behind my house, brought it home and gave it a little TLC.  I sanded the finish off, which was flaking off at the time due to the high humidity of St. Louis summer.  I then left it to sit for a long time until I finally just went for it.  I got my grandfathers old pyrography kit, a kick ass machine which I will show you sometime.  I began burning designs into the chair, and made a new seat for it using some mill scrap, then finished it all with shellac.  One of a kind chairs can be bought starting at $150. 

Gift for my grandfather - a wood burned woodman logo made on beautiful walnut from the garbage bin.

My grandpa Gene is a great guy.  Not only has he been a kick ass grandpa, but he also was early inspiration for me to get into woodworking.  He used to own a small woodworking shop in Racine, WI when I was a kid.  I still remember the smell of the wood dust everywhere, and the racks of carving knives and the barrels of dowels. 

Grandpa Gene actually is an accomplished wood carver.  He wrote the book on carving, literally.  He wrote a book about carving birds, penguins, and fish.  It is actually still available on Amazon.  I never really appreciated the wealth of information he is until recently.  I now use a bunch of the tools he used to use in his shop.  He is far too old now to do wood working, but one is never too old to appreciate a nice hunk of walnut.  So I found a nice scrap piece at the mill, and burned my logo onto it and finished it with shellac and wax and gave it to him as a holiday gift.  Behold me trying to take the photo in my car, crappy version of a photo, but nice piece nonetheless.