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Rustic decor & more! Lighting, bedding, log and rustic furniture, wall hangings, art, metalwork... your Log Home Store

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If you're in the rustic furniture biz!

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Hand Tools	Tenon Cutters	Mortising	Adhesives	Books/Videos

DIY Essentials - Hand Tools

Crafting log and rustic furniture is more art than science.  Bending willow and shaping logs and twigs requires special joinery methods often outside the realm of traditional furniture making. There are unique tools available to perform these specialized tasks.  On the following pages, we have collected the most common tools and miscellaneous supplies you might need when doing your next DIY project.

Hand Tools.

Log furniture typically comes in two flavors, peeled or skip-peeled.  Peeled logs have all of the bark removed, but the paths of the drawknife used to "shave" the log remain visible.  This results in a rounded log with obvious flat tracks left by the drawknife or spokeshave (a smaller version of the drawknife).

Drawknives

  
Click either drawknife for more information

Skip-peeling does not remove all of the inner bark. A skip-peeled log will show patches of dark (interior bark) producing a more rustic look.  Individual taste, or the preferences of the furniture maker dictates the methods used to remove the bark to obtain the final appearance. Peeling has no structural effect on a finished piece. 

With some rustic furniture, you will hear the term "sap peeled", where the bark is peeled while the branch is still green.  This is more common with "twig" furniture makers.  Green wood is easier to bend and when dry, maintains its "bentwood" shape.  In other instances you'll have perfectly rounded logs. This suggests that the log was turned on a lathe, not peeled by hand.  All of these bark removal methods are a matter of individual taste and production methods.  None are better than the other.

Hand Tools | Tenon Cutters | Mortising Tools | Books/Videos