What My Dad's Log Taught Me About Woodworking

The Log

My dad's neighbour had a few big Norman firs that he took down. My dad mentioned them to me once in passing. Just a comment. "The neighbour took down those big trees."

One day when I was visiting my dad, who was sick with cancer at the time, we took a walk over to the neighbour's place. We ended up talking, and the neighbour offered me one of the logs.

A week later, I drove back out with my trailer. We loaded the log on. My dad came over to help. He was sick, but he was there. Two men and a log that didn't want to cooperate.

It was at that point my dad said it. "Do you really think you'll ever make anything from this?"

That sentence sat with me for years.

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The Tall Grass

My dad died the following year. And the log just sat there. In the tall grass at my property. Through rain, through winter, through another summer. Just sitting there. Waiting. Or maybe I was the one waiting.

I'd walk past it sometimes and hear his voice. "Do you really think you'll ever make anything from this?"

I didn't have an answer for a long time.

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The Day It Changed

One day I just did it. I put the log up on the bandsaw. Milled it into boards. And started building what would become the timber frame door to my workshop.

No complicated plan. No months of design work. I just started.

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The Build

The door is all traditional joinery. Mortise and tenon, cut by hand with chisels. Some half-lap joints. No Domino on this one. This wasn't about speed or efficiency. This was about doing it properly.

I used the HK 85 with the groove cutter attachment for the grooves. That tool removes material fast and precisely on a guide rail. For the rest of the joinery, it was chisels, a mallet, and patience.

Every mortise was laid out by hand. Every tenon was fitted by eye and touch. It took longer than it would have with power tools. That was the point.

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The Finish

After the door was assembled, I burned the entire surface with a weed burner. It's an old technique for protecting outdoor wood. The charred layer resists moisture, insects, and rot. It also looks incredible. Deep black with the grain showing through.

After the burn, I treated it with Rubio Monocoat Sealer 707. It's their exterior sealer, made for outdoor exposure. Oil Plus 2C is an indoor product and wouldn't survive on a door that faces the weather. The sealer locked in the charred surface and gave it proper protection.

The burning does a lot of the surface work for you. No need for hours of sanding on a rough timber frame door. The fire cleans up the surface, hardens it, and gives it character that no sandpaper ever could.

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What It Taught Me

My dad asked if I'd ever make anything from that log. He wasn't being cruel. He was being honest. He knew me. He knew I had a pile of good intentions and not enough follow-through.

The log sat in the tall grass for years because I was afraid of wasting it. Afraid of not being good enough. Afraid that whatever I made wouldn't live up to the material.

And then one day I just started. And the door is there now. At the entrance to my workshop. Every time I walk through it, the log is still speaking. But the question changed.

It's not "will you ever make anything from this?" anymore.

It's "what are you going to make next?"

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The Real Lesson

The tools matter. The HK 85, the chisels, the hand saws. They make the work possible. But they're not the lesson.

The lesson is that some wood carries weight that has nothing to do with kilograms. Some projects aren't about the finished object. They're about the conversation you're still having with someone who isn't here anymore.

Start before you're ready. That's what my dad was really asking. And eventually, I did.

When the material means something to you, you work differently. You slow down. You pay attention. You make decisions more carefully. You don't rush the drying. You don't skip the test fit. You don't settle for "good enough" on the finish.

The tools help. The HK 85 with the groove cutter made the grooves possible. The chisels and hand saws did the rest. But the tools are just tools. They serve the intention.

The intention was to honor the tree my dad planted. To turn it into something that would last. Something that carries a piece of him into our daily life.

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The Bigger Point

Not every piece of wood has a backstory like this. Most of my projects start with lumber from a merchant or pallets from behind a shop. That's fine. That's most of woodworking.

But every now and then, a piece of material comes along that reminds you what all of this is actually about. It's not about having the perfect workshop or the best tools. It's about making something real from something raw.

A tree grew. Someone I love planted it. It came down. And now it's something new.

That's woodworking.

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Tools Used in This Build

• Festool HK 85 with the groove cutter attachment for grooves
• Chisels for mortise and tenon joinery
• Hand saws for tenon cuts
• Bandsaw for milling the log
• Weed burner for the charred finish
• Rubio Monocoat Sealer 707 for exterior protection

Full tool recommendations are on the tools hub.

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If you want to see the full process of this log becoming a door, the video is above. Sometimes the best projects don't start with a plan. They start with a walk to the neighbour's place with your dad.