Barn wood entrance table

One of the pieces of barn wood that I recovered from the old barn in Woodland just had a good look just as is.  I slopped a bit of linseed oil on it to give the top some "wetness" so it would not just crack, chip, or crumble when I chiseled on the piece.   I had found that wood that has been sitting for over 30-50 years in a big pile had become very dry.  The cells in the wood just do not cut right and it compresses really easily.  In one way the rough look will lend to my usual errors of the mortise and tenon, I tend to leave gaps in odd spots, but in another the weathered barn wood look has an appeal.  One thing is for certain: One can always mill this wood further if looking for the refined look, but you cannot go back to the weathered look very easily.

I cut the mortise and tenon late in the evening ( really early in the morning).  I used a rough center line through the whole piece and worked off of that since the sides are not even by any account.  I decided that since the "legs" were rough stock as well ( weathered, nail holes, and bug eaten) I'd put a shoulder on the tenon and decided to go with a 1Sun ( japanese measure - about an inch) double square tenon which allowed me the use of my 1Sun chisel.  It is usually a good idea to mill you stock to a specific size chisel to ease in the hand work that will follow.  

The table needs a lower piece to pull it all together but after a rough fit I have left it this way for a few days at least until I can get back to the project.  I plan to place wedges in each tenon and either flush cut it or just leave a nub sticking out.