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"  (Photo by Mint Images - Tim Pannell/Getty Images) 1. One end of your 2 x 4 could be wider than the other. Or the board is warped. Or a portion could be water-damaged. You won&amp;#039;t be able to use every inch of a piece of lumber in a project, so purchase a little too much material to work with. 2. It takes one rogue nail to wreak havoc on a saw blade. Good salvage warehouses will have removed most metal from the lumber, but anything that&amp;#039;s still embedded needs to be cut around. 3. Lightly sand the entire board, using heavier-grit (80- to 100-) sandpaper to remove splinters but keep the patina. 4. When cutting and assembling, remember that the interesting part of the wood is the outside surface and the end grain. The interior surface grain of an old 2 x 4 looks about the same as a new one&amp;#039;s. 5. Assume any paint on a piece of reclaimed wood is lead-based, which is safe for no one. Cut off and discard the painted area or coat the finished product in a highly durable polyurethane so the paint is behind a protective barrier. 6. A wax finish will mildly protect while keeping an untreated appearance. Polyurethane gives a shine and durability to high-use furniture. Apply clear coats or satin finishes like you would on regular wood but don&amp;#039;t use stains. You want the natural qualities to show through. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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